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October 2006, Page 1.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(October 2006)
Morning Prayer,
I praise you Lord,
Hebrews.
A uniquely worthy saviour
We look at the letter to the Hebrews this month
In a time when it seems to be unthinkable to compare and contrast faiths, and the Pope gets himself into trouble merely by quoting a remark on another faith by one of his predecessors, it is perhaps tactless of us to look carefully at one book of the bible which tries to say that our faith is better than another faith. But that’s exactly what the letter to the Hebrews does.
Why? Because the people addressed, originally Jews, had heard about Jesus and given their lives to him. They’d discovered the release and joy which Jesus gives to those who follow him.
But then their families and friends had started to persecute and pressurise them to go back to Judaism. “You can still believe in Jesus, he’s a prophet like others, but just keep quiet and do it within Judaism,” was the temptation.
So why won’t that work? The writer to the Hebrews wants to get across some truths about Jesus that will help them to see why pretending Jesus is “just another prophet” won’t work. And here are some of the truths we’ll try to unpack on Sundays in our services:
Christ has a unique nature. Everyone is a bit like God in some way, for we are all created in his likeness - but only Christ is God’s character and personality in human form.
Christ understands us. We can all empathise with each other to some extent, but nobody else knows what it’s like to be you - except Jesus.
Christ is perfect. We are all different mixes of good and evil, but none of us is fit to stand before a God who is perfection - except Jesus.
Christ has finished the job. We all have the problem of how to get right with God, and different religions are different codes of behaviour for trying to get back into relationship with him. Except none of us can manage to keep these codes. We need someone who can bridge this gap - and that’s Jesus.
Christ is reliable. You never know who you can trust, and ordinary people can let you down because they are fallible. But we can enter into a covenant - a binding agreement with God - through Christ, and this covenant will never be broken.
And for all these reasons, Christ is unique. The sacrifice system of the temple simply doesn’t work, because the priests who operate it are only human. But Jesus sets us off on a new start with God.
That’s what this book, the letter to the Hebrews, is all about. If you aren’t interested in Jesus it will be a bit of a bore. But Jesus is uniquely interesting!
John Hartley