This commentary arises out of a fundamental commitment that shapes the whole of my life: the belief that the Bible is God’s good word. The documents included in the Bible are complicated, thoroughly human documents, both in their creation and in their assembly, a complexity the story of Hebrews demonstrates with particular intensity. It is through these very documents that followers of Jesus Christ have heard the voice of God. I share this seemingly paradoxical belief, that God chose to give divine revelation through a human collection. This is how God so often chooses to work, with and through humanity, from the stewarding of creation, to the administration of the law, to the word and work of the prophets, and chiefly in becoming human himself. We should not be surprised that the sacred text arrives through the same method. The document that has long been referred to as the Epistle to the Hebrews is one piece of God’s human-composed holy Scripture. Although many questions remain unanswered, it is clear that Hebrews was written by a confessor of Jesus to a community who shared the same faith. This author builds on that confession of Christ to press his addressees on to more maturity.

The document the church calls the Epistle to the Hebrews provides the same invitation for any believer in Jesus who takes it up and reads. It is a sermon for those who have heard God speak and accepted the message, for those who want to know God deeper and trust God more fully. It is written for those who need to be equipped to face whatever challenges come against the radical confession of faith they have made, that the eternal Son of God is Jesus of Nazareth, crucified and risen, who advocates at God’s right hand for all those who are following him to dwell with God forever.

That means that whenever anyone devotes themselves to studying this early sermon, they will hear God’s voice with more richness as they pay attention to the human situation out of which this extended teaching arose. At the same time, God’s communication through this text is not circumscribed by that original situation even though it arises from it. God is not inhibited by the fact that most subsequent readers are unaware of the details of this work’s background. Since this is God’s communication through human words, God can take those words and multiply their impact to inexhaustible ends in each and every new setting. Readers can trust that when they take up this book they will always hear God speaking and also that the speech will be for their good. The words will admonish or encourage as the Holy Spirit knows is needed by each reader. This particularized work can draw from both types of speech—that which provides challenge and that which offers comfort—because the spread of that spectrum appears readily in Hebrews. Readers will also discover that God’s communication is not monodirectional but instead invites a response, as Hebrews itself displays when the audience voices their prayer to God near the end of the sermon (13:6). In addition to reading on our own, as Hebrews itself states, we need other believers to tune our ears to God’s word (3:13). A commentary is one way to have a communal conversation. I have listened to this letter as well as other interpreters who have immersed themselves in it for most of my adult life. I share my slice of the conversation here, hoping that those who take up this commentary will find it beneficial for the dialogue they are having in prayer as well as the ongoing conversation about this ancient yet living sermon in which they participate with other believers. May we all be drawn to worship more fully the God who was willing to be our helper (13:6) as we study this sermon that extols God’s faithfulness manifest through the enduring high priesthood of God’s eternal Son.

Despite the fact that many things about Hebrews are mysterious, it is nevertheless clear that the author of Hebrews wishes to instill within his community this truth, that God is trustworthy, or, stated in his words, that the one who promised is faithful (10:23; 11:11). Given the difficulties of their present circumstances, in order to motivate them to trust God for their future, the author recalls for them God’s fulfilled promises in the past. He highlights God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel, including significant reflection on Abraham and his family (esp. 2:16; 6:13–16; 11:8–22), and chiefly he proclaims God’s fulfilled promises to the Son, Jesus, their Lord. It is a move that is resonant with the one made by Paul, in which he demonstrates that gentiles can trust God’s promises in Jesus Christ only to the degree that God has shown faithfulness to the covenant promises to Israel.