Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 5
Here, the author seems to hesitate. He does not return to the subject of Jesus as chief priest until the end of chapter 6.
The author pauses from his main subjects because he is worried about the original readers of his letter. He is not sure that they are ready to read this letter. They are Christians. But they have not developed as Christians should.
They liked many of the things that Christians do. They worked hard to help other Christians. They showed real love to each other (Hebrews 6:10).
But they seemed to have neglected their faith (active belief and trust) in God. And their hope in God was not as strong as it should be (Hebrews 6:11). They seemed to be less eager about these things.
The author’s solution to these problems was to remind the Christians about Jesus. Especially, the author wanted them to think about how God had saved them, by Jesus’ death on the cross. The author showed them the importance of the Bible. Their faith must be in God’s word, not in their own feelings and desires. And the author urged them to trust God more. Only if they did these things would they be strong enough to deal with future troubles. Their relationship with God needed to be strong always.
The author would probably say similar things about many Christians today. So many people do not want to listen to God’s word. And they act as if they have nothing to learn. They say that nobody can teach them anything. Certainly, nobody can teach anything to someone who refuses to listen!
But Christians should not have attitudes like that. A Christian should always be ready to learn new things from the Bible, God’s Word. And each Christian should constantly be developing and growing in faith.
Next part: Time to grow up (Hebrews 5:12)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.