ALL SHALL BE NAKED AND LAID BARE
Following Jesus, the Living Word of God
Hebrews 4:12-16
12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.
14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Today we are continuing in Hebrews. Last week we heard about how Jesus is the pioneer on the Way to sanctification. Jesus, being human and suffering as we all do, has shown us the way through our suffering to glory. God intends us for glory and that is why he sent Jesus to show us the Way.
Remember how I referred to the book of Hebrews as Jesus propaganda? Well, through this series we will hear all about the greatness of Jesus and how he is equal to God in all respects and worthy of worship. Today we are going to talk about how Jesus is the Living Word of God. The passage for today’s lesson may only be 5 verses long but there is a LOT packed into these scant sentences.
The author starts out this section by telling us that Word of God is living and active (vs. 12). The Word is personified in the person of Jesus. This is not new to us - hearing Jesus called the Word. Surely, we remember in John’s Gospel, where it states in that beautiful prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1) and a lit bit later John tells us that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (1:14)
This is not a new concept, but sometimes it helps to examine that which we think we know - a little closer. Let’s go back to the beginning.
Do you remember how God created the world? (he spoke, he said)
Yes, God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. God spoke the world into being. The spoken Word is the creative Word. The spoken Word is powerful! Putting that together with what John taught – The Word was there with God in the beginning. That means JESUS was there in the beginning with God. The Word was not only there with God as he created the world, but the Word was God. Now that’s not a surprise because we already know that Jesus is God. But here is something that may surprise you – Jesus WAS the Word that God SPOKE in order to bring the world into being. So, Jesus, as God, used himself, as the Word, to create the universe. Or maybe you prefer the way Paul explained it in Colossians (1:16), “for by him all things in heaven and on earth were created…all things have been created through him and for him.”
Now we are getting into strange territory – pretty close to that murky topic of the Trinity. How does that even work? I think that’s one of those things that we may not fully understand until we receive full wisdom. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Back to the “living and active” Word. John Wesley translates that phrase as “living and powerful” so does the New King James Version. Another way it has been translated is “alive” and “effective.” God’s Word is a powerful, living, active thing that accomplishes God’s will. Oh! That reminds me of when God told Isaiah (55:11): my word shall depart from my mouth, “it shall NOT return to me empty, but it SHALL accomplish that which I purpose and SUCCEED in the thing for which I sent it.”
God’s spoken word accomplishes his purpose – it is active and effective. JESUS is God’s word. The author of Hebrews made that plain in last week’s selection when he wrote, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.” (1:1)
The next thing the author tells us about the Word of God is that it is sharper than any two-edged sword. (vs. 12) This reminds me of Ephesians where it talks about the armor of God and calls the word of God the “sword of the Spirit” (6:17) maybe you will recall that in my sermon on this passage that I said the sword is the only offensive weapon in the whole armor. How is the Word used offensively?
Well, here in Hebrews we read that the sword pierces to the very center of our being “dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow.” This is starting to sound very gruesome and probably evokes images of butchering animals. This is intentional. Remember that the author wants to address issues near and dear to the heart of the Hebrew religion and at the heart of that religion is the Temple and the ritual sacrifices ordained by God. We will talk more in detail about this later, but for now I want to focus on the metaphorical image of the Word of God judging “the thoughts and intentions of he heart” (vs. 12)
In verse 13 the author continues this metaphor by stating, that “before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”
John Wesley writes in his commentary, that this is “plainly alluding to the sacrifices under the law which were first flayed, and then (as the Greek word literally means) cleft asunder through the neck and backbone; so that everything both without and within was exposed to open view.” We are “laid bare” before the Lord. Nothing remains hidden from God. The Word of God, being a metaphorical sword, cuts into our hearts and reveals our deepest secrets and exposes those dark places of our souls.
This, I believe, also reveals our secrets to ourselves. There are things hidden in the subconscious that our thinking brain doesn’t know. When I attended a retreat about the Embodied Gospel, the lecturer, a licensed therapist and researcher, talked about how the body has its own memory. He emphasized the effect that trauma has upon the body. Most of us are familiar with PTSD and this is one extreme example of how the body remembers things that the analytical part of the brain would rather forget. The body DOES NOT FORGET and so there are triggers to the memory – a sound or a smell - or an encounter with Jesus.
Have you had this experience before? You read a scripture or hear a sermon or maybe you are reading a devotional or even talking to your friends and a lightbulb goes off in your head. You have an insight into your behavior and you immediately know your guilt. That’s what people mean when they say a scripture convicts them. You have had an encounter with Jesus, the Living Word of God.
