Christ above all
The basic message of Hebrews is that Christ is incomparably greater than anyone and anything in the Old Testament and that the Jewish or gentile believers should not even think of returning to the Old Testament religion. In principle, this is in line with the convictions of most Christians. But it creates a problem when the author of this letter goes further than this. The message is not only that Christ is much greater than anyone and anything in the Old Testament and not only that Christ replaced some of the Old Testament features of worship. Rather, the message is that some very important features in the Old Testament are no longer effective—and even that some never were. The negative use of the Old Testament in Hebrews Let us have a look at the author’s negative views. The priests had to bring the sacrifices regularly, which implies that they were not effective (10:2–4). Instead of really cleansing people from sin, the repeated bringing of the sacrifices reminded people of the...