Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Hebrews 2-3
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 30
Key Verse
Hebrews 3:1 — “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;”
Devotional Thought
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish believers who knew the stories of their ancestors by heart. They knew how angels had mediated the law at Sinai, how Moses had led Israel out of Egypt, and how that same generation had fallen in the wilderness because of unbelief. Now the writer presses a sobering question upon them: if the word spoken through angels carried such weight that every disobedience received its just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation spoken by the Lord Himself? The first chapter of Hebrews exalts Christ above the angels; the second and third chapters exalt Him above Moses, the faithful servant, while presenting Him as the faithful Son over God’s house.
What makes this passage so tender is where the argument lands. The eternal Son did not take on the nature of angels; He took on the seed of Abraham. He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for every man. He calls His redeemed people brethren. He is not ashamed of them. Because the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the devil who held the power of death and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Here is a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, for He Himself suffered being tempted.
Then comes the warning, drawn straight from Psalm 95 and the wilderness generation. “To day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” The Israelites who left Egypt saw God’s works for forty years, yet their carcasses fell in the wilderness because of unbelief. The danger is not only for them; it is for us. An evil heart of unbelief departs from the living God, and sin’s deceitfulness hardens slowly, quietly, imperceptibly. So the writer gives a remedy: exhort one another daily, while it is called To day. Faith is not a single moment but a persevering confidence held firm unto the end.
Psalm 30 sings the other side of this mercy. David cried and was healed; God brought his soul up from the grave. His anger endures but a moment; in His favour is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. As winter loosens its grip and the first signs of spring appear in mid-March, we are reminded that God turns mourning into dancing and clothes His people with gladness. The wilderness generation hardened their hearts; David’s song shows what happens when a heart stays soft before the Lord.
Reflection
- The Israelites saw God’s works for forty years yet still hardened their hearts through unbelief. Where in your own life has familiarity with God’s goodness quietly slipped into complacency, and what would it look like to hear His voice “To day”?
- Hebrews says Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren and is able to succour them that are tempted. Do you actually bring your temptations to Him as a merciful High Priest, or do you carry them alone?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, faithful High Priest, we thank You that You were made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that You took on flesh and blood, and that You are not ashamed to call us brethren. You tasted death for every man and destroyed him who had the power of death. Keep our hearts soft before You this day. Guard us from the deceitfulness of sin and the slow hardening of unbelief. Grant us grace to exhort one another daily while it is called To day, and to hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. Turn our mourning into dancing, O Lord, and let our glory sing praise to You and not be silent. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 30:1 — “I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.”