Music recording by The Falls Church Anglican Choir directed by Simon Dixon, From O Thou That Tellest, Messiah, by George Frideric Handel, 1742. View lyrics. Narration by Aimee Riegert.

Devotional by Dave Chaves.

Image: The Papyrus 46 manuscript dates to about 200 AD and contains text from many of Paul’s letters as well as the Letter to the Hebrews which is pictured here.

The Letter to the Hebrews opens with incredible claims: Jesus is the mouthpiece of God, the One through whom the world was created, the heir of all things, the exact representation of God’s nature, the radiance of His glory, and the One who upholds the existence of the universe. These are astounding statements! They are even more remarkable considering that they come from a Jewish writer who would have considered it outrageous, stone-throwing blasphemy to assign any of God’s eternal attributes to a mere mortal.

Hebrews was written among early followers of Jesus who interacted with eyewitnesses (2:3). The letter was composed before the fall of Jerusalem, within one generation of Jesus’ death, and in an environment where those who put their faith in Jesus faced persecution and death. Within the living memory of Jesus’ very public trial, torture, and death, the book of Hebrews argues for the superiority of Jesus over all angels and ancestors, over Moses and the law, over all priests, and over all religious and sacrificial systems. And yet the Messiah described in Hebrews is not an invention of overactive first century imagination. God has been telling us about Him throughout history. He’s spoken of Him “at many times and in many ways” over the course of 1,400 years. Across multiple continents and languages, the biblical prophets recorded dreams, visions, poems, proverbs, law, song, drama – the whole story points to Messiah.

From Abel’s blood and Isaac’s sacrifice to the Hebrew religious feasts and laws, and the lives of Joseph, Moses, Esther, and David, we find portraits of a coming Deliverer—a Promised Savior, Paschal Lamb, Suffering Servant, Kinsman Redeemer, Priest and King. His life is described hundreds of years in advance in detailed prophecies of His lineage, birthplace, identity, ministry, entry to Jerusalem, betrayal, rejection, suffering, death, burial, resurrection, and global impact. The book of Hebrews itself includes 82 references to passages from the Hebrew Bible. God speaks through His living and active Word, and by the Son’s word of power the universe is upheld.