Hebrews 8:1 to 10:18. Continuing to expand on the “better covenant”, it is Jesus as the great High Priest who is now described as the only one to be called the “mediator [of a new covenant which is] superior to the old one” (8:6). It is in chapter 9 that we’re moved towards our Easter […]
Hebrews 4:14 to 5:10. Against the background of their firm understanding of the role of the Priest as the one to bring sacrifices to God on their behalf, the Hebrews are now to understand the place of Jesus as above all Priests – Jesus is “the great high Priest” above all others (4:14). And so […]
Hebrews 3:1 to 4:13. Claiming that Jesus is superior to the angels would have been a big enough thing for the recipients of this letter to get their minds around, but now they need to add to that: how can Jesus be above their great leader, Moses? Moses is commended in this section of the […]
Hebrews 1: 4-14. “To most Jews angels were exalted beings, especially revered because they were involved with giving the law at Sinai to the Jews” (NIV Study Bible). They were the ones to whom “God’s supreme revelation” had been given, but now the attention grabbing claim that they need to grapple with is that Jesus […]
Hebrews 1: 1-3. The letter to the Hebrews begins by looking back to Jewish roots of this particular group of Christians who are being written to. That’s done carefully and respectfully by stating that God had spoken through the prophets of old, and so the importance of their place in history is not overlooked. Then […]
Isaiah 9:2-8, Luke 2:1-20. “Today, you will find Him and so find your hope”. That was the message of the Angel of the Lord to the shepherds (slightly paraphrased!). It’s a message we need to hear, be transformed by and responded to in the midst of our Christmas celebrations.
Luke 1:26-56. 1 Peter 2:4-5 “Meanwhile, back in Nazareth….” Following on from Zechariah’s place in the birth narratives, and with expectation building, we come to a reminder of an Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 7:14) that is responded to with praise, despite the less than ideal circumstances. In 1 Peter 2:4-5 rejection is included, but so is […]
1 Peter 5: 1-14. Peter’s final encouragement is given to the church. This is about the importance of the way of the church following the way of Jesus in all of its relationships with each other, and how that’s lived out in the wider world. The strong encouragement is to unity and humility regardless of […]
1 Peter 1:13 – 2:3. Having started with something of a general focus on hope and joy through Jesus in the early verses of 1 Peter, we move on to see how we can build on that strong foundation in specific ways. “The way of Jesus” becomes clearer as we do that. The heading just […]
HEBREWS 10:19–25. We need one another to ‘stay red’ in a sea of grey dots and continue to have an impact on our frontlines.