We Still See Jesus: An Invitation to Holy Week
By Dr. Jeremy Godwin
The biblical text known to us as “Hebrews” was a sermon. We don’t know who wrote it or preached it, but we know it was preached—to a first-century community of people who initially followed Jesus with great fervor but were now being persecuted for their faith. That community, too, was experiencing tremendous shame and fear. They faced threats of physical violence, and some members were imprisoned. Others saw their social and economic standing in society decline. As these new Christians withdrew from the prevailing religious and social norms, they faced unrelenting pressure from their neighbors to leave their new community and conform once again to the wider Roman society. And because of this pressure, some were doing just that: leaving the Christian community. They were exhausted and heading for the exit. What was once a thriving mission of a burgeoning Church now found itself gripped by weariness and apathy. Even things that once brought them joy like worshiping and praying together now seemed like pointless exercises. Where serving the world once brought purpose and fulfillment, it now served only to put a target on their backs. These folks were no longer interested in seeing where following Jesus would lead.
So what does this community leader, this preacher offer them? A dense theological sermon. In fact, it’s a sermon so famously complex, that nearly every phrase has been parsed over the centuries, spinning out into all sorts of ideas about who Jesus is. It’s one of the foundational texts of the theological branch of Christology—that is, the theological conversation concerned with who Jesus is. But Hebrews also offers a remarkably pastoral message. The Preacher also acknowledges their struggle and openly addresses the ways in which they feel like they may not completely understand why they should stick with it. Unfortunately, the NRSV translation radically obscures the meaning and purpose of the text here. Here’s a different translation of verses 7-8a, by New Testament scholar Amy Peeler: “What is a human that you are mindful of him, or the son of a human, that you care for him? You have made him but a little lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, subjecting all things under his feet.”1 This translation makes clear what the preacher is trying to do: make an explicit connection between the Psalm these verses are quoting (Psalm 8) and the specific person of Jesus. The preacher goes on to say that while we may not understand the fullness of all that is happening, “we do see Jesus.” Essentially, he’s saying to them: I get it. Things are hard. And I know all this seems a bit abstract. The world is still broken. You may feel like giving up. I’ll be honest with you: We may not see the completion of the coming world in our lifetime, but we do see Jesus. The same Jesus, through whom all things were created and are now sustained, became human and lived and died among us. For it is in his dying and rising again that death is conquered. The unknowable became knowable, the unseen appeared before our eyes, and the untouchable bade us to touch him and be made whole. And even though Jesus is now crowned in glory, sitting at the right hand of the Father in majesty, we still see Jesus, who in our shared humanity calls us his siblings, and who promises to be with us until the end of the age.
And so that is the invitation into Holy Week: Come and see Jesus. Walk with him through these final days of his life. Join the crowd waving palm branches with shouts of “Hosanna!” Gather with the disciples around the table to share in the Last Supper, the institution of the Eucharist. Kneel at the foot of the cross in remembrance of Christ’s death. Share in the warmth of the new light of Easter as joy ripples across time and space, reaching its fulfillment in resplendent “Alleluias.” You won’t be disappointed. In fact, it will change you. It will change how you see everything—viewed through the lens of God’s grace and mercy and love. Come and see Jesus.
