When we think of “Gospel narratives,” we naturally think of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. After all, they’re the main accounts we have of Jesus’s life. For sustained focus on Jesus and his ministry, there’s nothing like the four Gospels.
But one book comes close: Hebrews. It’s not written as a narrative, yet it recounts so many stages in the story of Jesus that at times it’s almost like having a fifth Gospel. Some of the more obvious plot points include Jesus’s incarnation (2:14), sinless life (4:15), and heavenly intercession (7:25).
One scholar has referred to this as the “narrative substructure” of Hebrews. It’s a narrative sprinkled nonsequentially throughout the book. Let’s examine that narrative in chronological order. I’ve identified 17 plot points, grouped under four broad headings. It’s a narrative about Jesus: not only who he is but what he did, what he’s doing, and what he’s going to do.
Preincarnation: ‘The Radiance of His Glory’ (1:3)
1. Eternal Divine Existence
The Son exists eternally as “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (1:3). His divinity is highlighted throughout chapter 1 in that he shares God’s honors (worship from angels and a seat on God’s throne, vv. 3, 6, 13), God’s attributes (immutability and eternity, vv. 11–12), God’s names (“God” and “Lord,” vv. 8, 10), and God’s deeds (creating and upholding all things, vv. 3, 10–12). Time and again, Old Testament passages about God are applied to the Son (see esp. vv. 8–12).
2. Creation
Hebrews’s narrative is about Jesus: not only who he is but what he did, what he’s doing, and what he’s going to do.
The Son is the personal divine agent “through whom [God] created the world” (v. 2). As “Lord,” he “laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of [his] hands” (vv. 10–12, citing Ps. 102:25–27; cf. Isa. 44:24).
3. Preservation
The Son not only created the universe but also “upholds [it] by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). The present tense participle of “upholds” points to an ongoing action, in contrast to the past tense of “created” (v. 2).
Incarnation: ‘When Christ Came into the World’ (10:5)
4. Incarnation
Because God wasn’t pleased with animal sacrifices and offerings, he prepared a body for Christ (10:5). Because the “children” whom God had given him “[shared] in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” (2:14). By becoming man, the Son was “made . . . for a little while lower than the angels” (vv. 7, 9). The author speaks of Christ’s time on earth as “the days of his flesh” (5:7; cf. 9:26). The next three points describe from different angles what Jesus did in the days of his flesh.
5. Sinless Obedience
Jesus was “in every respect . . . tempted as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). His sinlessness was a requirement for him to become a perfect high priest—one who, unlike Aaron, didn’t need to “offer sacrifices . . . for his own sins” (7:27; cf. 5:3). His sinlessness was also necessary so that what he offered as high priest in heaven (i.e., himself and his sacrificial death) would be “without blemish” (9:14; cf. 7:26). The flipside of his sinlessness was his obedience. Christ came to do God’s will (10:7). He not only obeyed but also “learned obedience through what he suffered” (5:8)—he learned to obey harder and harder commands and pass greater and greater tests.
6. Suffering
In the days of his flesh, Christ “suffered when tempted,” even offering up “prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears” to his Father (2:18; 5:7–8). He endured reproach “outside the gate” (13:12–13), and he “endured the cross, despising the shame” (12:2). It was “through suffering” that the Son was eventually “made perfect” (2:10; 5:9; cf. 7:28)—that is, perfectly fitted to serve as high priest (5:9). It’s because of his suffering that we have a high priest who is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” (4:15; cf. 2:17).
7. Redeeming Death
As the climax of his suffering, the Son endured “the suffering of death” (2:9). This is why he partook of his brothers’ flesh and blood: “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death” (v. 14). This is why he was “for a little while was made lower than the angels”: that he might “taste death for everyone” (v. 9). It’s his death that “redeems [us] from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (9:15).
Just as a will only takes effect at death, it’s Jesus’s death that establishes the new covenant (vv. 15–18). As a sacrificial victim, Christ has “been offered once” by his Father “to bear the sins of many” (v. 28; cf. Isa. 53:12). Every reference to Jesus’s blood is an implicit reference to his death (Heb. 9:12, 14; 13:12, 20).
But his death wasn’t the end.
Exaltation: ‘Anointed . . . Beyond Your Companions’ (1:9)
8. Resurrection
When we’re told that Jesus’s cries were “heard” this must be a reference to his resurrection (5:7). After all, God clearly didn’t “save him from death” by keeping him from dying. Instead, we’re told that “the God of peace . . . brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (13:20).
This resurrection is foundational for Jesus’s priesthood (for Hebrews views his priesthood not as an office he held on earth but as one he entered into after “being made perfect,” 5:9; 8:4). Unlike mortal Aaron, Christ “has become a priest . . . by the power of an indestructible life” (7:16). Unlike the Levitical priests, Jesus will never die in office. “He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever” (v. 24).
