[CatherineTorpey]

Hello all,

If you look for these notes on Saturdays, I apologize. I was pooped yesterday.

Our scripture today is from the New Testament book of Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, and our preacher is the Rev. Christina Fleming. Our wonderful Christina left Middle a few years ago to go to seminary and now she has her own church. It will be a treat to hear from her!

The Epistle (Letter) to the Hebrews is in a category all its own in the New Testament. It was traditionally attributed to Paul, but modern scholars agree that it is not by Paul. For one thing, the style of the Greek is totally different from Paul. Paul is a bit scrappy and intemperate and there are certain tropes and habits that he displays in all his letters, which are not seen in this letter. This letter is a very high style of Greek, very tight and educated and making a clear argument. Paul’s genuine letters (epistles) are all really letters, addressing very specific people around very specific local issues. The letter to the Hebrews is more of what one might call a “general audience” kind of letter — in other words, not written to a specific congregation around a very precise squabble. Rather, this letter is written to… well, the Hebrews. In other words, it is very specifically NOT addressed to the gentiles who were becoming Christians, but to the Jewish Christians, who were having to navigate more and more the problem of whether they were abandoning their Judaism by following Jesus as the Christ.

The author of Hebrews wants to show Jews that Jesus came as the Christ to fulfill the Jewish law and prophecies.

At the time of the writing of Hebrews, what it meant to be a Jew was totally different from how we think of it today. Today we think about rabbis and synagogues. Those existed and were important to the social fabric, but true Jewish worship meant what happened at the Temple in Jerusalem, under the authority of priests who wore fancy outfits, said fancy prayers, and performed the required animal sacrifices according to very strict codes. There were many priests, and there was always on High Priest. If we think of the importance of Pope at the Vatican for Catholics, that gives us a sense of the meaning of the High Priest at the Temple.

The author of Hebrews tells the Jews that Jesus has become the true High Priest, and his sacrifice is the fulfillment of the sacrifices of the Temple.

The author is wanting the readers to understand how faith is something beyond what is before your eyes. Yes, the priests and the Temple in Jerusalem are before your eyes, but the True Priest and the True Temple are heavenly. The author relates this in today’s passage to the experience of Abraham and Sarah, who were promised a land that they could not yet see.

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