3:1
“Therefore, holy brothers ...” What the writer is about to say follows on from all that he has just said, in particular about Jesus having been made the perfect high priest through suffering. The believers had a heavenly calling, as indeed do all believers, including you and me. We are called to look to God, our citizenship is heaven (Phil 3:20). The Jewish background which the readers either had directly (as a result of being Jewish believers), or were deeply aware of (having been Gentile adherents to Judaism in some form or other) meant they were aware of having a greater calling. Under Judaism Moses was the key figure, everything went back to the exodus, and to the Law. Now we are called to “fix our thoughts on Jesus”. He is our apostle and high priest. “Apostle” means sent one, and Jesus was sent by God. John’s gospel majors on this theme. Moses was indeed sent by God, but now one greater than Moses has been sent by the same God. He is also our high priest. This latter feature has been alluded to at the end of chapter 2, and will be explored in much greater depth in this letter.
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