As one commentator wrote, “whenever we rightly hear the Scriptures read and preached, God’s word will examine us and expose our failings. But our confession of sin is inseparable from our confession of faith in the Son of God.” When we confess our faith in Jesus, we open ourselves to relationship and the Light of Jesus reveals our sin and leads us to confess our unworthiness. The truth is revealed.
God’s powerful word, like a category 5 hurricane, blasts away everything extraneous to our being and strips us bare so that we may be judged.
Maybe you don’t want to be judged, maybe you are afraid of what God will think of you. You don’t want all of your dirty laundry aired. But here’s a wake-up call – we will all be judged whether we want it or not.
I want to tell you that confession is good for the soul. God knows what you are doing anyway, so you might as well get it off your chest. To God, you are an open book - you may think you can hide, but before God’s eyes you are naked and bare. All of your show and pretense may fool your fellow humans, but God knows your heart. And this may seem scary, but it shouldn’t because we know God is loving and merciful and the author of Hebrews reminds us today that we should “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy” (vs. 16). There is no word of condemnation here.
This idea of confession keeps popping up through all of my reading and studying and so I think it is VERY IMPORTANT. Recently, while I was reading about original sin and what happened in the Garden with Adam and Eve I came across this idea that maybe the problem there was that they didn’t confess their sin. (Sorry, I don’t remember where I read this.) God already knew that they had disobeyed by eating the fruit. But when asked about it, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Neither of them took personal responsibility and accepted the blame unto themselves.
M. Scott Peck, a noted psychiatrist and author, names acceptance of responsibility as one of the “tools” necessary for solving the problems of life and achieving emotional well-being. It seems quite obvious that in order to solve a problem, you must first admit you have a problem. But you would be amazed the lengths we will go to in order to ignore that responsibility or push it off onto someone else. Well, just examine your own behavior. Do you accept the responsibility for the way your life is right now – or is it the fault of your parents, your spouse, your children, your teachers, the government, society at large or God? I believe that admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery in the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I am of the opinion that you should tell the truth in all circumstances and that includes telling the truth to yourself. I am well aware that people lie to themselves to save their pride, to save their dignity, to preserve their good image, but if you want harmony within, you must show yourself the ugly parts of your psyche. You must confess your sin to yourself as much as to God - in order to be a whole unified being. I believe confession is vital step to that wholeness and healing – which we call salvation. This is important for our spiritual health as well as our mental health.
Confession is the way that we can open our hearts to God. I have a feeling that this may be LESS PAINFUL than being cut open by the sword of the Spirit (Word of God). But either way, we will be laid bare and judged, willingly or not.
God uses the sword – his living Word – to expose our sins and excise them; in a way like a skilled surgeon wields a scalpel to cut away diseased flesh for the healing of the whole body. Sin rots and spreads like a cancer, better to get rid of it before it spreads and fouls us all.
All of this talk of confession and exposure surely makes us feel our vulnerability acutely, but we should not fear. Because Jesus is our high priest, meaning that he has offered up a sacrifice for our atonement, we will be granted mercy. Jesus has gone ahead to prepare the way. We will talk more in detail later about why that is important, but for now let us know that he has offered the proper sacrifice so that we may be forgiven and that should give us great contentment. Notice that when we offer a communal confession in church it is always followed by an assurance of pardon. That’s because through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we are assured of mercy.
And so, FEAR NOT this confession of sin, this opening up, instead take comfort that after that little pain of confession comes the great peace of forgiveness. That wonderful feeling that God loves you even though you are naked before his eyes and all of your warts are showing. Know that this leads ultimately to your salvation – a healing and wholeness of body mind and soul.
Prayer
Loving and Merciful God – receive our confession today and every day, for it is EVERY DAY that we fall short of the glory that God intends for us. We invite you to search our hearts for hidden errors, all those things we wish would never see the light of day. Open us up and cleanse our souls, we beg you. Today while we are together and safe - reveal to us our sin. Let us see its darkness and let it be vanquished by your Light. Lead us to wholeness and healing as we confront our failings. Give us the courage to continually open our hearts to you, lest we be caught unawares at the time of judgement. Give us the comfort of your merciful love and let it be incentive enough for full disclosure. We pray this in the complete assurance of our high priest Jesus Christ. AMEN
Related Posts
The first post in this series, covering Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12.
