The writer concluded his written sermon with specific exhortations, requests, and greetings to enable his readers to continue to worship God acceptably under the New Covenant (cf. 12:28).
The four evidences he identified are enjoying spiritual fellowship (vv. 1–6), submitting to spiritual leadership (vv. 7–9, 17, 24), sharing in spiritual wisdom (vv. 10–16, 18–19), and experiencing spiritual Lordship (vv. 20–21).
The last chapter has two parts. Verses 1–21 develop the idea of thankfulness expressed in service motivated by the fear of God, which the writer introduced in 12:28. Verses 22–25 constitute a personal note to the readers that lies quite outside the argument of the homily proper.
This section consists of parenesis: reminders of what the readers already knew or were doing or of what they knew they should avoid. As in the Mosaic Law, moral directions (vv. 1–6) precede religious instructions (vv. 7–19).
Instructions regarding morality 13:1–6
13:1 When love for Jesus Christ falters, love for the brethren normally fades as well (cf. Rom. 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9–10; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:7; 1 John 2:9).
13:2 Abraham entertained angels when he showed them hospitality (Gen. 18). Hospitality (Gr. philoxenia, lit. love to strangers) is a concrete expression of Christian love today as it was in the first century (cf. 3 John 5–8).[463] Abraham received a special blessing because he showed hospitality, and we may, too (cf. Matt. 25:35). All Christians should practice hospitality (Rom. 12:13), especially Christian leaders (Titus 1:8).
Have you ever entertained an angel? Since the word “angel” means “messenger,” in one sense any time we entertain someone who brings a message from God (e.g., a visiting preacher or missionary) we entertain an angel. In the sense of entertaining a spirit being who comes to us in human form with a message from God, perhaps some have that privilege even today.
13:3
The prisoners in view were evidently Christians who were suffering for their testimonies (cf. 10:34; Matt. 25:36, 40).
The readers might suffer the same fate themselves one day since they were still leading a mortal existence. Paul urged Timothy not to be ashamed of him when he was a prisoner (2 Tim. 1:8). All the Christians in the province of Asia had abandoned Paul then except for those in Onesiphorus’ household (2 Tim 1:15–18).
13:4
Christians also need to maintain a high regard for marriage and to remain sexually pure. God’s judgment will follow the sexually impure (cf. 12:29). Under the Old Covenant the Israelites were to punish fornicators and adulterers, but under the New Covenant God does it.
“How does God judge fornicators and adulterers? Sometimes they are judged in their own bodies (Rom. 1:24–27). Certainly they will be judged at the final judgment (Rev. 21:8; 22:15).
David was forgiven, but he suffered the consequences of his adultery for years to come; and he suffered in the hardest way: through his own children.”[464]
13:5–6
Greed has lured many believers away from a life of faithful discipleship, as has sexual temptation. We need to cultivate a spirit of contentment so we do not apostatize. Contentment really has nothing to do with how much money we have, though the world generally thinks it does. We have the Lord, and with Him we have all we need (cf. Luke 12:15; Phil. 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:6–10). Furthermore, He will never abandon us (Matt. 28:20).
“One of the results of persecution has been the loss of property (10:34). In these circumstances, the Christian response is not to grasp all the more eagerly at material wealth, but to rely quietly on God’s provision, even in the face of human opposition.”[465]
13:7
The example of our spiritual leaders is one we should follow (cf. 12:1; 13:17, 24). They, like the heroes of faith in chapter 11, set a good pattern. The outcome of their life, if they had died, was that they were now with the Lord and already beginning to enjoy some of their eternal inheritance. They may have been the founders of the church to which this letter went.[467] People tend to forget or to idolize their former leaders, but we should remember them and their godly teachings and examples (cf. 1 Thess. 5:12–13).
13:8
Jesus Christ is the content of the message that the leaders had preached to these hearers (cf. v. 7).[468] That message and its hero is what this writer had urged his readers not to abandon. The leaders had preached the Word of God to these readers, and that preaching culminated in Jesus Christ.
“Jesus is not the object of faith [in this verse or in Hebrews, according to this writer], but the supreme model of it.”[469]
“‘Yesterday’ the original leaders preached Jesus Christ, even as the writer does now; the present time can tolerate no other approach to the grace of God (2:9). ‘Forever’ recalls the quality of the redemption secured by Jesus Christ (5:9; 9:12, 14–15; 13:20) and of the priesthood of Christ (7:24–25): it is ‘eternal.’“[470], p. 530.
13:9
We should reject teaching that deviates from apostolic doctrine. This, too, is a safeguard against apostasy. The terms “varied and strange” describe a variety of heretical positions. Rather than accepting these ideas we should receive strength by taking in God’s grace that comes through His Word (4:12–13; 1 Pet. 2:2).
