Hebrews 2-4

Since I'm a day late on this, I'll keep this reasonably short (cue eye rolling and catcalls; I mean actually short, not "Hope short," where a sermon that finishes before 10:30 is considered "short.") What strikes me about this passage is the strong encouragement it contains. We have a tendency to be a bit passive in our Christian walk (I believe the official joke phrase is "Let go and let God"), but just in this passage we are encouraged to "pay much closer attention to what we have heard" (2:1), to thoroughly "consider Jesus" (3:1), to "hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope" (3:6), to "take care, lest there be in any of you an unbelieving heart" (3:12), to "exhort one another every day" (3:13), to "hold our confidence firm" (3:14), and to "strive to enter that rest" (4:11).

If we stop there, this passage would not be encouragement; it would be impossible. Telling someone to try harder at a task that they can't possibly complete is not encouragement. Fortunately the author does not stop there: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (4:15-16.) Our encouragement to strive for our faith is not based on our own ability; we can hold fast because Jesus has already completed the task for us, and even more mind-bogglingly, completed it as our brother (2:11) with our same weaknesses and temptations. He understands our struggles, but encourages us with two facts:

1. It can be done because I was just like you and did it;
2. It can be done because I already did it for you, and my achievement counts instead of yours.

I feel like I can't really grasp this. I feel like I will never properly grasp this. I would try but .. um … whoa hey looks like my time is up.