Hebrews 13:20 Commentary and Bible Study

At the end of the letter to the Hebrews is the longest doxology in the New Testament. More importantly, it is the author’s concluding prayer. Almost all the epistles that are full of exhortation and doctrine have prayer on the part of the writer for those who read it. Remember the Lord was constantly in prayer, and we have his great prayer for his disciples in John 17. In Acts 6 the apostles say that they cannot be directly occupied in the ministry of compassion, because they have to give themselves to the word of God and to prayer. No pastor can exhort without prayer; no preacher can preach without prayer; you cannot teach Sunday a school class without prayer. If you do, the exercise is vain and will accomplish nothing. Everything is to be accompanied by prayer, by intercession.He begins with the sincere worship of Almighty God and that is the example so repeatedly given in the Scripture for prayer. Extol him and his deeds, and, if you can, go with a particular doctrine in your mind. Affirm that doctrine and give thanks for it as you praise God. Not only is it his due, but it will greatly strengthen the remainder of your prayer. Here is mankind fallen into sin, alienated from God, at war with his Creator, hostile toward him. Here is God’s heart, a heart of peace and reconciliation, and Christ has come and suffered and died to make an atonement for sinners. He has done this so that lost men and women can be reconciled to their God. So this is how we look at the word ‘peace’ here – the verb means ‘to join’, and we are joined with God through Christ. For individual believers the war with God is ended. The resurrection of Christ is ascribed to the Father and to the Godhead generally as prophesied so frequently in the Old Testament. Sometimes the New Testament ascribes it to the Father, sometimes to the Son himself, sometimes to the Holy Spirit; there is no contradiction since all three were involved. The Father gave the formal approval of the Godhead because the resurrection was a powerful indication that Christ had been wholly successful, and had truly borne away the sin of all his elect. The Son also raised himself up by his own inherent power. and he was aided by the Holy Spirit. For a time the majesty and the divinity of Christ had to be concealed. It was not so visible when he went to Calvary – he dies in weakness – but the resurrection reverses all that, so that his power could shine through. After he had risen there were wonderful appearances to help the disciples, the first apostles, and us also. He appeared with all the same familiarity towards his disciples. How gently he spoke to them. He was not raised as a high and mighty one. Certainly he was Lord of all, but he was not remote to his people. He appeared as the resurrected Lord with all tenderness, gentleness, and kindness. He spoke to them; he served them; he reproved them; he dealt with them in the same perfect familiar way and it teaches us that always he will be our familiar Lord.‘That great shepherd of the sheep.’ The word shepherd is literally the Greek term meaning ‘feeder’, in context, the shepherd who feeds the flock. To feed and provide is the great office of Christ. He is the perfect shepherd of course, ‘that great shepherd of the sheep’. ‘I am the good Shepherd’, says the Lord in the Gospel of John. There is only one great shepherd, only one faultless perfect shepherd of the sheep. To think that he should condescend to deal with us one by one! The great mystery of godliness, that the eternal Son of God came down from heaven to die for us; the eternal Son of God deals with us in an individual, personal way! ‘Through the blood of the everlasting covenant’ – the covenant of grace. Why is it everlasting? The covenant in the Garden of Eden was a covenant of works. It fell, many think, on the very first day. Man would know blessing and, by implication, live forever if only he would not take of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he fell and the human race fell with him and the covenant could never again bring life. How then does the covenant of grace survive throughout the eternal ages? What is the difference? The covenant in the Garden of Eden was between God and man, and man is the weak link and he broke the covenant and it fell. But the covenant of grace was made between the members of the Godhead. In eternity past the Father says to the Son, ‘I will give you a people, if you will go and die for them and be their representative, and bear the punishment of their sin, and live a perfect life of righteousness.’ Because the covenant of grace is between God and God, it cannot fail; it is secure. We who believe are in the covenant as those who benefit in Christ, under his blood, and so we are saved by him for all eternity.