Grace Community Church of Ramona Podcast

For those of us who do not care for running it probably seems fitting that the Greek term for a foot race is agon from which we derive the term agony. We have a number of marathoners in our church family and they know all about the agony of the race. They are a different breed of human being; much to be admired.

In Hebrews 12 the Preacher likens the life of faith to running a race which I'm sure our marathoners would agree is an apt comparison. Both take discipline, both require endurance of pain and fatigue, both have experiences of intense joy and satisfaction and both are run in hope of reaching the finish line.

Some of those to whom the Preacher wrote were tempted to drop out of the race and return to Judaism. The Preacher's purpose was to strengthen and encourage these Hebrew Christians to continue to run the race with endurance because those who endure inherit the promises of God.

Why is it that on the Sunday mornings we take a tiny piece of bread and a tiny cup of juice we call it the Lord’s Supper? It’s not even a snack much less a supper!

But from the beginning the Lord’s Supper was a supper. Jesus was eating the Passover meal with His disciples when He broke the bread and gave the cup to His disciples (Matt. 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-23). The early church celebrated the Lord's Supper as a shared meal (Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34). In fact, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 indicates that the Lord’s Supper was celebrated weekly by the entire church family as a part of the meeting of the church.

From 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 I want to make a case for re-establishing the Lord’s Supper as a shared meal here at Grace Church. As I will explain later, this will not replace but supplement our Sunday morning observance of the Lord’s Supper.

As we turn to 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 we realize quickly that it is a stern corrective for abuses that were taking place at the Lord’s Supper meal in Corinth. In fact, Paul reveals that these abuses were the reason the Lord had disciplined church members with both sickness and premature death (11:30)! The value Jesus places on the Lord’s Supper is a compelling reason for us to restore it to a shared meal.

Paul confronts two problems. First, the union of believers one with another was being violated.

It is a common misconception that people who lived during the Old Testament were saved by keeping the Law of Moses while those who lived after Jesus are saved by grace. This error was perpetuated by the Pharisees in Judaism and later by the Judaizers in the Church. The Apostle Paul combated this error in both Romans and Galatians.

The truth of the matter is that in every dispensation, sinners are reconciled to God by faith. Faith is the basis by which every sinner from Adam & Eve to the last person born in the Millennial Kingdom is justified before God. No sinner has or ever will be declared righteous by God on the basis of keeping the Law or by good works.

In 10:19-39, the Preacher applies, warns and encourages. To fully understand we need to think about a critical incident in the ministry of our Lord recorded in Matthew 12. Prior to Matthew 12, Jesus and His disciples traveled from town to town preaching the good news of the Kingdom and appealing to the nation of Israel to "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." On the occasion recorded in Matthew 12:22-45, Jesus cast out a demon. When the people asked if Jesus could be "the Son of David" (v.23), that is, the Messiah, their spiritual leaders responded that Jesus was in league with Satan, not God (12:24). This is the unpardonable sin. This is the moment the nation of Israel rejected Messiah. From that point on, Jesus spoke judgment upon that generation (12:38-45; 21:33-46; 23:1-36). He began speaking in parables to hide the truth as an act of judgment (13:10-17). He and His disciples no longer preached the coming of the Kingdom (16:20). Jesus began preparing His disciples for His crucifixion and resurrection (17:9-13, 22-23; 20:17-19). Jesus revealed the judgment that would befall that generation.

In 9:1-10:18 the Preacher continues to demonstrate the inadequacies of the Mosaic (Old) Covenant. The ministry of the Old Covenant took place in an earthly tabernacle that limited access to God to one man once a year; the ministry of the New Covenant takes place in the heavenly Tabernacle and opens access to God through the one man, Jesus Christ. Animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant had to be offered repeatedly because they dealt only with the external and could not take away sin; Jesus' sacrifice under the New Covenant was offered once for all because it purifies the conscience and takes away sin. The Old Covenant was a shadow and parable meant to reveal truths about God, the way of salvation and ultimately the Messiah; the New Covenant is the reality.

In our study of Hebrews 7:11-28 we discovered that in 1000B.C., through King David, God revealed a massive change in His program for Israel: Messiah will be both King and Priest! This revelation had huge implications: a change in the priesthood necessarily requires a change in the law. Psalm 110:4 revealed that when Messiah comes the Law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood would end. They would be replaced by the Law of Messiah and the Melchizedekian Priesthood. Far from being an attack on Judaism, these changes were always part of God's plan. Another implication of Psalm 110:4 is that with a change in the law and priesthood, there would also be a change in the covenant. The Law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood were associated with the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant between God and Israel. The terms of the Mosaic Covenant were straight forward:  obedience to the Law brings blessing, disobedience brings cursing.

With the coming of Jesus our Messiah a massive change took place in God's program: both the Law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood came to an end. They were replaced by the Law of Messiah and the Melchizedekian Priesthood. As Gentiles we struggle to comprehend the magnitude of this change.

For the Jews of the first century A.D. such an idea was incomprehensible. In their view Jesus was a blasphemer, not the Messiah. As far as they were concerned absolutely nothing changed in God's program. To suggest that the Law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood had ended and been replaced was, in their view, an attack on Judaism and Jewish identity.

Their hatred and persecution of messianic believers for holding such a belief is not hard to understand. In Hebrews 7:11-28 the Preacher explains the purpose, reasons and result of this change in God's program. He shows that this change in the law and priesthood is not a New Testament invention, but was always part of God's plan as revealed in the Jewish Scriptures by one of the pillars of Judaism, King David himself.

The recipients of the book of Hebrews were not in a good place spiritually. They were saved but they were spiritual babies. They had become "dull of hearing" and were dangerously vulnerable to their enemies. The Preacher was concerned lest they fall away, recant their faith in Christ and fail to go on to spiritual maturity (5:11-6:8). Having delivered a stern warning about the consequences of falling away, he softens his tone to encourage his brothers and sisters to go on to spiritual maturity.

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians in 65 A.D. suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus as Messiah.  In this warning section the Preacher confronts their spiritual regression. As a result of drifting away from God’s Word (2:1), they have regressed to a state of spiritual infancy increasingly vulnerable to their Jewish antagonists and the temptation to defect from Christ. The Preacher seeks to shake them out of their spiritual lethargy and to help them press on to spiritual maturity. He warns them that if they continue their drift and defect back into Judaism they will cross a line of no return. In 5:11-14, the Preacher addresses the fact they have become dull of hearing.