background image
11
found elsewhere in Hebrews, the verbal form is used in 1:14, in which the angels are referred to
as ministering spirits sent (aj
postellov
mena
) for service.
38
This verbal-noun correlation connotes
that the author even looks back to 1:1­14 with the use of aj
pov
stolo"
in 3:1. If this suggestion is
correct, then the author's implication is this: Jesus, in his exalted state, became greater than the
angels. Just as the angels are sent out by God for service, Jesus is also sent out by God for greater
service. The two terms in 3:1 have a significant Christological implication: Jesus is both divine
and human. It is the author's way of summarizing the doctrines he expounded in 1:1­2:18. Thus
it can be said that the exhortation to consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession
(3:1), is to emphasize that Jesus is the object (or the content) of faith for believers.
An examination of the three passages containing oJ
mologiv
a
indicates that it signifies the
essential faith of believers, that is, the element which joins the author with the readers.
39
In this
respect the idea that Jesus is the content of faith is not lacking in Hebrews. An evaluation of some
of the important passages in Hebrews clearly reveals that faith in Hebrews is indeed
Christological. The idea of Jesus being the object of faith is imbedded throughout the epistle,
although it is not expressed with Pauline terminology.




The reference to the word of God
The idea of Jesus being the object of faith may be seen from the reference to the word of
God. In this section I intend to deal with 3:7­4:16 and 5:11­6:20 to demonstrate that the word of
God has a Christological implication.
37 William L. Lane, Hebrews 1­9, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1991), 288.
38 C. Spicq, L'Épītre aux Hebreux (Paris: Gabalda, 1952), 2:65. Swetnam also argues that the reference to
aj
pov
stolo"
in 3:1 corresponds to aj
postellov
mena
in 1:14. See James Swetnam, "Form and Content in Hebrews 1­6,"
Biblica 53 (1972): 370.
39 Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions, 137.