Jesus Is...!
Hebrews 12:18-29
October 15, 2017
It’s pretty easy to get a group of people into an argument. It’s not talking about politics . . . it’s about asking their opinions. It’s to ask the question . . . “What’s the greatest?”
So, let’s get the debate going . . .
What’s the greatest car ever made?
Who’s the greatest president ever?
Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time?
Who’s the greatest composer?
What’s the greatest movie of all time?
What’s the greatest Christian song?
These are pretty simple questions, but they can get a few people wound up because others are dissing or disagreeing with their opinion about who or what is the greatest. We can get pretty passionate about our opinions. Raising our voices, making our points, repeating our points.
When we think about this series about who Jesus is . . . one answer would be to say Jesus is the GREATEST! That’s really one of the points the author has been making all along. When Jesus is compared to the competition, the answer is always Jesus! Jesus is the greatest.
The writer demonstrated earlier in this book that - - - -
Jesus is greater than Angels (1:4-2:18)
Jesus is greater than Moses (3:1-6)
Jesus is greater than Aaron (4:14 to 5:10)
Jesus is greater than Melchizedek (7:1-17)
Today as we look at the final section of Hebrews 12, we are going to be reminded that grace is greater than the law.
To better understand this - we need to better know what is the LAW. The law is defined by the Hebrews word TORAH. The Torah for Jewish people is comprised of the first 5 books of the Bible in the Old Testament. Those would be
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy
The word Torah means “The Law!” For the Jewish people they held onto the law. That’s how they lived their lives. Everything was about the law. They wouldn’t ask ‘do you know God?’ But ‘are you following the law?’ That’s what was most important for them.
In fact, in the first 5 books of the Bible there are 613 laws or commandments. 365 are thou shalt not, while 248 state you are supposed to do something. That’s a lot to remember and not mess up. The most well known laws are the 10 commandments, found in Exodus 20.
The point of this final section of Hebrews 12 is that we are no longer under the law, but we are under grace, through Jesus Christ. And being under grace is so much greater than being under the law!
So, let’s look at Hebrews 12:18-21
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.
20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”
21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
The writer wants the people to look back to the scene in Exodus 19:16 and 18 in which we can paint a vivid picture of what was happening on Mt. Sinai. Moses was up on the mountain receiving the 10 Commandments from God, and this what the people are experiencing while Moses is up the mountain ~
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain
and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire.
The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. – Exodus 19:18
It’s a tense situation. There’s drama. The mountain is dark, there’s smoke, the mountain is shaking. And the people are freaking out. They could not approach God on the mountain, except for Moses. Not even a beast was allowed to come near the mountain. It’s like the put a police line around the mountain so that nobody would approach it and go too far. If a person or an animal got too close, they would certainly die. Hebrews also tells us that Moses was even trembling. That’s how terrifying this scene is. And that is the exact image the writer wants us to understand.
Now he does a compare and contrast of Mount Sinai with Mount Zion.
He’s doing what we might try to do if we were to try and describe a zebra to a child who has never seen a zebra.
The child asks, “What is a zebra?”
We might say, “A zebra is an animal, picture what a horse looks like, but not quite as big as a horse. It also has stripes mostly going up and down on it whole body. The stripes are like the stripes of a tiger, but they are not black and orange, they are black and white.
We end up using comparison and contrast to explain what a zebra looks like. As long as the child knows what a tiger and horse look like, he or she will be able to get a good idea about what a zebra looks like.
In a similar way the writer in Hebrews compares and Judaism and Christianity - - -
The Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
He does it by using 2 pictures of mountains:
Mount Sinai (physical mountain).
Mount Zion (spiritual mountain).
So, as we move forward, the writer tells us ~
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:22-24
Can you see the difference in tone and attitude in these verses compared to what the first verses sounded like?
The writer is talking about the living God
heavenly Jerusalem
innumerable angels in festal gatherings
spirits of the righteous made perfect
God the judge
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
This sounds so much better than mountains and people trembling.
