Earlier the congregation is depicted as students of God’s Word who need to advance from elementary catechetical instruction to spiritual maturity (5:11—6:3). Again, the members are students who are instructed by God and trained by Him in His Word, so that they can run the race of faith with endurance. God is compared with their human fathers, who instructs them because He loves them and wants the best for them. It is a most unusual race, as followers of Jesus in His su ering on earth and His heavenly exaltation on their way to life in heaven, as students instructed by God in the way of wisdom, and as liturgical priestly community that shares in His holiness. v. 3-4 – As in v.2, the preacher/teacher invites them to “look to Jesus” as the “author and nisher of faith. From Him, we learn not only endurance in the face of verbal and physical hostility, but are prepared even for death. Every Christian must be readied for that possibility. v.5-6 “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord” – Do not forget you are God’s sons, students in the school of divine wisdom, the same school in which Jesus learned obedience as God’s Son (5:8). Understand this quote in light of 2:10-17. This is the basis for the next three instructions. The rst couplet warns them against undervaluing the Lord’s instruction and losing interest in it as a result of being rebuked. The second couplet explains the Lord’s motive (His love for them) and purpose (a rmation and acceptance of them) in instructing and chastising them. v. 7-8 – As sons, the Father sets the curriculum which they endure for the sake of instruction. Their success as students doesn’t depend on them but God deals with them as their instructor along each stage of their way until they reach the goal that He has set for them. God’s ongoing instruction is proof of their sonship, unlike “illegitimate heirs” who receive no instruction from their biological fathers. In contrast with the Stoics, who held that all adversity was God’s character-building discipline to produce self-su ciency, Hebrews teaches that su ering abuse from loyalty to Christ was part and parcel of God’s instruction of His sons in faith for participation in His holiness. For Christian sons, there is no self-su ciency, only complete reliance on Christ (2 Cor 3:5; 12:9). v. 9…