13:10
Believers under the Old Covenant ate part of what they offered to God as a peace offering (Lev. 7:15–18). However believers under the New Covenant feed spiritually on Jesus Christ who is our peace offering. Those still under the Old Covenant had no right to partake of Him for spiritual sustenance and fellowship with God since their confidence was still in the Old Covenant.
13:11
Far from defiling those who associated with Jesus Christ, our sin (purification) offering, associating with Him leads to holiness. Here the writer compared Jesus to the sin offering that the Jewish high priest offered on the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev. 16:27).
13:12
Jesus’ death outside Jerusalem fulfilled the Day of Atonement ritual in that the high priest burned the remains of the two sacrificial animals outside the precincts of the wilderness camp. It also fulfilled the ritual of that day in that Jesus’ execution outside the city involved the shame of exclusion from the sacred precincts. It symbolized His rejection by the Jewish authorities.[476]
13:13
“This verse may be regarded as the crux of the conclusion, a final direct appeal to the readers to identify themselves wholly with Christ.”[477]
Christians bear Jesus’ reproach when we identify with Him. He suffered reproach, and so do we, when we identify with Him. This was especially true of the original Jewish recipients of this epistle. They needed to sever their emotional and religious ties to Judaism.[478] Jerusalem was no longer their special city (cf. v. 14).
“The exhortation to leave the camp [i.e., official Judaism] and to identify fully with Jesus introduces a distinctive understanding of discipleship. Jesus’ action in going ‘outside the camp’ (v 12) set a precedent for others to follow. The task of the community is to emulate Jesus, leaving behind the security, congeniality, and respectability of the sacred enclosure [cf. the Israelites’ camp in the wilderness wanderings], risking the reproach that fell upon him. Christian identity is a matter of ‘going out’ now to him. It entails the costly commitment to follow him resolutely, despite suffering.
13:14
The city we seek is the heavenly Jerusalem. Our present habitation on earth is only temporary (cf. 11:26).
13:15–16
Even though God does not require periodic animal and vegetable sacrifices from us, we should offer other sacrifices to Him. These sacrifices include praise (cf. Hos. 14:2), good works, and (even, especially) sharing what we have with others (as well as giving Him ourselves, Rom. 12:1). We should offer these sacrifices of the New Covenant continually.
13:17
The leaders in view are church elders (pastors; cf. vv. 7, 24). These shepherds will have to give account to God one day for their stewardship over us. We should make their work now easier for them by being obedient and submissive to them. Will the leaders of your church be able to tell God that leading you was a pleasure when they stand before Him?
13:18–19
The writer confessed to needing the prayers of his brothers and sisters in the faith. He faced the same pressure to depart from the Lord that they faced. He longed to return to them again wherever they may have been living. He believed their prayers could affect God’s timing of his return to them. Hebrews was not originally anonymous since the writer and the readers knew each other.
These verses express the writer’s prayerful wish for his readers.
13:20
Elsewhere John and Peter called Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd (John 10:14) and the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4).
“As the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ died for the sheep (John 10:11). As the Great Shepherd, He lives for the sheep in heaven today, working on their behalf. As the Chief Shepherd, He will come for the sheep at His return (1 Peter 5:4). Our Shepherd cares for His own in the past, present, and future. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!”[481]
13:21
“Equip” means to prepare for use (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16–17). The same Greek word, katartidzo, describes elsewhere a doctor setting a broken bone, a general preparing his army for battle, and a fisherman mending his net (cf. Matt. 4:21). It was the writer’s concern that his readers be ready to reign with Jesus Christ. This is the purpose for remaining faithful to God throughout the epistle. Part of our full inheritance (full rest, full salvation) is the privilege of reigning with Him (2 Tim. 2:12). To attain this privilege we must continue to mature by following Jesus Christ faithfully rather than turning from Him.
13:22
The writer urged his readers again to accept the word of exhortation contained in this epistle rather than rejecting it. It is, after all, a brief word.
13:23
The writer obviously composed this epistle during the lifetime of Timothy and after some confinement that Timothy had experienced. Evidently the writer and Timothy were close associates in the Lord’s work. This is almost certainly a reference to the Timothy referred to elsewhere in the New Testament. This is the only Christian that the writer mentioned by name in the entire epistle.
13:24
The term “leaders” refers to local church leaders (cf. vv. 7, 17). The letter probably went to one house-church. The evidence indicates that most first-century churches had more than one leader (cf. Tit. 1:5; Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1). It would be strange if the writer sent this letter to someone in a church who was not a leader.
“Those from Italy” probably refers to Christians who had left Italy rather than to believers currently living there (cf. Acts 18:2).[484] If this is true, the writer probably wrote from somewhere other than Italy.
13:25
The writer closed with a final benediction and prayer that God’s grace would be with his readers in the sense that they would receive strength from it (cf. 2:9; 4:16; 10:19; 12:15; 13:9). This would happen as they persevered faithfully in the truth.
This entire last chapter is an admonition to worship God acceptably, according to the New Covenant.