Hebrews 13:8

Heb 13:8-9. Men may die, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever — From everlasting to everlasting: the same in his person and offices, in his love and power, in his truth and grace; the same object of faith; and the same in all respects, to all believers, in all ages; and therefore be steadfast in the faith and hope of the gospel: and be not carried about with divers, Ποικιλαις, various, and strange doctrines — Doctrines inconsistent with each other, and differing from that one faith in our one unchangeable Lord, and strange to the ears and hearts of all that abide in him. For it is a good thing — Of great importance to our own peace of mind, to the glory of God, and the edification of others; it is honourable, pleasant, and profitable, for the heart to be established — In the faith and hope of the gospel; with grace — The influence of the Divine Spirit received through Christ; not with meats — With Jewish ceremonies of any kind, which indeed can never establish the heart; and which have not profited — To the purifying of the conscience from guilt, or increasing their holiness; them that have been occupied therein — How exact and scrupulous soever they have been in observing them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrews

THE UNCHANGING CHRIST

Heb 13:8.

How far back does this ‘yesterday’ go? The limit must be found by observing that it is ‘Jesus Christ’ who is spoken of - that is to say, the Incarnate Saviour. That observation disposes of the reference of these words to the past eternity in which the eternal Word of God was what He is to-day. The sameness that is referred to here is neither the sameness of the divine Son from all eternity, nor the sameness of the medium of revelation in both the old and the new dispensations, but the sameness of the human Christ to all generations of His followers. And the epoch referred to in the ‘yesterday’ is defined more closely if we observe the previous context, which speaks of the dying teachers who have had the rule and have passed away. The ‘yesterday’ is the period of these departed teachers; the ‘to-day’ is the period of the writer and his readers.

But whilst the words of my text are thus narrowly: limited, the attribute, which is predicated of Christ in them, is something more than belongs to manhood, and requires for its foundation the assumption of His deity. He is the unchanging Jesus because He is the divine Son. The text resumes at the end of the Epistle, the solemn words of the first chapter, which referred the declaration of the Psalmist to ‘the Son’ - ‘Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.’ That Son, changeless and eternal by divine immutability, is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Redeemer.

This text may well be taken as our motto in looking forward, as I suppose we are all of us more or less doing, and trying to forecast the dim outlines of the coming events of this New Year. Whatever may happen, let us hold fast by that confidence, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.’

I. I apply these words, then, as a New-Year’s motto, in two or three different directions, and ask you to consider, first, the unchanging Christ in His relation to our changeful lives.

The one thing of which anticipation may be sure is that nothing continues in one stay. True, ‘that which is to be hath already been’; true, there is ‘nothing new under the sun’; but just as in the physical world the infinite variety of creatures and things is all made Out of a few very simple elements, so, in our lives, out of a comparatively small number of possible incidents, an immense variety of combinations results, with the effect that, while we may be sure of the broad outlines of our future, we are all in the dark as to its particular events, and only know that ceaseless change with characterise it. So all forward looking must have a touch of fear in it, and there is only one thing that will enable us to front the else intolerable certainty of uncertainty, and that is, to fall back upon this thought’ of my text, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’

The one lesson of our changeful lives ought to be for each of us the existence of that which changes not. By the very law of contrast, and by the need of finding sufficient reason for the changes, we are driven from the contemplation of the fleeting to the vision of the permanent. The waves of this stormy sea of life ought to fling us all high and dry on the safe shore. Blessed are they who, in a world of passing phenomena, penetrate to the still centre of rest, and looking over all the vacillations of the things that can be shaken, can turn to the Christ and say, Thou who movest all things art Thyself unmoved; Thou who changest all things, Thyself changest not. As the moon rises slow and silvery, with its broad shield, out of the fluctuations of the ocean, so the one radiant Figure of the all sufficient and immutable Lover and Friend of our souls should rise for us out of the billows of life’s tossing ocean, and come to us across the seal Brother! let the fleeting proclaim to you the permanent; let the world with its revolutions lead you up to the thought of Him who is the same for ever. For that is the only thought on which a man can build, and, building, be at rest.

