2:1
The “therefore” implies that this follows on from the previous chapter. We also get one of the several warnings, some of them quite severe, that are a feature of Hebrews. Some of the readers evidently were not treating the message as seriously as they should, they were not paying careful attention. The gospel is not a take it or leave it matter, it is not something that we can take if we like but it doesn’t really matter. It is a matter of eternal life or eternal death. The message is also so completely different from our culture. There is a tendency to interpret things in the light of our culture. This can be alright up to a point, but we need to recognise that there comes a point where the gospel starts questioning and challenging our cultural thinking. The gospel demands that we live our whole life in the light of the gospel.
2:2,3
The Law was believed by the Jews to have been mediated by angels (Acts 7:38; Gal 3:19). The readers knew how serious the Law was, every part of it was important, every part of it had to be observed. So the gospel which was given to us by the Son of God Himself is all the more important, and it is all the more vital that we obey the gospel. If we ignore the gospel there will be a great price to pay. There has always been a tendency to think that because the gospel is about forgiveness it doesn’t really matter if we sin, or we don’t really need to think too hard about it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to take the gospel very seriously. The gospel was given by the Lord, and confirmed by the apostles, eyewitnesses of the events and ones who had heard the Lord.
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