GRACE BE WITH YOU ALL
Opening Prayer
Thank you Father, for the countless ways you bless me as I follow Jesus. Use your Word to instruct me how to follow him more closely.
Read HEBREWS 13:17–25
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.
Benediction and Final Greetings
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.
25 Grace be with you all.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Ascribe glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ today.
Think Further
These verses give some tantalizing hints about the background of Hebrews. ‘Pray for us … so that I may be restored to you soon’ (vv. 18, 19) may imply that more than one person was behind Hebrews; that they were absent but one of them hoped to join them soon. Who they were ‘only God knows,’ said the church father Origen.1 Writer and readers were acquainted with Timothy (v. 23) and had a connection with some who were from Italy (v. 24), although we don’t know whether they were there at the time.
Two other things stand out. First, Hebrews is a ‘word of exhortation’ (v. 22), and we have seen that exhortation and encouragement are important. Here the writer encourages them to have confidence in their leaders and submit to their authority, so that their work will be a joy rather than a burden. The words ‘to their authority’ (v. 17) are absent from the Greek text, and the word for ‘submit’ only appears here in the Bible. I think The Message conveys the idea well, with ‘Listen to their counsel.’ We are called to listen carefully to those whom God has placed as leaders in his church. The verse says something about the way leaders lead as well as about how we follow.
Second, note the beautiful benediction in verses 20 and 21, where the writer prays for his people. The resurrection of Jesus is implied by the references to his exaltation to God’s right hand (so important in Hebrews), but it is specifically mentioned only here. He asks God, who brought Jesus back from the dead, to equip them with everything good, enabling them to do God’s will and live lives pleasing to God. If God raised Jesus from the dead, he can surely equip us to live for him.
Apply
Personalize the prayer in verses 20 and 21, asking God to enable you to live a life pleasing to him in every way. And may grace be with you all.
Closing prayer
Father, as the writer to the Hebrews prayed, I, too, ask that you would continue to build the church and equip its members with everything needed to do your will, all for the glory of Christ Jesus.
1 Origen speculated they might have been Paul (whose thought was behind Hebrews) and Luke (who did the actual writing)
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