How the Introduction to Hebrews Does Its Job

When I memorized the book of Hebrews, I saved the first four verses for last – a sweet reward for many months of working through extended argument and exhortation. It’s such a rich and beautiful introduction to the sermon!  But as I studied it more closely, I became confused by the meaning.

The two main statements of the section seem to be “God…has spoken” and “(Christ) sat down.”  But what do they have to do with each other?  When you add them together, what do you get? 

“Speaking + Sitting = x.  Solve for x.”

Like any good communicator, the speaker-writer of Hebrews is using his introduction to flag his main themes.  These two concepts make sense together when you see how each one plays out in the rest of the sermon.

God Has Spoken

The writer keys into the concept of God speaking when he gives his first exhortation: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard” – that is, the message “declared at first by the Lord” (chapter 2).  It’s also prominent at the beginning of the main instructional territory, beginning with the quote “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (chapter 3). And it’s used wrap up the main part of the sermon at the end of chapter 12: “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.”

So in his introduction, the writer alerts to the fact that his entire message is one that originates from God Himself.

The Son Sat Down

Most notably, this second concept occurs at the climax of the speaker’s argument in chapter 10, just before he plunges into his most passionate plea: “when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…for by a single sacrifice he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified”.  You can also find it referenced at the beginning of chapter 8, which highlights the infinite superiority of Christ’s priesthood; and the beginning of chapter 12, where the ending of Christ’s suffering compels us to endure until our suffering also ends.

So the message of Hebrews, encapsulated in the introduction, is this:  God has spoken authoritatively, revealing that Christ dealt with sin once and for all.  The only acceptable response is for us to place all our trust in him and live faithfully even through suffering and persecution.

Appendix (Enter At Your Own Risk)

Here’s how the original Greek grammar, represented as closely as possible in English, highlights the two main statements:

   Having spoken long ago, in many times and in many ways, to our fathers by the prophets,

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son

    Whom he appointed the heir of all things

     Through whom also he made the worlds;                               

     Who, 

            being the radiance of his glory and the exact imprint of his nature,

            Upholding all things through the word of his power,

            After making purification for sins

                   (He) sat down at the right hand of the Majesty 

                       on high,

Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

                               

*I relied on the ESV for the translation of the words, but modified it somewhat to show more of the structure as it appears in Greek.

                               

The highlighted lines are the two main independent clauses.  They stand on their own; the surrounding phrases serve to either introduce them or explain them.   Or to put it more technically, these two are independent clauses, while everything else is a relative clause (who/whom) or a participial phrase (“-ing”).

This section has a really cool pattern.  The first main statement is that God the Father has spoken, but the focus quickly centers on the messenger, His Son, using three relative clauses to give us the credentials of this Son.  The third relative clause then expands into three participial phrases which detail activities of the Son, leading up to the other main statement – that the Son ultimately sat down – with one last participial phrase creating a segue into the next section.

On another note, the concept of Christ sitting down is fascinating.  I most strongly associate it with the finality of Christ’s sacrifice, but Peter O’Brien (The Letter to the Hebrews [PNTC]) emphasizes that this theme identifies Christ as the king promised in the Davidic Covenant.  I believe that the two concepts are inherently related, and hereby call dibs on that topic for a doctoral thesis (if I ever get to write one).