Sinai was a place of fear, trembling, horror; as the people were confronted with the Law, commandments, judgement, and condemnation.
Zion is a picture of grace, forgiveness, atonement, and salvation.
Sinai was forbidding and terrifying,
Zion is inviting and gracious;
Sinai was closed to all. You could not approach the mountain or you’d die.
Zion is open to all because Jesus Christ has met the terms of Sinai and will stand in the place of anyone who places their faith in Him.
So, there is no need to fear or tremble regarding our judgment, because Jesus has paid the price for you and I.
The world’s vision of God in that day was based upon the booming voice of God that sounded like 100's of trumpet blasts. A sound that would strike fear and dread into the hearts of the people. It was based on the smoke, fire and darkness of the cloud that sat upon the mountain symbolizing God’s power and that fact that He hid His face from people or they would be instantly destroyed.
When God would speak to the people, they would beg Moses to tell God to stop. They simply could not endure His power; and they couldn’t understand God’s mercy and grace; and had no assurance in their hearts of being treated as a son or daughter of God. They felt more like subjects of God than children of God.
Ah, but now we are invited to Zion, not Sinai. Though faith in Christ we can get a vision of God that no one could have dreamed of in the Old Testament. Through faith the way is now opened so we could come before the very presence of God, right into the very Throne Room of God, which is far greater than going into the Holy of Holies.
We don’t approach God through the Mercy Seat upon the Ark of the Covenant with the blood of a lamb; that we looked at earlier in Hebrews, but we approach the God of Mercy through the blood of Jesus.
Where once there was lightning, thunder, fire and trumpets; now there is praise, worship and glorifying God. Where once there was a warning to not touch God’s mountain for fear of death; now there is an open invitation to come right up on the mountain and commune with God one on one. We are called to eat with Him, as He eats with us. What an amazing, powerful and glorious difference!
We no longer approach God begging for mercy. For once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, the door is now opened into a new life, eternal life on earth and in the future. We can approach God as His beloved, holy and dear children. We are no longer condemned and doomed. We are now viewed as righteous, not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Christ did for us.
As we move to the end, the writer concludes with words of warning and hope ~
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused Him
who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven.
26 At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken —
that is, things that have been made — in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
The point the writer is trying to make is this . . .
Because the new covenant is superior, Christ is calling for a response from the people. He warned us while on earth, and there is the heavenly warning as well, that the people need to make claim Christ as Lord. Part of this is a reference to the Jewish people from the exodus . . . but that warning extends to all people.
We are not to reject the call of Christ. Ultimately there is the warning from verse 26 that the earth and the heavens will be shaken. This is not about people losing their salvation once they’re in heaven, it’s about the created order of things. That’s why the writer spoke about things that are made in verse 27.
As a result, the writer says in the final verses,
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Part of the beauty and power of God is the fact that we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken! Isn’t that great news! That’s powerful news folks. Nothing can defeat God! Nothing can make God nervous and afraid! God doesn’t tremble and shake! Because God is that solid rock and because of that we are to offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.
We should come into this building every Sunday, no matter if it’s been a good or bad week, with a sense of expectation. We should expect to meet the risen Christ. So we come prepared and ready to worship in a manner which is honoring to God. We do it with reverence and awe.
Go all the way back to the beginning of this message . . . if you could meet the greatest person ever . . . wouldn’t you get prepared, ready, have a set of questions to ask? In the same way, when you come into this building, you should come here prepared and ready to meet the King of kings and Lord of lords.
So, the point for today is this . . . if you are still living life on the basis of the old covenant, that old law which so easily traps us and condemns us, then let’s find a way to help you move into worshiping the God of grace, not the God of the law.
Admit your need. Proclaim it to God that you need Him.
Let me end with a picture of grace for you . . .
In an old Dennis the Menace cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands are full of cookies.
Joey says to Dennis, "I wonder what we did to deserve this."
Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."
That cartoon is a simple picture of grace ~
God saved us — — — not because we’re nice and deserved it;
But because He created us in His image and He loves us!
