At
first Christianity was Jewish. Jesus was a Jew, His disciples were Jews, and
the first converts were Jews. Their first meetings took place in synagogues,
and their first controversies concerned adherence to Jewish laws. Christianity's
first critics knew it as a Jewish sect.
But for
the first Jewish believers, believing in Christ raised many questions. What
about the temple and animal sacrifices? What about the Law of Moses? Did
believing in Christ negate so much that they had grown up believing? Was it
really enough to trust in Christ? The Old Testament did not answer these
questions.
Answers
were needed right away for those who lived in the time of this book's writing. Tolerance
would soon give way to torture and executions. Nero would not leave this odd
group alone forever. Believing in Christ would be a life-or-death proposition,
and the temptation for Jewish believers to go back to their old ways would be irresistible
- unless they could know for sure they had made the right choice.
Author and Date: No one knows for sure who wrote
Hebrews. No one in the early church could say with certainty that they knew,
though the church at Alexandria (Egypt) strongly believed it to be the apostle Paul's work. Yet Hebrews has been
accorded one of the most respected places in the Bible. This book won its place
in the New Testament by its merit, not by the esteem of its author.
Did
Paul write Hebrews? Then letter's vocabulary, style, and theology differ
greatly from Paul's letters. Unlike the author of Hebrews, Paul always
identified himself in his writings; in fact, in one of them he offered his name
as proof of the letter's authenticity (2 Thess. 3:17-18). The language of Hebrews
is polished, deliberate, and without the outbursts of emotion so characteristic
of Paul. Typically Paul used Greek, Hebrew and other sources in his Old
Testament quotations, while the author of Hebrews used only the Greek
Septuagint. Hebrews 2:3 seems to say that the author did not hear the word of
salvation directly from the Lord, whereas Paul did. If Paul wrote Hebrews, he
left none of the usual clues.
Tertullian
suggested that Barnabas wrote it. Barnabas was from Cypress, where the Greek was
of good quality, and Hebrews represents the Greek of the educated and cultural
classes more than any other New Testament book. Barnabas was also a Levite
(Acts 4:36), a person who would be very familiar with Judaism's sacrificial system,
central to the books theme. Barnabas' name is translated in Acts 4:36 as
"Son of Consolation" or "Son of Exhortation," a parallel to
the descriptions in Hebrews 13:22
Martin
Luther and many contemporary scholars have speculated that Apollos wrote
Hebrews. Apollos was a Jew, an Alexandrian, and a knowledgeable, eloquent man
(Acts 18:24). But none of the church fathers named him. And if Apollos did write
Hebrews, the Alexandrian church would probably have known it because Apollos
was an Alexandrian.
Could
the author have been Priscilla, as the scholar Adolf Harnack suggested (Acts 18:26)? The masculine
participle in 11:32 probably rules that out. The original recipients knew who wrote it (13:18, 22-24), but
they left no clue for us.
No one
knows exactly when Hebrews was written either, although guessing a date is
easier than guessing the author. If it was written to the Jewish believers at Rome, as is commonly
assumed, then the fact that the community had not yet been called upon to
suffer death for their faith suggests that the epistle should be dated before
Nero's persecution of Christians in 64 A.D.
Recipients: The original audience of Hebrews is not
named. Some scholars have said the book was written to Gentile Christians,
arguing the author's use of the Septuagint and from the absence of any mention
of Gentile-Jewish controversy. Others have suggested that the letter was
addressed to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles.
But
most scholars suppose that the addressees were Jewish Christians because of the
book's heavy emphasis on Jewish topics and themes, especially the detailed
discussion of the superiority of Jesus Christ over angels, Moses, Joshua, and
Old Testament believers. Quotes of Old Testaments passages appear throughout
the book. Many of the author's themes assume an in-depth knowledge of Old
Testament priesthood and sacrifice. Jews living outside of Jerusalem would almost certainly
have been Greek-speaking, explaining the use of the Septuagint. The recipients
are addressed as "brethren" throughout, and in the early church this
would have included a large number of Jews. the title "To the
Hebrews" is not from the author's hands, but is dated as early as the
second century.
Where
did the readers live? The expression "they who are from Italy" (13:24) may refer to those
in Italy or originally from Italy but presently away
from there. It seems most resonablly to think of the readers as Jewish
believers in Rome. The letter was first known at Rome, and the concluding
salutation easily fits this view (Acts13:24, Acts 18:2). The reference to the
false teaching about food in 13:9 matches a similar problem in the Roman church
(Romans 14:1-15:3).
Structure: The structure of Hebrews is unique among
the epistles of the New Testament. Was it a letter or a sermon? It has the
ending of a letter but not the salutation of one. It does not name its author
or its intended audience, yet it contains personal greetings, assumes that the
readers knew who was writing them, and mentions some well-known mutual
acquaintances, such as Timothy (13:22). This mix of elements has caused much debate
over what the Book of Hebrews really is, with no solid conclusion. The author
himself calls it "the word of exhortation" (13:22).
Purpose: The book of Hebrews was written to address
the doubts of those who were second guessing their conversion to Christianity.
"You began with God's plan of salvation," it says in effect.
"You believe in His word and follow His plan of salvation through the
temple sacrifices. And when his one-for-all final sacrifice was made in Jesus
Christ, you believed. That was as it should be. That was God's plan. Do not go
back on the steps you have taken!"
The
author of Hebrews set out to show Christianity is the true successor to
Judaism. He centers his attention on three topics: (1) priesthood, or divine
meditation (7:1-28; 10:19-22); (2) sacrifice, or divine redemption (9:11-10:18); (3) covenant, or divine promises (8:8-13; 9:15-22). He uses three Old
Testament passages to prove this point: (1) Psalms 110:4, which announces a new
priesthood providing the necessary divine meditation; (2) Psalms 40:6-8, which
speaks of the new and final sacrifice providing divine redemption; (3) Jeremiah
31:31-34, which announces a new covenant that provides full and final
forgiveness.
According
to the author of Hebrews, all of this points to the supremacy and sufficiency
of Christ. True spirituality comes through access to God (7:19; 10:19-22).; and this
spirituality can be found only through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The book
of Hebrews establishes the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ over all (1:1-9,
9:11-14). His sacrifice
was enough to take away our sin; He is all we need to come to God today.