Led in Worship by Jesus the Priest: What “Assembly” is about in Hebrews
Author: Bobby Valentine | Filed under: Church, Discipleship, Hebrews, Worship
LED IN WORSHIP BY JESUS THE PRIEST: WHAT ASSEMBLY IS ABOUT IN HEBREWS (Sort of an Outline of Assembly Theology in Hebrews)
Near the end, but not quite the end, of his sermon, the Sermonator shares that famous (or infamous to some) line about “not forsaking the assembly.”
One of the greatest problems in Bible reading is reading in “bits” and “pieces.” Reading piecemeal. Reading Hebrews in bits is literally a recipe for disaster. We need to read Hebrews beginning to end over and over. Attend to what is said (and what is NOT said). Note the foundational Exodus narrative that flows through. And recognize that the Sermonator states freely that what he says can be “hard to understand/explain” (5.11). That was true then but even more two thousand years later when most of us know virtually nothing of the Hebrew Bible, Jewish apocalyptic, and the logic of sacrifice.
But the rational for not neglecting is the ENTIRE sermon we call “Hebrews.” The fundamental arc begins in 2.11-12 and culminates in chapter 12.18ff.
The Sermonator of Hebrews is a brilliant preacher. He is infused with the Jewish world of the Hebrew Bible and Jewish apocalyptic theology. The “Exodus” is like a neon light blazing in the background. And he places a premium upon the Gathering (assembly) just as Deuteronomy and the Psalter (texts that are important in Hebrews). We have heard sermons on “not forsaking the assembly” (10.25) as some sort of “legalism” more than we care to admit. But even legalism does not begin to capture the explosive claim the Sermonator makes.
Near the beginning of the homily, the Sermonator declares that the bodily, in the flesh, resurrected Jesus has brothers and sisters and stands in the “midst of the ekklesia I will praise You” (2.11f). Jesus is depicted as preaching and praising, that is leading worship through the Psalms, in the “congregation” (church/ekklesia). Here is an anchor point for the very people hearing the Sermon itself.
Then the Sermonator sort of takes us back by explaining how this all happened. Jesus suffered through obedience but was “perfected” through the resurrection of his body. His resurrected body passes through the heavens and entered into the heavenly sanctuary of God (4.14; 9.12).
God, not Jesus, declared that the Jewish man from Nazareth would be High Priest (4.14-5.10). God declares him to be the Priest-King after the order of Melchizedek. The Sermonator tells us he not only does not but cannot serve as a priest on earth for two basic reasons. There are already priests in the temple (8.4) and he is of the tribe of Judah not Levi (7.14). But the bodily resurrected Jesus is not on earth but now in the heavenly sanctuary, the Holy Place. Every Jew knew that the “Holy Place” in the Jerusalem temple was the “place” where Heaven and Earth interlock. Heavenly sanctuary and earthly sanctuary are mirrors of one another.
But in the Holy Place, in God’s heavenly temple, Jesus the King-Priest leads worship! He is the “liturgist” (worship leader/minister) in God’s own Presence (8.1). There he mediates the kainos (renewed/new) covenant on behalf of the House of Israel and House of Judah (8.8-11).
In fact, what the bodily resurrected Jesus is doing in that sanctuary is presiding over a heavenly Yom Kippur. There he cleanses not only people but the sanctuary itself (9.23) He is there performing these liturgical/worship tasks now while we wait for him to appear in order to “save” us who wait for him (9.28).
After the presentation of the once for all sacrifice, the presentation of his resurrected body, we have a long list of heroes present in God’s house. Those listening to the Sermon are part of a great history of faith. These heroes are awaiting to be perfected through the resurrection but their spirits are gathered (11.1-40; cf. 3.5-6 tells us that Moses is in the same house that the addresses of the sermon itself).
Suddenly then the Sermonator says, “You/yall have come” (perfect tense) to
1) Mt. Zion
2) Jerusalem
3) Angels
4) “ekklesia” of the first born
5) GOD
6) spirits of the righteous (refers back to the named and unnamed saints in 11.1-40)
7) AND TO JESUS (12.22-24)
Hebrews 12.18-29 brings us to the ekklesia that Jesus is standing in among his brothers and sisters in 2.11-12. Why would one “forsake” being Gathered with Jesus’s brothers and sisters to #’s 1-7?
When we gather, we are GATHERED by the Spirit and brought into the Holy Place where Jesus is NOW. We are GATHERED (something done TO us) in the place of heavenly worship. What happens in our gathering “mirrors” what is happening in God’s presence with Jesus himself preaching, singing, mediating giving glory with us and for us. He proclaims the glorious name of God among us.
The Sermonator believes that when we gather an Exodus 19 type event takes place every time. Except it is more. We have not come to Mt Sinai (12.18) with its blazing awesomeness (and the Sermonator believes it was in fact “awesome”). We have come to something that surpasses what even faithful Moses experienced. But Moses experiences is NOW, with us. We, and all the spirits, are Gathered into that place that was shielded from human eyes, the throne room of God! Where Jesus and his blood has made the sanctuary clean.
The Sermonator knows we cannot “see” Jesus right now. That is because he is our resurrected in the body, human in the Holy Place (9.12, etc). But we do come to JESUS in the Gathering, we come to angels, Moses, Abraham, Huldah, Deborah, the Maccabean martyrs, David, Sarah, and to the GOD of Israel himself through the glorious ministry of Jesus the Priest-King of Israel.
Those who “neglect” the gathering misunderstand what takes place. The Gathered encounter GOD! Here Jesus is present with us. Here we commune with God … while we wait for the “Day” of his appearing (when he comes from behind the veil to the Holy Place). In the meantime, we “have come” to God in holy ekklesia.
This is Assembly of God.
Of Related Interest
Hebrews, Jesus and the “Old Testament”
May 2nd, 2026 at 6:22 am
Thank you for sharing! Until recently I didnt know how much we dont understand about Hebrews. I have been reading some work by Dr. Thomas Lancaster and found it interesting. I feel like I really have never been educated correctly even after all my life trying to understand.
May 2nd, 2026 at 8:22 am
Amen!