My wife and I have a regular route we walk in the evenings
through our neighborhood. We often use the time to debrief about our day. She’ll say, what do you want to talk about? So I’ll tell her about my day, a book I’m reading, questions I’m mulling over, or whatever. Then it will be her turn: now what would you like to talk about? And she’ll use the return trip to tell me about her day, a visit we’re planning to see grandkids, her upcoming Bible study, or whatever.
Imagine if you could take a walk with God, and He said, what would you like to talk about? You might bring up personal issues, questions you’ve always wanted to ask Him, and requests for His help. Then it would be His turn. You would say, Lord, what would You like to talk about? I wonder what He would say.
Actually I’m pretty sure I know. He would say, I’d like to
talk about My Son.
Our church has embarked upon a Sunday morning series on the
book of Hebrews, and so for nearly a year I’ve been privileged to invest a good
part of my time studying this great book. It you ever want to ask God the question,
what do You want to talk about?, you’ll find His answer in Hebrews. He wants to
talk about Jesus.
Some books are written with a long introduction, to try to
capture your attention with a comfortable image or a cute story. (Some
preachers attempt the same ploy – to sneak up on their listeners with a joke or
a poem or a personal anecdote.)
Not so the Book of Hebrews. This book is about the Supremacy of Jesus. From the first
sentence the author proclaims the greatness of Jesus, and he continues to do so
for the next 303 verses.
He says it again and again: Jesus is greater than the prophets, He’s greater than the angels,
greater than Moses, greater than any high priest or any religion that has ever
been.
The book’s opening phrases look out over all the ages, and
proclaim that they all culminate with Christ. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our
fathers by the prophets… From the dawn of time, God
has revealed the truth about Himself, about creation and the human family.
He spoke to Moses in a burning bush and gave him tablets on
the mountain. Elijah heard His still small voice after the wind and the
earthquake and the fire. Isaiah saw a great, life-changing vision of His
holiness in the Temple. The Lord spoke to Hosea through his own marriage and
family, and to Amos in a basket of summer fruit.
But all these ways over all these times, though true and
right, all of this was only the warm-up for God’s final word. Verse 2 says, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. And it’s not just what He says by His Son. It’s 13 chapters about His Son. “I want to talk about
Jesus.”
Hebrews’ original audience were people tempted not only to
complacency, but also to retreat – to go back to their old way of life. Maybe
life would be better – at least easier – back in Judaism. To which the Lord says,
if you can so casually consider walking away from My Son, you never knew Him in
the first place. Because Jesus is the Greatest, the Highest, the Most Worthy,
the Alpha and Omega, the culmination of history, the only Way, Truth, and Life.
To walk away from Him would be both crazy and contemptible. He demands and
deserves first place in your life.
For next time: Seven Incredible Descriptions of Jesus Christ
