What Do You See?
By Sam Kwon
November 1, 2024
“Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?”
When my kids were young, I used to read picture books to them each night. One of my favorites was Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, along with anything from Sandra Boynton!
When we read Hebrews, what do we see?
* * *
We might see the writer telling us what he believes he is doing through the letter: “I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation…” (13:22). With this in mind, we re-read Hebrews and see how he appeals to us through exhortations. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest…” (4:11). “Let us draw near…” (10:22). “Let us run with endurance…” (12:1). And more.
We might see the phrases echoing the other parts of the Bible. How God bore witness to the good news “by signs and wonders” (2:4), echoing the phrase often used to describe the Exodus event (Deut 4:34 & Ps 135:9). How we should go to Jesus “outside the camp” (13:11-12), a phrase referring to where the bodies of sacrificial animals were burned (Exod 29:14).
We might see an intricate literary structure (called chiasmus).
A small one (1:5).
A bigger one (1:11-12).
Even a giant one (courtesy of Gareth Lee Cockerill).
* * *
See. Understand. Connect. Respond.
These are the four steps to Reading the Bible for a Change according to Prof. Ray Lubeck.
And the first step is both simple and hard: See.
It’s hard because sometimes we are in a hurry: “I’ve got 10 minutes for my quiet time, and then I have to rush to work.” It’s hard sometimes because we are searching for something specific: “I really need the Bible’s guidance on this opportunity,” and we gloss over the “irrelevant” parts.
What if instead we slow down? What if we approach the Bible with curiosity about what it wants to show us, not just what we want it to address for us?
This weekend, Let us slow down a bit and take a look at Hebrews one more time over a cup of tea or coffee. Let us see if we can see all that’s been there for us to see.
This is my brief word of exhortation. 🙂
Sam serves as one of the elders at ODPC EC. Please feel free to contact him at sam.kwon@odpcec.org with any questions or comments. Please join him and fellow brothers and sisters for the monthly study of Hebrews by signing up here.
