Hebrews 12:18-24

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²²But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The Fear is Gone

The writer of Hebrews starts off our passage with dramatic imagery that evokes a frightening, volcano-like experience, combined with a voice without a face that speaks (also mentioned in Deuteronomy 4:12) - who would not be afraid in such a dramatic situation? I would!

But, I wonder: why start with the negative, “You have not come…”? Presumably because the author is addressing believers with a Jewish background, who live and breathe the Old Testament. He wants to convey that a real change has happened through the coming of Jesus, that the old thinking about God needs to go. His audience would have been well versed in these Bible texts references, namely the Mount Sinai encounter between God, Moses and his people (Exodus 19). It seems that this Septuaginta text was quoted from memory; Deuteronomy 9:19 makes it clear that Moses’ own fear was that his people’s behavior had caused God’s anger, not about the terrifying sight. The human element in Scripture makes me smile.

What does the text contrast in a kind of parallel exposition? Two kinds of mountains: the old Mount Sinai, an empty wilderness with its connotation of terrifying shock-and-awe experiences of the Holy God, and the predictable utter fear it produces in the old people of God. The new Mount Zion, an actual hill in Jerusalem, a city on earth, relocated by our author to Heaven. The scenery is much more civilized and stately: a picture is painted before our eyes of a royal court state with God at the center. God is not dead, and he has an address! A city well populated, not only with God’s special agents, the angels, but also with us, the followers of Jesus, the church. Yes, respect for a holy God remains, since he is the judge of all, including me! But the legal situation has changed completely: there is now a capable mediator - Jesus - who can defend me in court, and prevent the worst outcome for me because he himself paid the ultimate price, death! Blood was indeed spilt, but not that of lesser creatures like in Abel’s sacrifice (Genesis 4:2-4).

Like the author, I too have not been to either mountain. Sinai is in the past and heavenly Zion is in the future. But in the here and now I get the crucial message: The fear is gone! God, as it were, ended the Old Testament experiment of ruling by fear and made himself approachable, bridging the distance that fear induced through Jesus, the best projection of God into the human sphere. Yes, his power remains, our respect is still called for - but “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message). Jesus understands my daily struggle, I can offer praise and complaints to him, because his love ends the fear.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that the fear is gone. Remind me that the respect for you and my Father in Heaven should remain. In all my uphill battles in life, prepare me for that hill of hills, Mount Zion. I am so glad the City of God is out of this world! Amen.