In his death, Jesus became the sacrificial victim whose blood would take away sin. But it’s his resurrection that allows him to be “designated” a priest forever “after the order of Melchizedek” (5:10; 7:15–17).
9. Ascension
Sometime after his resurrection, Jesus “passed through the heavens” (4:14). The journey itself isn’t elaborated on, since the focus is more on what he did when he reached heaven. Still, this passing through the heavens is what marks the transition from “the days of his flesh” (5:7) to his current priestly ministry in heaven (8:4). It’s also what brought him to the place where he could make his once-for-all offering (9:24–25).
10. Heavenly Self-Offering
This is perhaps Hebrews’s most unique contribution to the biblical storyline: the priestly self-offering of Jesus in heaven. Having ascended, “he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (9:11–12). Just as the high priest went once a year into the Most Holy Place on earth with “blood not his own” (v. 25, cf. vv. 1–7), so Christ went into the Most Holy Place in heaven by means of his own blood. But whereas they went in once a year, Christ entered in once for all (v. 7; 10:10, 12).
Unlike Aaron, Christ is both the sacrificial victim whose blood is shed and the high priest who carries the sacrificial blood behind the veil to offer it (which once again is why the resurrection had to occur in between, since a dead priest never offered anything). He became the sacrificial offering on earth (9:28), but he acted as the self-offering high priest in heaven (v. 24), which was followed by his session.
11. Session
“After making purification for sins [i.e., in the heavenly sanctuary], [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3). In contrast to Christ, “every [Levitical] priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (10:11). But “when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins [i.e., in heaven], he sat down at the right hand of God” (v. 12).
Standing behind all such references is Psalm 110:1, which is explicitly quoted in Hebrews 1:13 and echoed in 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, and 12:2. The session on God’s throne establishes Jesus not only as a priest but also as a king (1:8; 2:9).
12. Intercession
Our high priest may be seated, but he’s not idle. “He always lives to make intercession for [us]” (7:25). This is a saving intercession. Jesus has entered heaven “now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (9:24, emphasis added). Which is why we’re urged to “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (4:16).
Consummation: ‘Appointed the Heir of All Things’ (1:2)
13. Second Appearing
Just as Christ “appeared once for all at the end of the ages” in the incarnation (9:26), so he “will appear a second time” (v. 28). When tempted to give up, we should remember this: “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay” (10:37).
14. Saving of His People
The same passages that mention Christ’s second coming also describe it as the time when he’ll “save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (9:28) and when we’ll “receive what is promised” (10:36). That will be the day we “inherit salvation” (1:14) and experience “the resurrection of the dead” (6:2).
15. Changing of the Cosmos
Someday the heavens “will perish,” and Jesus will “roll them up” and change them “like a garment” (1:10–12). This will form part of the transition from this world to “the world to come” (2:5). We’re also promised that “yet once more [God] will shake not only the earth but also the heavens,” indicating “the removal of things that are shaken . . . in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain” (12:26–27). What’s left will be the unshakable kingdom (v. 28).
16. Judgment of His Enemies
Someday Jesus’s enemies will be made “a footstool for [his] feet” (1:13; 10:13). This truth of “eternal judgment” is part of the “elementary doctrine of Christ” (6:1–2). For those who reject the Son, their “end is to be burned” (v. 8). Nothing is left for them but “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (10:27; cf. vv. 29–30).
17. Reign over the World to Come
All this will be followed by “the world to come,” which God has subjected not to angels but to man—Jesus first, us later (2:5–9). This “city” already exists in heaven, where Jesus is enthroned (12:22; 1:3, 8, 13). But heaven isn’t enough to hold his inheritance. He has been appointed the “heir of all things,” which includes not just heaven but earth too (1:2).
Preaching the Gospel of Hebrews
Hebrews is famous for its warnings—and rightly so. After all, Hebrews is a sermon (i.e., a “word of exhortation,” 13:22), and any sermon worth its salt is going to be filled with warnings. Yet even in Hebrews, these warnings don’t float in midair; they’re built on a narrative substructure. The main exhortation is to “consider Jesus” (3:1). That’s why it’s good news, not just good advice.
Hebrews is famous for its warnings. Yet these warnings don’t float in midair; they’re built on a narrative substructure.
So by all means, let’s pepper our preaching with warnings and exhortations. But let’s also make sure our sermons are interwoven with this same gospel storyline. We don’t have to cram all 17 plot points into every sermon, but perhaps we could use them as a rubric, so as to ask, “Are there any aspects of Jesus’s ministry that I rarely mention or draw application from?”
When it comes to gospel narrative, Hebrews makes a good supplement to the four Gospels, precisely because it focuses more on the stages of Jesus’s ministry that lie beyond their timeline—especially his priestly ministry in heaven. However you slice it, the gospel is a story. So if you need help telling that story, consider Hebrews.
The Gospel Coalition