Fix your thoughts on Jesus

Today's reading Hebrews 3:1-6

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Today's blog

“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.” (Hebrews 3:1)

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It’s amazing how much truth is compressed into some Bible verses. This verse is a good example of that.

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“Therefore” shows a connection with the previous section. Through his death, Jesus brought us into his family in which he is our brother (2:11). So that means we are “brothers and sisters” of one another, and so we “share in the same heavenly calling” to be a “holy” people. The word heavenly is used often in Hebrews (6:4; 8:5; 9:23; 12:22), always in contrast with earthly and always pointing to that which is real and best. We are called out of this world in order to belong to God and to become like him in holiness (1 Pet.1:14-16; 2:5,9).

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To do that, we need to “fix our thoughts on Jesus”. He is the one who makes us holy (see 2:11 again), through his saving work as an “apostle and high priest”. An apostle is someone who is sent – the Father sent the Son into the world (e.g. Jn.4:34; 5:23-24; 6:38-39) to be a high priest who could effectively make atonement for our sins (2:17).

So Jesus is the one "we confess" i.e. our faith is in him and we are prepared to say so. Confessing that we believe in the gospel of Christ results in obedience to him because Jesus is our Lord (2 Cor.9:13; Rom.10:9-10). Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, let us be sure to fix our thoughts on him.

(To dig a bit deeper into Hebrews 3:1-6 click here for some commentary notes.)