January 31st, 2024
Is comparison really the thief of joy? You’d have a hard time convincing the author of Hebrews. The epistle is full of comparison. The word “better” (kreitton) appears thirteen times! And only three other times in the rest of the New Testament.
Reading and studying through Hebrews 11, we may have been convinced that the major theme is faith. But when we get to the end of the chapter, we are reminded of the larger narrative. This book is about Jesus. He is “better than the angels,” (1:4). He offers a “better hope” (7:19). He is the guarantor and mediator of a “better covenant” (7:22; 8:6), enacted on “better promises” (8:6). He is representative of “better sacrifices” (9:23), and secures for us a “better and enduring possession…in heaven” (10:34).
Even without the actual word “better,” Hebrews has constantly used comparison to show the uniqueness of Jesus’ person and work. In chapter 1 Jesus is better than the angels. In chapter 2 his message – the word of salvation – is better. He has more glory than Moses, according to chapter 3. He is a better High Priest, chapter 4 teaches. As you continue reading, everything is better about this exalted Christ. This is the author’s chief argument to convince his audience not to slip back into Christless Judaism.
So again, it’s interesting to come to the end of chapter 11 and read, “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” What was better? What did the patriarchs not receive? What could possibly make us perfect? The only sensible answer is Christ.
These men and women of faith looked forward to the Promise, enduring hardship, so they could experience the fulness of Christ with us. Nothing was accomplished prior to the coming of Christ. Yet, when He came, and offered Himself up as a sacrifice for sin, “He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (10:14). That word “perfected” is the same word used in Hebrews 11:40 for “made perfect.” It has the idea of completion, fulfillment, and accomplishment. Because of Christ’s completed work, all those who trust in Him will be made perfect.
As the vision of the Old Testament saints was partial and incomplete, so was the outcome of their faith. They did not receive the promise. But they were commended for their faith and guaranteed the experience of that promise in the future “with all the saints” (Eph. 3:18).
Living in the age of fulfillment, however, we enjoy union with Christ now and can look to the Author and Finisher (from the same root as “made perfect”) of our faith. Comparison is not the thief of joy for the first readers of Hebrews or us today. Rather, comparison leads to fulness of joy. How much better to have the object of our faith in us (Colossians 1:27) and always with us (Matthew 28:20)!
Reading and studying through Hebrews 11, we may have been convinced that the major theme is faith. But when we get to the end of the chapter, we are reminded of the larger narrative. This book is about Jesus. He is “better than the angels,” (1:4). He offers a “better hope” (7:19). He is the guarantor and mediator of a “better covenant” (7:22; 8:6), enacted on “better promises” (8:6). He is representative of “better sacrifices” (9:23), and secures for us a “better and enduring possession…in heaven” (10:34).
Even without the actual word “better,” Hebrews has constantly used comparison to show the uniqueness of Jesus’ person and work. In chapter 1 Jesus is better than the angels. In chapter 2 his message – the word of salvation – is better. He has more glory than Moses, according to chapter 3. He is a better High Priest, chapter 4 teaches. As you continue reading, everything is better about this exalted Christ. This is the author’s chief argument to convince his audience not to slip back into Christless Judaism.
So again, it’s interesting to come to the end of chapter 11 and read, “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” What was better? What did the patriarchs not receive? What could possibly make us perfect? The only sensible answer is Christ.
These men and women of faith looked forward to the Promise, enduring hardship, so they could experience the fulness of Christ with us. Nothing was accomplished prior to the coming of Christ. Yet, when He came, and offered Himself up as a sacrifice for sin, “He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (10:14). That word “perfected” is the same word used in Hebrews 11:40 for “made perfect.” It has the idea of completion, fulfillment, and accomplishment. Because of Christ’s completed work, all those who trust in Him will be made perfect.
As the vision of the Old Testament saints was partial and incomplete, so was the outcome of their faith. They did not receive the promise. But they were commended for their faith and guaranteed the experience of that promise in the future “with all the saints” (Eph. 3:18).
Living in the age of fulfillment, however, we enjoy union with Christ now and can look to the Author and Finisher (from the same root as “made perfect”) of our faith. Comparison is not the thief of joy for the first readers of Hebrews or us today. Rather, comparison leads to fulness of joy. How much better to have the object of our faith in us (Colossians 1:27) and always with us (Matthew 28:20)!
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