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The Letter to the Hebrews
A Commentary for Preaching, Teaching, and Bible Study
Jon C. Laansma
THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS
A Commentary for Preaching, Teaching, and Bible Study
Copyright © 2017 Jon C. Laansma. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-4982-9321-1
hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-9323-5
ebook isbn: 978-1-4982-9322-8
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Names: Laansma, Jon C.
Title: The letter to the Hebrews : a commentary for preaching, teaching, and bible study / by Jon C. Laansma.
Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: isbn 978-1-4982-9321-1 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-4982-9323-5 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-4982-9322-8 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Hebrews—Commentary.
Classification: lcc bs2775.53 l1 2017 (print) | lcc bs2775.53 (ebook)
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 04/17/17
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Greek Bible text from: Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th revised edition, edited by Barbara Aland and others, © 2012 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Laansma has used his extensive knowledge of the New Testament and careful exegetical judgment to give us an insightful interpretation of this crucial Biblical book. His work will contribute to the use of Hebrews for the edification of the people of God.
—Gareth Lee Cockerill, Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Theology, Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi
Jon Laansma’s new commentary on Hebrews is an ideal resource for serious expositors, full of practical themes for teaching and preaching. As a gifted scholar with a heart for the local church and for global evangelism, Dr. Laansma has an intuitive grasp of the epistle’s missional context and homiletical structure. His scholarship—which is thoroughly up to date—is presented in a fresh, accessible style and animated throughout by a dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Great High Priest of our salvation.
—Philip Ryken, President, Wheaton College
For John Wilson and Carl B. Hoch, Jr.†, in gratitude for their exposition of this letter and example of life.
And for Marvin J. Laansma, our beloved father who has rested from his works,
ὃς ἐλάλησέν μοι τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, οὗ ἀναθεωρῶν τὴν ἔκβασιν τῆς ἀναστροφῆς μιμήσομαι τὴν πίστιν.
We believe in one God the Father all-powerful, Maker of heaven and of earth, and of all things both seen and unseen.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all the ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came to be; for us humans and for our salvation he came down from the heavens and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, became human and was crucified on our behalf under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried and rose up on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; he is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead; his kingdom will have no end.
And in the Spirit, the holy, the lordly, the life-giving one, proceeding forth from the Father, co-worshiped and co-glorified with Father and Son, the one who spoke through the prophets; in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. We confess one baptism for the forgiving of sins. We look forward to a resurrection of the dead and life in the age to come. Amen.1
1. Pelikan and Hotchkiss, Creeds and Confessions, 1:163.
The achievements of the Savior, effected by his incarnation, are of such a kind and number that if anyone should wish to expound them he would be like those who gaze at the expanse of the sea and wish to count its waves.
—Athanasius (On the Incarnation 54 [PG 25, 192 BC])
Preface
A friend of a friend wrote a commentary for, as it happened, a Chinese audience. When it was released a Chinese pastor said, maybe with a twinkle in his eye, “We wish you had added more helpful words, and that you had made it shorter.” Indeed.
This commentary was originally undertaken at the invitation of the editors of Baker’s Teach the Text Series. As I neared completion of the manuscript, however, the notice went out that the series had been terminated. I am deeply grateful to Cascade Books for the interest they showed in bringing this work to its conclusion. The substance of the commentary itself, including the sections suggesting lines for teachers, was all complete before the original series was terminated and remains largely shaped by the strictures imposed by that series. I could not undertake a complete revision of the project since that time and, in any event, I had already worked conscientiously to fit a meticulously wrought exegetical reading into the original series’ guidelines and aims. Yet with the break from from the series, certain formal features have been abandoned—mostly to do with visual and homiletical aids—while I also took advantage of the freedom to expand the exposition at points.
This short description of this commentary’s history is necessary in part to explain its contents and approach. Those seeking a technical defense of particular interpretations will not find that here, except by implication. The intended reader of this commentary is a motivated, curious, experienced reader of the Scriptures (in brief, the reader sought by Hebrews itself in 5:11—6:12), who wants a specialist to get straight to the bottom line with each passage. Just give them the meal; they can figure out for themselves how to make it. Hit the high points, and they can figure out what would fall in between. Those who are most fond of the details—specialists—are
