172 Dimensions of Baptism
Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from
death. This does not deny Jesus' death on the cross which is something
presupposed throughout the book (cf. 7.27; 9.12, 26-28). The reason for
his self-offering on the cross was to cleanse humanity (9.14) and this
sanctification was secured through the 'once for all' sacrifice of his body
(10.10, a reference to the historical death of Jesus). Faced with the cross
and its shame, Jesus could nevertheless see beyond it to the joy that was
before him (12.2), the eschatological joy that will be theirs through perse-
vering faith (10.34; cf. 9.15; 10.36-37; 11.14; 11.16).
Part of the purpose of the writer's discussion of Christ's self-sacrifice
(and his appeal to the heroes and heroines of the faith in ch. 11) is 'to
encourage the recipients to stand true in a faith that will hold fast to the
promises of God and to the blessings that have already come in Christ'^39 —
blessings secured by Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. While they had
only experienced mild persecution, the Christian life did not exempt them
from either evil or suffering. 10.33-34 shows that they had already been
publicly exposed to insult and persecution and even had their possessions
confiscated,^40 though martyrdom was not, as yet, a reality (12.4, though
surely the possibility of martyrdom is implicit here?). In face of such per-
secution, and the possibility of its escalation to include the ultimate wit-
ness of martyrdom, the believers must persevere so that when they have
done God's will they will receive what he has promised (10.36). By means
of this exemplary dimension of the letter, it is clear that Jesus' real, human
suffering (through which he learned perfection, that is, complete dedica-
tion and trust in God, see 2.10; 5.9 and 7.28) is set before the readers as an
example for them to emulate.
In Heb. 5.13 the community is depicted as dcTrsipos Aoyou SiKcnoauvris
('inexperienced/unacquainted/unskilled in the teaching/word about right-
eousness'), which occurs in a section calling them to endurance. The same
phrase is used in Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians^41 during a later- Ladd, Theology, p. 585.
- Lane, Hebrews, pp. lxiii-lxvi and Hebrews 9-13 (WBC, 47B, Dallas: Word
Books, 1991), pp. 296-98, believes 10.32-34 refers to the persecution surrounding the
Claudian expulsion of 49 CE, and that the present persecution was probably that under
Nero, c. 64-68 CE. Cf. F.F. Bruce, New Testament History (London: Pickering & Inglis,
3rdedn, 1980), p. 378. - Polycarp, Phil. 8.1 -9.1:' Let us then persevere unceasingly in our hope, and in
the pledge of our righteousness, that is in Christ Jesus, "who bare our sins in his own
body on the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth", but for our