There is an ironic truth at the heart of the story Christians commemorate as Holy Week. The same man hailed as king one day is shamefully executed a few days later, and that death was inextricably linked to his becoming king. Hebrews helps us understand why Jesus had to die to become king, and its explanation has a great deal to do with a mysterious figure called Melchizedek.

This section of Hebrews introduces one of the letter?s most important subjects: the perfect priesthood of Jesus. But why do we need a priest in the first place? What did biblical priests actually do? And what makes Jesus a perfect priest?

This crucial section of Hebrews offers a summary of what?s already been said and a taste of what?s still to come. Jesus is the Son of God who became our sympathetic high priest. These titles?admitedly abstract to our modern ears?are introduced for a profoundly practical purpose. They?re meant to convince us to hold fast to Jesus because only Jesus offers what we really need.

God?s Word has the power to cut through our layers of pretension and expose who we really are. Thankfully, this same Word offers us a new identity.

This passage offers both an invitation to share in God?s rest and a warning not to miss out. On one hand, we?re invited to enjoy perfect satisfaction in God and the security that comes from knowing he provides everything we need. On the other hand we?re told to fear and strive against unbelief and disobedience. How do these commands square with our promise of rest?

Using a vivid example from Israel?s history, this passage helps us understand the nature of a disease we all share and how we can fight it. Sin is a heart condition: it deceives, it hardens, and it feeds on unbelief. The only true remedy for our disease is a deeper affection for Jesus, which grows as we encourage and challenge one another.

When the author of Hebrews wished to encourage his readers to remain faithful, he pointed them to the faithfulness of Jesus. But so much rests on the answer to this question: What is the connection between Jesus?s faithfulness and ours?

At the heart of Christianity is the claim that God took on our humanity?became one of us?so that he could suffer. Hebrews 2 helps us understand why this had to be. Jesus became like us so he could act for us, defeating death as our champion by removing sin as our high priest. And because Jesus suffered everything we could before we do, he empathizes with us and promises us our Father is trustworthy.

Death is the fundamental human problem. It shows us the limits of our power perhaps more clearly than anything else. It calls into question everything we were meant to be and all we try to accomplish. And, from the perspective of the Bible and Hebrews in particular, death is unnatural?an impostor, a weapon in the hands of a ruthless enemy whose days are numbered. For the death and resurrection of Jesus hold out a promise, a promise that his sacrifice means the death of death itself.

In this first of several warning passages in Hebrews, the message is as simple as it is serious: don?t drift away from Jesus. What makes this drifting so dangerous? What would it look like for us to drift from Jesus? And how can we avoid it?