Posts Tagged ‘Isaiah 53:4-12’

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The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 53: 4-12
Psalm 91: 9-16
Hebrews 5: 1-10
Mark 10:35-45

If I were a betting man, and that’s a pretty big if, my hunch is that if I took a poll this morning asking people what their favourite bit of scripture was, not many of you would point to something out of the Letter to the Hebrews. My hunch is that Hebrews is not, for the most part, many people’s “go to” bit of scripture. We’re more likely to appeal to something from the Gospels, or maybe one of the psalms, perhaps a bit of Isaiah or Paul when asked to name our favourite piece of scripture. The Letter to the Hebrews, probably wouldn’t make it into the top ten list of favourite passages of scripture. But that is not to say that Hebrews isn’t full of really fabulous or important stuff. Indeed The Letter to the Hebrews is an important text because, among other things, it develops for us a theology of Christ as High Priest and it is in the middle of that argument that we land today.

Throughout The Letter to the Hebrews, the author (and I keep saying “the author” because scholars are uncertain by whom, when or where this Letter was written), the author develops a distinct and elevated Christology. As Son of God, the author claims that Jesus is superior to other beings, including angels; that Jesus is superior to other Biblical heroes, like Moses and Abraham; that Christ is superior to institutions, like the Levitical priesthood. In each case: angels, heroes or priesthood, they either worship, point to or are fulfilled by Jesus, the great High Priest. Read More