The yesterday of my text may either be applied to the generations that have passed, and then the ‘to-day’ is our little life; or may be applied to my own yesterday, and then the to-day is this narrow present. In either application the words of my text are full of hope and of joy. In the former they say to us that no time can waste, nor any drawing from the fountain can diminish the all-sufficiency of that divine Christ in whom eighteen centuries have trusted and been ‘lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.’ The yesterday of His grace to past generations: is the prophecy of the future and the law for the present. There is nothing that any past epoch has ever drawn from Him, of courage and confidence, of hope and wisdom, of guidance and strength, of love and consolation, of righteousness and purity, of brave hope and patient endurance, which He does not stand by my side ready to give to me too to-day, ‘As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts,’ and the old Christ of a thousand years ago is the Christ of to-day, ready to help, to succour, and to make us like Himself.

In the second reference, narrowing the ‘yesterdays’ to our own experiences, the words are full of consolation and of hope. ‘Thou hast been my Help; leave me not, neither forsake me,’ is the prayer that ought to be taught us by every remembrance of what Jesus Christ has been to us. The high-water mark of His possible sweetness does not lie in some irrevocable past moment of our lives. We never have to say that we have found a sufficiency in Him which we never shall find any more. Remember the time in your experience when Jesus Christ was most tender, most near, most sweet, most mysterious, most soul-sufficing for you, and be sure that He stands beside you, ready to renew the ancient blessing and to surpass it in His gift. Man’s love sometimes wearies, Christ’s never; man’s basket may be emptied, Christ’s is fuller after the distribution than it was before. This fountain can never run dry. Not until seven times, but Until seventy times seven - perfection multiplied into perfection, and that again multiplied by perfection once more - is the limit of the inexhaustible mercy of our Lord, and all in which the past has been rich lives in the present. Remember, too, that this same thought which heartens us to front the inevitable changes, also gives dignity, beauty, poetry, to the small prosaic present. ‘Jesus Christ is the same to-day.’ We are always tempted to think that this moment is commonplace and insignificant. Yesterday lies consecrated in memory; to-morrow, radiant in hope; but to-day is poverty- stricken and prose. The sky is farthest away from us right over our heads; behind and in front it seems to touch the earth. But if we will only that all that sparkling lustre and all that more than mortal tenderness of pity and of love with which Jesus Christ has irradiated and sweetened any past is verily here with us amidst the commonplaces and insignificant duties of the dusty to-day, then we need look back to no purple distance, nor forward to any horizon where sky and earth kiss, but feel that here or nowhere, now or never, is Christ the all-sufficient and unchanging Friend. He is faithful. He cannot deny Himself.

II. So, secondly, I apply these words in another direction. I ask you to think of the relation between the unchanging Christ and the dying helpers.

That is the connection in which the words occur in my text. The writer has been speaking of the subordinate and delegated leaders and rulers in the Church ‘who have spoken the word of God’ and who have passed away, leaving a faith to be followed, and a conversation the end of which is to be considered. And, turning from all these mortal companions, helpers, guides, he bids us think of Him who liveth for ever, and for ever is the teacher, the companion the home of our hearts, and the goal of our love. All other ties - sweet, tender, infinitely precious, have been or will be broken for you and me. Some of us have to look back upon their snapping; some of us have to look forward. But there is one bond over which the skeleton fingers of Death have no power, and they fumble at that knot in vain. He separates us from all others; blessed be God! he cannot separate us from Christ. ‘I shall lose Thee though I die’; and Thou, Thou diest never.

God’s changeful providence comes into all our lives, and ports dear ones, making their places empty, that Christ Himself may fill the empty places, and, striking away other props, though the tendrils that twine round them bleed with the wrench, in order that the plant may no longer trail along the ground, but twine itself round the Cross and climb to the Christ upon the throne. ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.’ The true King was manifested when the earthly, shadowy monarch was swept away. And just as, on the face of some great wooded cliff, when the leaves drop, the solemn strength of the everlasting rock gleams out pure, so when our dear ones fall away, Jesus Christ is revealed, ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ ‘They tautly were many, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.’ ‘This Man continueth ever.’ He lives, and in Him all loves and companionships live unchanged.

