Reading: Hebrews 1
Speaker: Paul McCabe
This Week’s Thoughts
Do you suffer from an incurable condition called “Questions about Scripture”? I know I do. Do you lay awake at night wondering if Adam and Eve had belly buttons, why Elisha was teased for being bald, and if Jesus cried as a baby? Another question comes to mind when I explore the New Testament, namely, who authored the Book of Hebrews?
We can say one thing for certain. The first recipients of Hebrews knew who it was from. The letter did not need to be signed. Now that certainly has been lost to time. I have an opinion, but we will get to that. What I will say is that the author began in power, saying: “God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Wow!
This was a dangerous letter. The author wrote to a young church with members who were losing their way. They were drifting back to the old ways of Judaism; forgetting that Jesus is our connective tissue to God. This flock had grown less attentive to instruction and some had ceased regular attendance at meetings. They needed reminding that they had a better messenger than Moses, the angels, or prophets. Forget messengers when you have Messiah Himself!
But back to authorship. All study Bibles say the author of Hebrews is unknown. But we know that he knew Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), he knew his readers and longed to see them again (13:19), and his Old Testament knowledge was unmatched. Then there is the case from church history. By the 4th century, there was unanimity that Paul authored 14 letters (including Hebrews). In early manuscripts, Hebrews never circulated as a general epistle but was always placed among Paul’s other letters.
We only lost universal acceptance of Paul’s authorship in the modern age. But when we move from external to internal evidence, we see yet more ties between Hebrews and Paul’s other epistles. I believe that Hebrews is a transcription of a sermon delivered by Paul. This is why the author (Paul) intentionally calls attention away from himself and focuses entirely on God and His Messiah.
The opening 4 verses – history’s most famous sermonic hook – has the most pristine, sublime Greek. Some say this elevated style is incompatible with Paul. Not so! When we consider his Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:5-11 and his Ode to Love in 1 Corinthians 13, we see Paul was comfortable with high level Greek. And who else is the most likely candidate to combine powerful eloquence with profound Scriptural knowledge? It seems open and shut to me.
But wait, I sense God saying. Hit the brakes and take a beat. Is the most important thing about Hebrews who its author was? No. Of course not. We will see the importance of Hebrews in coming weeks as we hear how Christ is our eternal high priest, superior to angels, the Mosaic covenant, or the earthly tabernacle. I am excited for the road ahead, as Hebrews unpacks the Old Testament unlike any other letter. Now, is that because Paul, the powerhouse of the apostolic age, wrote Hebrews? I will let you be the judge.