This chapter begins by talking about high priests offering sacrifices. You’d think the author’s purpose would be to write up “high priests” alongside “angels” and “Moses” on the list of things Jesus is better than, but strangely, he emphasizes Jesus’ similarities to his priestly predecessors. What’s his reason there? I don’t know, but here on Chocolate Book, we’re all about admitting our ignorance and trying to figure stuff out, so here we go.
Remember Hebrews 4 from our Sabbath study? We looked at Heaven as the supreme Sabbath, or to put it in the author of Hebrews’ terms, God’s goal of rest for his people. I suggested that the rest that the author discusses has not fully arrived, but as I read the passage today, I’m prepared to reverse that conclusion, or at least to amend it: there’s a sense in which we can, and should, enter God’s Sabbath rest for all creation right here and now. See, there is more to this passage than we originally surmised. On Chocolate Book, we are not content to remain in our former ignorance; we learn as we go.
In the past two chapters, the author of Hebrews has been making the point that Jesus is better than angels. In this chapter, he makes the point that Jesus is better than Moses.
Angels. What are they? Where do they come from? What’s their deal? Today we are going to answer none of these questions, because the first two chapters of Hebrews don’t answer them either, except as they relate to humanity and Jesus Christ. Angels, for the author of Hebrews, are not that important in themselves. But understanding angels can shed some light on other important topics, so we and the author of Hebrews alike shall concern ourselves with them.
Are we finished with All the Paul? To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure, and that’s because of the letter to the Hebrews. The author doesn’t identify himself, and while some scholars think Paul wrote it, others think he didn’t, and still others, even after all their studies, maintain there isn’t enough evidence to reach a conclusion either way. Personally, I’m disinclined to think that Paul wrote it, based on style, tone, the way the author uses Old Testament quotations, and what I would consider a less Greek-influenced theology. But just in case, we’re going to include it in our All the Paul study–or, more accurately, we’re going to start a new study titled “Possibly More of the Paul.”
Welcome to the third-shortest book in the Bible by word count. It’s Paul’s letter to Philemon, a man who had come to faith through Paul’s missionary work. Philemon owned a slave named Onesimus, who had run away, encountered Paul, and been converted to Christianity. In the ancient world, fleeing as a slave was a capital offense, but Onesimus had tended to Paul’s needs while in prison and proven himself an enthusiastic and helpful follower of Christ. Paul found himself in a tight and complicated spot, and the letter gives us a look into his response to the problem at hand.
Yesterday my uncle shot me a link to this video series from RightNow Media: The Book of Titus. In the intro video, pastor Chip Ingram encourages viewers to read through the entire book of Titus and take note of every time Paul uses the word “good.” I couldn’t help reading the third chapter today with that in mind, and it struck me that this really is a book about encouraging the church to do good deeds.
We’re revisiting Titus 2 today, because I found some more things worth looking at and I’ve decided to milk this chapter for content. I figured I’d start by dredging out our old favorite, slavery in the Bible, because everyone likes that so much.
Today we return to our irregularly-scheduled trip through Titus, already in progress. Chapter 2 of Titus, much like 1 Timothy did with the offices of overseer and deacon, runs down the proper behaviors and character traits of the different sex and age groups in the church. He has instructions for older men, older women, younger men, and younger women. I noticed that the words “sensible” (2), “may encourage” (4), and “be sensible” (6, in this instance a single infinitive verb, literally “practice sensibleness”) all have the same Greek word as their root, σώφρων (sophron). I can’t help recalling Plato’s dialogue Meno, in which the titular Meno defines virtue as governance of the state for a man, governance of the household for a woman, and a different virtue for every category of human being, and Socrates takes him to task for not defining virtue but merely providing examples of different instances of it.
So here’s a letter from Paul to Titus. But who’s this guy? A search for his name throughout the entire Bible turns up some references from 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and even the final chapter of 2 Timothy, so he’s not a complete stranger to us, even if he’s a bit of a minor character in the New Testament. Whenever Paul mentions him, it’s in positive terms, comforting brethren, conducting himself respectfully and helpfully. Titus? Everyone loves Titus. He is an okay guy.
