The Faithful Great
Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned. They were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them …These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect Hebrews 11:35-40
After recounting a long list of heroes and heroines of the faith, the writer now draws what seems to some an unexpected conclusion. The fact not only that they suffered such things, but also that the world was not worthy of them, pointed to the unmistakable fact that they believed in a God who was making a new world in which everything would be different and obviously better.
They were out of tune with their times because they were living by faith in and for God’s future. Society all around them was living in and for the present world as if this was all there was ever going to be.
These great men and women of God were, in their own lives and sufferings, living lights of hope, pointing to the God who had made the world as the God who would remake it. They were the advanced guard heralding what was coming.
The world saw their lifestyle as an extreme form of asceticism and it certainly was counter-cultural; but from God’s perspective they were the early beginnings of His new world people. Their faith shines all the more brightly when we realise they didn’t receive what was promised. The promise’s fulfilment would come in Jesus, the Messiah, and the community that would form around Him.
The community that this letter of Hebrews is about to describe, those who follow Jesus, establishes the true beginnings (and not just the advanced guard) of the world God intends to make. In this new world justice and right will triumph. So the writer can say, ‘God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.’
We look back on great men and women of faith who went through so much while looking forward to the reality we have now begun to enjoy. They endured. What a privilege we have.
God help us to appreciate all we have in Christ. God help us to appreciate we have the firstfruits, but that God’s more ultimate intention is to have ‘a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness’ (2 Peter 3:13)
To listen to this message, download in MP3 here