Hebrews 13:20-21

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

An Easter Blessing

To end the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author of the epistle pronounces a wonderful blessing on God’s people. It’s a blessing filled with Easter hope, Easter hope arising from what God has already done and will yet do through Jesus Christ. The fact that on that first Easter day God has “brought back from the dead our Savior, the great Shepherd of the sheep,” gives us, his sheep, the hope that we too, someday, will be brought back from the dead through him. Through the “blood of the eternal covenant,” i.e. the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice, we too can possess eternal life.

This Easter blessing, though, is not just about eternal life later. It is also about new life now. This new life has been brought about by the death and resurrection of Christ, and it is a new life that is lived for God in the here and now. (Romans 6:11b - But now you have new life because of Jesus Christ our Lord. You are living this new life for God.). This new life lived for God is the hope of this Easter blessing too, and it is, as the author of Hebrews points out, brought about by God’s equipping of us and his work in us (v 21).

New life now and eternal life later through Jesus Christ. This is the hope of Easter Day, and I pray it would be our hope on this Easter Day - and always!