Lenten blog | April 10, 2025

Here's a word where q isn't followed by u

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for April 10th:  Psalm 31:9-16; Isaiah 53:10-12; and Hebrews 2:1-9.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is unknown to history.  In my New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible, the Pauline Epistles many scholars definitively attribute to Paul have the same heading as the disputed Pauline Epistles (often called the Deutero-Pauline Epistles):  “The Letter of Paul to …”  Then comes Hebrews.  Following the 13 Paul or Pauline-school Epistles, one finds Hebrews.  The heading for this Epistle reads:  “The Letter to the Hebrews.”  There is no mention of Paul.  Ancient tradition did credit this New Testament Epistle to Paul, but that is basically discredited by modern scholars.  So whoever this author was, we are indebted to that person for this inspired work.

As the heading indicates, this is an early Christian writing to Hebrews.  Most of the earliest followers of Jesus had been Jewish.  Jesus called Jewish disciples and mostly ministered to His fellow Jews.  It is only logical that Jews would have been the first ones attracted to faith in Jesus.  However, turning to faith in Jesus is not the same as remaining in the faith of Jesus.  The Epistle to the Hebrews seems to be addressing the fact that some of those early converts were reverting back to their previous faith.  It could not have been easy to abandon the inspired teachings and practices of a thousand-year-plus faith, the legitimacy it offered as a recognized religion of the Roman Empire, not to mention the stature of the Temple’s monumental architecture and the familiarity of shared traditions among neighbours and family.  These factors weighed on the recent Christian converts from Judaism, and some were turning back to their previous faith.  This is where the Epistle to the Hebrews comes into play.  It is the unknown author’s attempt to persuade the converts to remain with their new faith in Jesus.

One argument the author uses is a traditional Jewish one.  It is the Rabbinic principle called qal wahomer (Hebrew for light and heavy) and it argues that if something applies in a less important case, it will certainly apply in a more important one.  Hebrews argues that the Jewish teachings were revealed through God’s angels.  In the Hebrew Bible there is often an intentional confusion as to whether it is a direct vision of Yahweh or “the angel of the Lord.”  This reflects the tension between the transcendence and immanence of God.  Hebrews latches onto this discrepancy and argues that the previous revelation was angelic, and then proceeds to offer that the Christian revelation, since Christ is divine according to the new faith, is of a higher sort since it comes directly from God.

This leads to these verses:  “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.”

Let’s try to disassociate the “we’re better than them” logic of this qal wahomer argument and focus instead on the message that God has invested God’s own self in Christ and in Christ’s church.  This leads to the rhetorical question of how can we possibly neglect “so great a salvation?”  It cost God everything that God could offer, which is God’s own self, so that we could be saved and abide with God forever.  This is how much we mean to God.  This is how important our relationship is to God.  This is one of the few places in the New Testament where later generations will eventually discover reference to the Trinity.  Here we have Jesus as “Lord,” and the Father as “God added his testimony,” and also “by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”  The fullness of God is a part of this offer of salvation, how can we not be moved? 

These are the last ten days of Lent.  I hope we use them effectively to grow closer to Christ, and to Him crucified. 

If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.
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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.