Hebrews: Christ Is Better

Sources: John O'Keefe and R.R. Reno, Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible (Johns Hopkins, 2005), chapter 4; Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 3d ed. (Oxford, 2004); I. Howard Marshall et al., Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters and Revelation (IVP, 2002), chapter 21.

Reading: Ps. 110.

I. The Plot of a Text
What is the whole story in which we are characters?
Sensing the plot of an unfolding story (especially a history) requires discernment.

The NT writers (led by OT writers) read the OT and NT in terms of an epic 'metanarrative' of creation, redemption, and consummation shaped and centered by the coming of Messiah Jesus.

Typology assists by moving "beyond analysis of particular words and images toward the larger, unifying patterns" of Scripture.

Typology works by association, not abstraction.
Israel already sensed patterns in its history (e.g., exile and return as revisited captivity and exodus: see Hosea 11).
Hebrews employs typology masterfully. Pivotal material interprets texts such as Psalm 95, Psalm 110, and Jeremiah 31 as referring to Jesus and to the present time.
Hebrews is not a 'mashup' or 'sample,' but a jazz-improv Christmas medley.

Early church interpreters followed their lead.

II. Don't Go Back: Hebrews
Hebrews pursues an extended sermonic argument:

Christ is better (1:1-5:10) than the prophets, angels, Moses, Joshua, and Levites. Cf. Psalm 110 in 5-7.
(Does Hebrews' treatment of his humanity make you a little nervous anywhere?)
Christ's work is better (7:1-10:18) as a priest, for the covenant, in the heavenly tabernacle, as a sacrifice. Cf. Jer 31 in 8-10. (Do you need help understanding the Melchizedek material?)
This new arrangement between God and the world overshadows the old. Cf. Psalm 40 in 10.
So don't abandon it! (2:1-4, 3:7-18, 6:1-6, 10:26-29). Cf. Psalm 95 in 3-4.
Instead, embrace faith, hope, love, discipline, obedience, and freedom (11-13). Cf. Proverbs 3:11-12 and Psalm 56 in 12-13.

This argument turns on how Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension fulfilled the old arrangement's promises.
Discuss: Compare one of those Old Testament texts in its original literary context to its meaning in Hebrews' new one.

III. Unknowns?
Despite its brilliance, Hebrews' unknowns (date, occasion, audience, audience's ethnicity, and especially author—13:23 shows it's someone in Timothy's circle: Barnabas? Luke? Paul? Apollos? Priscilla?) made it less respected than the gospels and Pauline letters, especially in the Roman west.

This demonstrates that the church cared about its scriptures' reliability, and that other writings more easily passed their tests.
A question to ponder: How much would knowing these contexts inform us today?

IV. The Plot Thickens: Hebrews' Legacies
Its 'high' Christology guides the formation and use of the doctrine of incarnation.
Its typological exegesis of Scripture influences 1500 years of biblical interpretation.
Its Hellenistic-Jewish resemblance to Platonistic metaphysics helps recruit each to the other's service.
Is it Jewish, or anti-Jewish? Its bracketing of Israel's significance is (mis?)read as supersessionism (cf. 11-12).

Discuss: Each NT writing so far seems susceptible to abuse. What were earlier instances? What distinguishes good from bad interpretations?

Its development of Christ's priesthood drives western 'Anselmian' doctrines of salvation.
In all these ways it has trained the Church to follow its rendering of the plotline.