Hebrews 13:22-25

Summary retelling of Hebrews 13:22-25

The author of Hebrews ends with an appeal.  He acknowledges that this letter is brief about many topics that could be expounded upon in greater depth.  He also announces that Timothy has been released (likely from prison) and the author places to visit the recipients of this letter with Timothy soon.  He asks them to greet everyone in the community for him.  He also sends greetings from those in Italy.  Finally, he ends the letter with a pronouncement of God’s peace.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

First of all, I love the opening thought of this section of scripture.  The author considers this 13 chapter treatise on the significance of Christ’s work to be “brief.”  Here is a pastor at heart!  But it is also reality.  Look at how much even the thoughts of this blog have expounded upon the letter of Hebrews.  I’m sure that the conversation on these verses could go on far more deeply beyond where we have taken it.  Think about all that has been said and could be said.  That is why the author confesses to this as a “brief” treatise.  With God, there is always another layer of depth to explore.

How cool is it to know that we can never reach the end of our relationship with God?  How does this make our relationship different than other academic foci?

FYI – this letter would have been read to a congregation upon being delivered.  It likely would have then been read in the nearby congregations as well.  It can certainly be read aloud start to finish in less than an hour ... but it would have been read in its entirety.  Think about that the next time you complain about a pastor’s sermon being “long” when it goes over 15 minutes!  We really are pretty theologically sissified when it comes to listening to theology being pronounced in our midst.

Second Thought:

The author announces that Timothy has been released from prison and that he hopes to travel with Timothy to visit the recipients of this letter.  We don’t really know what this reference is to.  But it does make it sound like the author is familiar with Timothy.  This is one of the reasons why some people think that Paul is the author of this letter.  The end of the letter does indeed feel very much in the style of Paul’s other letters.  Regardless of who wrote the letter, we can learn that Timothy had undergone some kind of persecution but was now free of it.  God has provided.

Have you ever been under persecution for your faith?  How did it feel once it was over?  What did you want to do once the persecution was over?  What can we learn about ourselves and our reaction to persecution through this?

Third Thought:

The author sends God’s grace as well as a greeting from the believers in Italy.  We don’t know if this was a letter written from Paul while he was in Rome.  We don’t know if this is a letter from someone who knew Paul and travelled with Timothy who also knew some people in Rome.  We also don’t know if they weren’t in Italy at all but there was a group of Italians with them who were also known to the recipients.  We don’t know much about the ending of this letter.  But we can know one thing.  Christians are a communal people.  We are meant to be in relationship with one another.

Why is it great to be in Christian relationship with each other?  What does it feel like to know that there are Christians out there who love one another regardless of whether they see each other on a regular basis or not?  How can that bring strength to our own individual lives?

Passage for Tomorrow: We begin the story of Jesus in Mark 1