Discouragement among Hebrew Christians
With the increasing persecution of Christians during the reign of Nero, some of the Jewish Christians began to wonder if they had done right in turning from Judaism to Christianity. They had believed that Israel’s Old Testament religion fulfilled its purpose in Christ and that the temple in Jerusalem was to be destroyed. Yet thirty years after Jesus’ death, the temple was still standing and the Jewish religious system was still functioning.
To some Jewish Christians it seemed that Judaism was as firm as ever, whereas Christianity was heading for disaster. Many became discouraged and stopped joining in the meetings of the church, while some even gave up their Christian faith and went back to Judaism. The Letter to the Hebrews was written in an effort to correct this backsliding (Heb 6:4-6,9-12; 10:23-25,35-39).
The writer of this letter does not record his name, though he must have been a well known Christian teacher of the time. He was probably a Jew (Heb 1:1), and both he and his readers had received the gospel through the apostles or others who had heard Jesus (Heb 2:3). The letter does not say where these disheartened Jewish Christians lived, but the writer hoped to visit them soon (Heb 13:19).
By one example after another, the writer contrasted the imperfections of the Jewish religious system with the perfection of Christ. Everything of the old era that was temporary, incomplete or insufficient found its fulfilment in him. He was far above prophets, angels, leaders and priests, and his one sacrifice did what all the Jewish sacrifices could never do (Heb 9:11-14; 10:11-18). If the Jewish Christians suffered because of their faith, they were only experiencing what all God’s faithful people experienced. But the faithful endured (Heb 11:36-40; 12:1-2; 13:23). Even Jesus Christ suffered, but he also endured, and in God’s time he was gloriously triumphant (Heb 12:2-4).
Final break with Judaism
During the AD 60s there was a growing feeling of unrest throughout the Jewish population of Judea, not so much because of the Christians as because of the Romans. Most Jews had always hated Rome, but their hatred increased as the Roman governors of Judea increasingly mismanaged Jewish affairs. The anti- Roman extremists among the Jews were now prepared for open rebellion against Rome.
When war broke out the Jews were encouraged by some early successes, but they could not withstand Rome indefinitely. In due course the Roman armies, after conquering Galilee, Perea and Judea, laid siege to Jerusalem. At first they met strong opposition from the Jews, but by AD 70 they had conquered the city and reduced much of it, including the temple, to rubble. Although this devastated Judaism, it had a good effect on Christianity, because all the old visible ties with Judaism were now completely broken.
Preserving the Gospel records
About forty years had now passed since the death of Jesus Christ. Many of those who had been witnesses of Jesus’ ministry were now scattered far and wide, and others had died. Because Christians wanted to preserve the teachings that these men handed down, many collections of the sayings and works of Jesus began to appear (Luke 1:1-2).
We have seen how Mark prepared an account of the ministry of Jesus for the Roman Christians, and as time passed this account became widely used among the churches. Luke also had prepared a written record, which, though designed for someone who was probably a government official, was also becoming widely known. Now another person, Matthew, prepared his Gospel. He used some of the material that Mark and others had already prepared, but the characteristic flavour of his Gospel comes from the extra material he added and the way he arranged it. Early records suggest that he wrote for Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Syria.
Matthew was concerned to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah (Matt 9:27; 11:2-6), the one to whom the Old Testament pointed (Matt 2:5-6; 12:17-21), the fulfilment of God’s purposes for Israel (Matt 1:17; 5:17), and the king through whom God’s kingdom came into the world (Matt 4:17; 12:28;
27:11). Those who repented and believed the gospel were the people of Christ’s kingdom, no matter what their nationality, whereas those who clung to the traditional Jewish religion were not (Matt 3:7-10; 8:11- 12; 21:43; 23:23-28).
Jewish Christians were therefore not to fall into the errors of the unbelieving Jews. They were to develop a standard of behaviour that consisted of more than merely keeping laws (Matt 5:22,28,42; 20:26), and they were to spread the good news of the kingdom to all people, regardless of race (Matt 5:13-16; 12:21; 24:14; 28:19-20).