III. So, further, we apply, in the third place, this thought to the relation between the unchanging Christ and decaying institutions and opinions.

The era in which this Epistle was written was an era of revolution no great that we can scarcely imagine its apparent magnitude. It was close upon the final destruction of the ancient system of Judaism an external institution. The temple was tottering o its fall, the nation was ready to be scattered, and the writer, speaking to Hebrews, to whom that crash seemed to be the passing away of the eternal verities of God, bids them lift their eyes above all the chaos and dust of dissolving institutions and behold the true Eternal, the ever-living Christ. He warns them in the verse that follows nay text not to be carried about with divers and strange doctrines, bat to keep fast to the unchanging Jesus. And so these words may well come to us with lessons of encouragement, and with teaching of duty and steadfastness, in an epoch of much unrest and change - social, theological, ecclesiastical- such as that in which our lot is cast. Man’s systems are the shadows on the hillside. Christ is the everlasting solemn mountain itself, Much in the popular conception and representation of Christianity is in the act of passing. Let it go; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. We need not fear change within the limits of His Church or of His world. For change there means progress, and the more the human creations and embodiments of Christian truth crumble and disintegrate, the more distinctly does the solemn, single, unique figure of Christ the Same, rise before us. There is nothing in the world’s history to compare with the phenomenon which is presented by the unworn freshness of Jesus Christ after all these centuries. All other men, however burning and shining their light, flicker and die out into extinction, and but for a season can the world rejoice in any of their beams; but this Jesus dominates the ages, and is as fresh to-day, in spite of all that men say, as He was eighteen centuries ago. They toll us He is losing His power; they tell us that mists of oblivion are wrapping Him round, as He moves slowly to the doom which besets Him in common with all the great names of the world. The wish is father to the thought. Christ is not done with yet, nor has the world done with Him, nor is He less available for the necessities of this generation, with its perplexities and difficulties, than He was in the past. His sameness is consistent with an infinite unfolding of new preciousness and new powers, as new generations with new questions arise, and the world seeks for fresh guidance. ‘I write no new commandment unto you’; I preach no new Christ unto you, ‘again, a new commandment I write unto you,’ and every generation will find new impulse, new teaching, new shaping energies, social and individual, ecclesiastical, theological, intellectual, in the old Christ who was crucified for our offences and raised again for our justification, and remains ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ IV. Lastly, look at these words in their application to the relation between the unchanging Christ and the eternal life of heaven.

The ‘for ever’ of my text is not to be limited to this present life, but it runs on into the remotest future, and summons up before us the grand and boundless prospect of an eternal unfolding and reception of new beauties in the old earthly Christ. For Him the change between the ‘to-day’ of His earthly life and the ‘for ever’ of His ascended glory made no change in the tenderness of His heart, the sweetness of His smile, the nearness of His helping hand. The beloved apostle, when he saw Him for the first time after He was ascended, fell at His feet as dead, because the attributes of His nature had become so glorious. But when the old hand, the same hand that had been pierced with the nails on the Cross, though it now held the seven stars, was laid upon him, and the old voice, the same voice that had spoken to him in the upper room, and in feebleness from the Cross,’ though it was now as the ‘sound of many waters,’ said to him, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was dead and am alive for ever more’; John learned that the change from the Cross to the throne touched but the circumference of his Master’s Being, and left the whole centre of His love and brotherhood wholly unaffected.

Nor will the change for us, from earth to the close communion of the heavens, bring us into contact with a changed Christ. It will be but like the experience of a man starting from the outermost verge of the solar system, where that giant, planet welters, away out in the darkness and the cold, and travelling inwards ever nearer and nearer to the central light, the warmth becoming more fervent, the radiance becoming more wondrous, as he draws closer and closer to the greatness which he divined when he was far away, and which he knows better when he is beside it. It will be the same Christ, the Mediator, the Revealer in heaven, whom we here dimly saw and knew to be the Sun of our souls through the clouds and mists of earth.

