Equipping University

The 2007 New England Patriots are widely considered the best team in the history of professional football. They won every single game in the regular season. However, they lost in the Super Bowl and, therefore, they failed in their ultimate goal. Just like in the sports world, it is possible for people to "perform" well in the church and yet fail to cross the finish line. The author of Hebrews is concerned that some of his readers might be a "rocky soil" type that reveals his faith insufficient to withstand persecution and tribulation. The author knows that true faith is a faith that obviously has a beginning point but also one that endures to the very end of life. The gospel of Jesus Christ calls on believers not only to start the Christian life but also to finish well by the grace of God. In fact, the Bible declares that only those who do finish the race can properly be called believers. In this lesson, we see that unbelief is not a passive non-response to God but an active response that deserves punishment. Because of this, the readers are urged to keep on believing.

To capture the prize, one must keep his eye on the prize. This is true in swimming, running, archery, and many other competitive sports. It is also true in the spiritual arena. As the second major section of the letter to the Hebrews begins, the author has this same truism in mind for his readers. He is fearful that some of his beloved readers will be tempted to take their eyes off the prize and will drift away. If they do this, he knows that they run the risk of losing the prize completely. The author knows the very real temptation these Jewish Christians faced to return to the religion of their fathers. Rome tolerated Judaism but there was more calling them back than cultural acceptance and social, political, and economic safety. Judaism was comfortable and one always knew where one stood and what had to be done to be right with God. Judaism was familiar with its thousands of years of well-known rituals and stories. Judaism was a source of personal and national pride with all the recorded acts of God for the sake of His chosen people Israel. It was only to Israel that God had revealed Himself in such a special way through such famous people as Noah, Abraham, David, Elijah, and Isaiah. However, in that pantheon of great religious leaders, one stood tall above the rest in the minds of Jews - Moses. The work before the author: convince his readers that Jesus is superior to Moses.

Disasters, both natural and unnatural, create aftershocks of a different sort in both survivors and witnesses. People are suddenly willing to think about their faith and its relationship to the reality all around them. In the aftermath, people wrestle with tough theological questions - sometimes for the first time in their lives. Many see a tremendous contradiction in the idea that God could coexist in a world with such egregious evil and suffering. The problem of such evil is not a mere intellectual exercise in philosophy. Among those who do not doubt His existence, the question that is always asked in times such as these is, "Where is God?" The author of Hebrews anticipates such questions and reactions from his readers. It is the author's pastoral affection for his readers that compels him to write the letter in the first place. He knows that his readers are almost surely thinking these thoughts as they underwent persecution. If the author of Hebrews is correct and Jesus is the supreme Being in the universe who now sits at the right hand of God, reigning with all authority and dominion, then why are bad things still happening?