The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture
22 leading up to the parenesis of 2: 1-4. 32 It repetitiously stresses a point already understood and received in order to win the heart and mind of the reader, while ultimately lending impact and force to the point to be made. He moves from that which no one will contest (the superiority of Christ to that of angels 33 ) to prove that which has escaped their notice: His revelation there– fore demands greater obedience. The point was that if disobedience to revelation given by an angel met with destruction, how much more severe would be the punishment of those who turned from the revelation given by the Son. 34 A Specific Comparison 3: 1-4: 16 Having established his basic premise in chapters one and two, the author now reinforces that premise with a second, more specific and graphic illustration: Moses and the wilderness generation. 35 Once again Jesus is compared to another channel of revelation. 36 A 3 ~George W . Buchanan, To the Hebrews , The Anchor Bible (Garden City: Doubleda and Company, Inc. , 1972), xxiii-xxiv. "The close connection between the argument from the superiority of Christ over the angels and the parenesis in 2: 1-4 indicates that the argument in 1: 5-13 serves as the presupposition for the parenesis. . . . This fact means for the communit that the word of Christ is to be taken more seriously. The author's metaphy ical argument [1 :5-13] thus serves the needs of parenesis [2 :1-4]. J . W. Thompon, 'The tructure and Purpose of the Catena in Heb 1:5- 13," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 38 (1976): 363. 33 "That angel pay homage to the heavenly Me iah i a familiar concept in Je i h literature (Ac. Isa . 11 :23ff .; Apoc 5:8f.) .... " Ibid., 356. 34 The content of 2:5-18 continue the compari on between hri t and ang l but ith the empha i upon Je u humanity . Je u ' humanity di tingui he him fr m th ng l ju t remarkably a hi deity . If the compari on i between th m j t f Hi p r n and th t f angel , then hi humanity, even if it i t mp rary, run unt r t th ar um nt. If h r. the argument ru that Je u i better fit t mediat and mmunicat fr m d t m n th n hi humanity i cl ar ad ntage . f 11 : 1- : I Th n h1 h th tt n nd luglz pne ·t h Ill UI 11 mt h · 11 , Je u ch
Made with FlippingBook
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=