The fourth Gospel
Towards the end of the century another account of Christ’s ministry appeared, this time in Ephesus.
The writer was the last living member of the original apostolic group, John, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (John 21:20,24). By that time the other three Gospels were widely known. John therefore did not write another narrative account of Jesus’ ministry, but selected a number of incidents and showed what they signified. Most of these incidents involved miracles (or ‘signs’) which showed that Jesus was the Messianic Son of God (John 20:30-31). Usually they were followed by long debates between Jesus and the Jews (e.g. John 5:1-15 followed by 5:16-47; John 9:1-12 followed by 9:13-10:39).
Gnostic-type teachings were by now a bigger problem than ever, especially in the region around Ephesus. Some teachers denied that Jesus was fully divine, others that he was fully human. John firmly opposed both errors (John 1:1,14,18; 3:13; 19:28,34). But he was concerned with more than just opposing false teaching. He wanted to lead people to faith in Christ, so that they might experience the full and eternal life that Christ made possible (John 1:4; 3:15; 6:27; 10:10; 14:6; 20:31).
John’s letters
Soon after writing his Gospel, John wrote a letter that was sent around the churches of the Ephesus region. Because of the Gnostic-type teachings, many Christians were confused. John denounced the false teachers as enemies of Christ. Their denial of either his deity or his humanity was an attack on the very foundation of Christian belief (1 John 2:18-19,22,26; 4:1-3). John wanted the believers to be assured of their salvation in Christ (1 John 5:13), and resistant to those who encouraged sin by teaching that the behaviour of the body did not affect the purity of the soul (1 John 2:4; 3:6,8). Christians were to be self- disciplined and loving (1 John 2:6; 3:3,17; 5:3).
The false teaching was being spread around the churches by travelling preachers. John wrote the short letter known as 2 John to warn one particular church not to allow the false teachers into their gatherings (2 John 10-11).
On the other hand some travelling preachers were genuine preachers of the true gospel. But in one church a dictatorial person named Diotrephes refused to accept them. He claimed that they were followers of John, whom he opposed. John therefore wrote a short personal note (3 John) to one of the better leaders in the church, his friend Gaius, to help and encourage him (3 John 1,5,9-10).
Victory, not defeat
Ever since the outbreak of the persecution under Nero, the church had suffered official persecution.
Although this persecution eased on occasions, it intensified during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96). Thousands of Christians were killed, tortured or sent to work as slaves in various parts of the Empire. Oppression increased, evil men prospered, people in general became anti-Christian, and the government enforced Emperor worship as a settled policy. In addition, churches were troubled within by false teachers who encouraged Christians to join in practices that were pagan and immoral. These were the circumstances in which John received from God the messages recorded in the book of Revelation (Rev 1:1; 2:10,13-14; 6:9-11; 22:6).
John knew of the suffering that Christians were experiencing, for he himself had been arrested on account of his faith. He was being held prisoner on Patmos, an island off the coast from Ephesus. He sent his book to seven well known churches of the province of Asia, from where the message would spread to the smaller churches round about. The person who delivered the book probably took it to Ephesus first, then moved in a circuit around the other churches and back to Ephesus, from where he returned to Patmos (Rev 1:9-11).
Because of the difficulties that the churches faced, some Christians renounced their faith and others became discouraged. Many were confused, for it seemed that Jesus Christ, the glorious king they expected to return in power, was either unable or unwilling to save them from the power of Rome.
Through John, Jesus reassured his people that he was still in control, though he did not give them false hopes by promising quick relief. On the contrary he prepared them for greater endurance by revealing both the troubles that lay ahead and the ultimate victory that awaited those who stood firm for him. He was still the ruler of the world and he was still in control. In God’s time he would return to punish his enemies, save his people, and bring in a new age of eternal peace and joy (Rev 1:5; 12:10-11; 19:15-16; 21:1-4).