How often do you consider Christ?

How often do you truly contemplate Him, think on Him, reflect upon and mull over who He is and what He has done?

This weekend Beau Hughes, an elder and the Denton campus pastor here at The Village, commends us to do just this in accordance with commands of the book of Hebrews:

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…

3:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2)looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (3)Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

12:1-3

Consider Jesus. Consider Him. Reflect, meditate, contemplate, ponder, deliberate, muse…consider. How easy it is to fail to do this: to grow distracted with work, family, ministry, chores, media, sports, serving, etc. Failing to consider Christ is simple…just let your mind drift. Drifting is easy…but it’s also dangerous.

The audience to whom the book of Hebrews was written faced the daily pressures of the reality of persecution and the ongoing struggle with sin. In light of such difficulties, there existed a persuasive temptation to apostatize, to turn from Christ back to the Judaism of their fathers.

As an encouragement to hold fast and persevere in the faith in the midst of these struggles, the author structures the letter as an apologetic (or defense) for the superiority of Christ and what He has accomplished. The command to consider Christ fits nicely within this context. If we know and believe who Christ is and what He has done, we will be more apt to turn toward rather than away from Him.

Why return to Judaism when Christ represents the fulfillment of Judaism and is thus superior to each of its distinct elements? Reading through the book, we find that:

1. Christ is superior to the angels who mediated the first covenant
2. the Sabbath rest offered in Christ is superior to the rest offered in the promised land
3. the priesthood of Christ is superior to the levitical priesthood
4. the revelation of Christ is superior to the revelation given to Moses
5. the new covenant in Christ is superior to the old covenant and the Law
6. the body of Christ is superior to the tabernacle and temple
7. the sacrifice of Christ is superior to the Old Testament sacrificial system.

Torah, land, priesthood, Moses, covenant, temple, sacrifices…all pictures pointing to a greater reality. To depart from Christ is to choose a silhouette instead of the true form, it is to choose the inherently inferior and incomplete. It is to substitute shadow for substance.

Thus the call to consider Christ. It is a reminder to remember – to remember that He is superior. To recall that He is the greater prophet who announces and fulfills the greater covenant. That He is the greater priest who has offered the greater sacrifice. Christ is simply better.

What does the author of Hebrews want us to know about Christ? What attributes does he find to be particularly helpful in the struggle against sin and persecution? Though certainly not exhaustive, the below passages represent some of the more richly dense texts on the person and work of our Lord. May we be diligent and dutiful to delight in these contemplations of Christ. May the Spirit use these truths to sharpen and sanctify us for this day and the days ahead.

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.

1:3

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

2:9-10

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

2:14-18

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

4:14-16

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

5:7-10

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

7:22-27

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

9:24-28

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified…

10:11-14