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by Katie Erickson

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.” -Hebrews 13:7-10

While the previous section of Hebrews 13 focused on the theme of love, the first few verses this section talks about leaders – specifically, how we as Christians should treat our leaders. Then, the author moves on to talk about faith and God’s grace.

The first thing to note is the Greek word used for leaders in verse 7. This is a general term for leader that does not distinguish what type of leader that person is. It can be used for the leader of a religious body (like the church), a political leader, a military commander, etc. There is a different Greek word that’s used elsewhere in Scripture for “elders,” so this word likely does not refer to elders in the church specifically.

Given the next phrase, “who spoke the word of God to you,” these leaders were likely involved in some form of teaching or preaching. “The word of God" here refers to the gospel message as a whole; remember that at the time this letter was being written, the New Testament was not yet formed, and some of it was not even written yet. So speaking the word of God could refer to the Old Testament Scriptures, the gospel message, or even the early documents that were already in existence that would be included in our New Testament today.

These leaders were being held up as an example for believers to imitate. Some scholars think that the word “outcome” here is actually a euphemism for death, meaning that the readers should consider how their former leaders were killed for their faith. That brings a bit of a different message here to the author asking the readers to imitate their faith that led to the outcome of death! But the reader is also encouraged to remember their way of life, how they truly lived out their faith and did not compromise it – even in the face of death. Whoever these leaders were, they were clearly good examples of faith to follow.

While being charged to remember their earthly leaders, the author tells his readers that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (verse 8). The reader can be assured that they will be following the same Jesus who those leaders followed, the same Jesus as was constantly portrayed in the word of God. This short verse emphasizes the unchanging nature of Jesus. The same Jesus who existed before the creation of the world is the same Jesus who took on human flesh, died, and was resurrected. He is the same Jesus who was worshipped and followed by the early church, He is the same Jesus we worship and follow today, and He is the same Jesus we will worship in the future – both in the rest of our earthly lives and into eternity in heaven.

It is clear from verse 9 that there were some “strange teachings” present in that day that the audience would be familiar with; we do not know today what those teachings were. It is possible that this relates to Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 10:14-33 about eating food sacrificed to idols, but there is no strong link there. Many religions of the day, including Judaism, had rules and regulations surrounding food.

The author’s point here is that we need to rely on God’s grace to sustain us rather than getting caught up in the rules about food or other such things. This is reminiscent of what Jesus said while He was being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4:4: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,’” where He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. There is no benefit in God’s eyes to eating ceremonial foods; we need to continually rely on God’s grace rather than following rules about what we eat or do not eat.

Verse 10 seems confusing in this context. What is this altar that the author is talking about? This has been interpreted as the Holy Communion table, from which only believers in Jesus Christ partake of the meal of communion. But, he just finished saying in the previous verse that we shouldn’t worry about food rules, and now he said that some can’t eat from this altar.

One commonly held view is that the altar referred to here is the cross of Jesus Christ. “Those who minister at the tabernacle” are the Jewish priests, or possibly all Jews in a general sense. They have no right to “eat” from this “altar” because they do not accept the sacrifice of Jesus as providing for their salvation. The fact that Jesus was crucified, died, and was raised again does not mean anything significant to them, as they still believe that the Messiah had not yet come.

The author is pointing out that his readers, as believers in Jesus Christ as the one true Messiah, have a privileged position over those who do not yet share this belief. They should consider their faith as a privilege that others do not yet have, but they do have the ability to welcome others to the table, to welcome them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ as well.

While the ideas presented in these few short verses seem rather disjointed (remember your leaders, Jesus never changes, don’t get caught up in food rules, and we are privileged because of faith), they are all connected in instructing believes about how to live the Christian life. We are called to imitate those who have been leaders of the faith; they trusted in the unchanging Jesus, and we should do so as well. We need to remain true in our teachings and not get caught up in any false teachings that may happen, including becoming too legalistic about what we can or cannot eat.

It really is all about the cross of Jesus Christ and the saving faith we can have through God’s grace to us!

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