Jesus Is the Better Way

For the last nine and a half chapters, the author of Hebrews has been building a case that Jesus is better than what the Jewish believers had before Jesus arrived on the scene by comparing who Jesus is and what He did for us compared to that of the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. Through the Old Testament, the worshippers could not come close to God. Through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us, we have open access to the throne room in heaven. Some of the audience of this letter, because of growing persecution, are being tempted to reject the Gospel and return to a system that was never designed to work in the first place. It was meant to point them to Jesus, the coming Messiah. By rejecting the Gospel, they are putting themselves in a terrible position.