Every time I walk into the sanctuary of our Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville and see the sunlight pouring through the stained-glass windows, I’m “blown away” by the transformation of that sunlight into a rainbow of colors and images.
I get the same feeling when I walk into St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Charleston, S.C.
In Genesis, God created light. Then, in the gospels, the source of that “light” comes into our world through Jesus who is the “light of the world” creating a rainbow of colors and images.
Jesus transforms the rather simple, two-dimensional, right or wrong God of the Old Testament into the mutual-dimensional God of the New Testament who is fully God and fully human!
It might have been Paul or maybe it was Barnabas or Apollos. Even Priscilla’s name has been suggested as the author of the letter to the Hebrews. In any case, the letter in question was written to the Jewish community with references to Greek rhetoric and the Septuagint, indicating the author was well-educated and writing before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, about 64 A.D.
Paul and others had led many in their Jewish community to faith in Jesus and they were being persecuted.
The Roman Empire had tolerated the Jewish community in a sort of “you don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you” way.
But the Christians were troublemakers. They were out sharing their faith and stirring trouble wherever they went.
So, as you might expect, some of the Jewish Christians began talking about going back to their Jewish roots and and this unknown author wrote the letter of Hebrews telling them Jesus was the fulfillment of their Jewish faith.
Confused by the multi-dimensional faith of Jesus, they longed for the rather simple, two-dimensional, right or wrong (and much safer) faith of the Old Testament.
So, the author of the letter to the Hebrews makes the case for continuing with their faith in Jesus, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Jesus is better than Moses and the Old Covenant, better than the prophets and the angels, better than Aaron and the Old Testament priesthood … Jesus is fully God and fully human!
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga.
