Daily Liturgy and Scripture

James (thought by many scholars to be the brother of Jesus) further develops the idea for his Jewish audience of the difference in the Law of Moses and the law that "gives freedom." The Law of Moses convicts, as does the law of the Kingdom of Jesus. The difference is, following Jesus leads to the mercy shown by Jesus.

James is writing to a Jewish audience, perhaps trying to resolve the disconnect between their tradition of following the law and this new Christian faith that puts so much emphasis on faith. James founds his opening in the importance of faith, but, spoiler: he certainly isn't leaving it there.

The model of the old testament is transposed onto the new. Where before there was an animal destroyed outside the city, now our Savior was killed and wasted outside Jerusalem. Our sacrifice is our praise, and the priest eating the meat of the sacrificed animal is now us communing together to eat the communion of his death. Jesus fulfilled that which was incomplete, but the rhythm of the old way remains familiar.

The writer of Hebrews introduces another critical topic for the readers: the mountain of God. This starts from Exodus, where God met Moses there, where God's presence inhabited that space in a way that was visible to the people. Now there is a new mountain, though it isn't visible to the people. It is God himself, and Jesus sitting at his right hand as our Savior.

We do indeed have an ally in Heaven because our High Priest is there, but children of God are subject to learn a different perspective. Discipline and endurance are part of our transformation into followers of Jesus, and our view of suffering can be changed in light of the working of the Spirit.

What is being written to the Hebrew audience is bringing together the old covenant and the new: the faith that Jesus introduced has been part of the story all along, as has the quality of Kingdom citizens. To live in this new Kingdom is a matter of faith, and that faith is familiar to the people God has called his own even in the past.

As we remember today the tax collector who became an apostle of Jesus, we can take a note from his first event as an apostle: throwing a party filled with the wrong kind of people. And yet, Jesus came. The guest list wasn't who the religious leaders would have chosen, but it certainly seems to be exactly the people Jesus wanted to hang out with.

Not only do we have a high priest in Jesus who is seated at the right hand of the Father, but we also have a sacrifice for sins that is eternal. To the Jewish audience who received this letter, this would be a pretty big deal. The regular offering of sacrifices would have been familiar, and to say that those sacrifices were at an end was significant. It changed the way the people understood their relationship with God, which is correct given Jesus's new Kingdom ways.

The sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross is more than a one-time special event, it is the fulfillment of the previews shown through the centuries that came before him. The high priest operating in tents and even permanent buildings is a shadow compared to our High Priest, the Son of God, who resides permanently in the true court of God.

It's kind of conventient that we get a passage about the first temple with this passage from Hebrews about the new one today. The two periods of God's history with God's people are definitely conneected: even in all of its grandeur, all of the glory that Solomon brought to the temple was still just a shadow next to the new Kingdom of Jesus and our eternal high priest.