Even if you or I were to spend a thousand lifetimes poring over the words of the Book of Hebrews, we’d still never exhaust all of its riches. Hebrews, of course, is a New Testament book of immense depth, brimming with an array of weighty truths, forming an indispensable link between the biblical testaments. Without Hebrews, much of what we know and believe as Christians wouldn’t make a lick of sense since it is the gospel, according to Hebrews, which gives the good news of God’s salvation in Christ with untold clarity and certainty. The writer of Hebrews does this essentially by shedding light on the varied Old Testament means and methods by which God’s people communed with God himself. In so doing, he intends to demonstrate and expound upon the simple premise that Jesus is better. For thirteen chapters, the anonymous writer to the Hebrews takes his time explaining how Jesus, the Christ of God, is better than the prophets, better than the angels, better than Moses, better than Joshua, better than Aaron, better than all the priests. Its purpose, notes Arthur Pink, “was to instruct Jewish believers that Judaism had been superseded by Christianity” (11). And this is so precisely because he has established a “better covenant,” by which all sinners are saved “to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:22–25). This motif of Jesus being superior colors the entire discourse, serving as both the writer’s particular premise and as our principal paradigm for interpreting his words.
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