Hebrews 13:1-19--Sacrifices Pleasing to God

​Hebrews 13:1-19 English Standard Version (ESV)
Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Heb.13.1-Heb.13.19
Sacrifices Pleasing to God
13:1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

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We back in the book of Hebrews today as we begin to wrap things up.  Like many epistles, the end of the letter is quite a mishmash of final thoughts that may not easily fit together into one coherent them.  I'll try to address them one idea at a time.

The first part of today's passage are admonishments to keep doing good and refrain from doing what is evil and wicked.  Things we are supposed to do---Love one another, show hospitality to strangers, take care of those who are imprisoned (especially those Christian brothers imprisoned for their faith), take care of those who have been mistreated (probably those who have been beaten and scourged for not renouncing their faith), and hold marriage in high esteem.  Here begins the transition to things we are not to do as in holding marriage in high esteem leads directly into the beginning of things that we should not do.

As for the evil and wicked things we are to avoid, they are fornication, adultery of any kind of sexual immorality that would violate the sanctity of the marriage bed, ​the love of money (greed) and a lack of contentment with what God has given you (covetousness)--failure to be content is a lack of faith in God as our provider and a lack of faith that He wants good things for His children.  That doesn't mean that He wants all of us to live the lives of the rich and famous, because even His own Son experienced homelessness, hunger, thirst, and excruciating pain and suffering while on this earth.  Do we really expect to be treated better than Jesus was?

Next is a reminder that we are to follow the under-shepherds that Jesus has put over us--those who are here to faithful teach the Word of God to His people.  We are to look at them and their lives as an example to follow.  A word of warning follows that not everyone who clothes themselves in pastoral garments or calls themselves a teacher of the Word is a good example to follow.  Remember that Jesus warned us to watch out for for both wolves in sheep's clothing (enemies inside the congregation) and for false shepherds and false prophets that only have their own self-interest in mind and will not take care of the flock of God.  Therefore we are to avoid "new" and "strange" teachings that are not in alignment with the Word of God and we should not follow after such teachers.  God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness in His Word and we need not turn to any other source (other than the Holy Spirit).

The next section refers back to something from the Old Testament and makes a comparison to how Jesus is better (remember this is our theme of the entire book, so it makes sense the author returns to this theme as he's wrapping up).  In the old sacrificial system, the sin or guilt was laid on the animal sacrifice and this made that sacrifice unfit for consumption.  The carcasses had to be taken outside the city and burned because they represented the guilt and sin of the people that needed to be cast out from among the people.  Everyone and everything that was unclean was cast out of the city.  But Jesus died outside of the city and was hung on a "tree" which was a symbol of someone cursed under the Law so that all men that would abandon the city of this world system and join Him in His suffering would also join Him in the eternal, everlasting, abundant life that He has to offer.  Compare what we were just told about the sacrifices to what Jesus said about how we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood (and before you ask, no, I don't completely understand this passage other than in the context provided here in Hebrews):

John 6:47-59 (ESV)
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

After this many of Jesus' disciples left Him and turned away because this was a "hard teaching" and He asked those closes to Him if they would also turn away from Him.  The best that I can say is that we must continue to come back to the body and blood of Christ as spiritual food (not physical food) on a daily basis as we would eat to survive physically so these are the "staples" of our faith, because without the body and blood of Christ, there is no forgiveness, no remission of sin, and no way to the Father and we are all most miserable for believing otherwise (see I Corinthians 15)

The author to the Hebrews then returns once again to submitting to the authority of the leaders and elders that have spiritual authority over you--since it's been said twice in his final thoughts, I assume this was a major issue in the church(es) he was writing to.  This time though he focuses in on how the leaders will have to give an account to Christ for how they lead His Church.  They already know they are held to a higher standard by Christ, so we as the congregation don't need to continue to make their lives miserable in the process.  Let us be compassionate to them and thankful for their service and always lift them up in prayer (which is the last part of this passage).  We're not really sure who the author is or in what way he wishes to be "restored," but my best guess is that like so many other church leaders, he was probably either exiled or imprisoned for His faith.  Some of us may currently live in areas that are hostile to the gospel or are becoming hostile to the gospel.  Others may believe they lie in peace and tranquility.  Either way, pray for your brothers and sisters and pastors who are in a different situation than you.  Pray for those that are facing persecution that they will be given strength to stand up and shine brightly as persecution shows those watching those who have genuine faith that they are willing to suffer and die for their faith that is real.  For those that don't currently experience that, pray that they would not be so comfortable that they would compromise and become friendly with the world and its system.  Also pray that God would still make it clear who are the sheep and who are the goats (the true believers and the fakers) in His congregation and that we would continue to be faithful even if we do not face the persecution that so often drives us closer to Him and to each other.