That radiant and eternal sameness will consist with continual variety, and an endless streaming forth of new lustres and new powers. But through all the growing proximity and illumination of the heavens He will be the same Jesus that we knew upon earth; still the Friend and the Lover of our souls. So, dear friends, if you and I have Him for our very own, then we do not need to fear change, for change will be progress; nor loss, for loss will be gain; nor the storm of life, which will drive us to His breast; nor the solitude of death, for our Shepherd will be with us there. He will be ‘the same for ever’; though we shall know Him more deeply; even as we shall be the same, though ‘changed from glory into glory.’. If we have Him, we may be sure, on earth, of a ‘to-morrow,’ which ‘shall be as this day, and much more abundant.’ If we have Him, we may be sure of a heaven in which the sunny hours of its unending day will be filled with fruition and ever new glories from the old Christ who, for earth and heaven, is ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:8 Though the community was facing new challenges, Jesus Christ is the same, and his Good News does not change. • yesterday: Jesus was the Father’s agent in creation (1:2, 10). • today: Jesus currently sits at the Father’s right hand (1:13; 7:26-28; 10:12). He will rule the universe forever (1:8, 10-12).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 13:8. Ἰησοῦς χριστὸς, Jesus Christ) A solemn appellation: The sum of the Gospel, which is to be held by faith. Not only the doctrine concerning Christ is intended, but Jesus Christ Himself, of whom the doctrine of faith treats. Those who have gone before us in the path of salvation died in that faith, which is supported by the word of GOD.—χθὲς καὶ σήμερον, yesterday and to-day) χθὲς καὶ σήμερον, yesterday and to-day, occur in their proper (strict) signification, without a figure, in 1Sa 20:27: but the apostle speaks in a larger (nobler) sense. Jesus Christ, who was yesterday, is the same to-day; yesterday, before His sufferings and death; to-day, in glory; comp. ch. Heb 1:3; Rev 1:18. As night comes between yesterday and to-day, and yet night itself is swallowed up by yesterday and to-day, so the suffering did not so interrupt the glory of Jesus Christ which was of yesterday, so to speak, and that glory which is of to-day, that it did not continue to be the same. These expressions have the force of a proverb, yesterday, yesterday and the day before, yesterday and to-day, yesterday and to-morrow: Isa 30:33; Deu 4:42; 2Sa 15:20; Sir 38:23; and in this general sense of the apostle, yesterday and to-day resemble a proverb, so as to denote any past and present time, which was denoted especially in the discussion brought to this point. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday—before He came into the world, before His passion, before His ascension—and to-day, in heaven; yesterday and to-day in the former and latter (second) part of this exhortation: yesterday in the time of our earlier and later predecessors, and to-day in our own age. In whatever way it may be understood, Artemonius, p. 347, cannot join together a short yesterday and long ages (αἰῶνας).—ὁ αὐτὸς) Some place a comma before it, but improperly. This is the sentiment of the apostle: Jesus Christ is always the same; He who was yesterday, is the SAME TO-DAY, nay, for ever (to all AGES): [Always the same Saviour and the same Teacher.—V. g.] Also, the true doctrine, delivered to you by your teachers, is always the same, not variable, Heb 13:7; Heb 13:9. He Himself is always the same: ch. Heb 1:12, Thou art the same: The same in the Old and New Testament; ch. Heb 12:2, note. See also 1Co 3:11; Php 3:16. He is unchangeable, and never dies, although teachers die.—καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας) and for ever, Heb 13:20, ch. Heb 7:3; Heb 7:16; Heb 7:24-25.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_13:8 is ordinarily comprehended in one with Heb_13:7. Expositors then find in the utterance either, as Bleek, Ebrard, Bisping, and others, an adducing of the motive for the emulation of the faithful leaders enjoined at Heb_13:7; or, as Zeger, Grotius, Schulz, Kurtz, and others (comp. already Theophylact), the encouraging assurance that, as to these leaders, so also to the readers, provided they only take the faith of these leaders as a model for themselves, the gracious aid of Christof which, however, there was no mention in Heb_13:7will not be wanting; or finally, as Carpzov,[124] the more precise information as to that in which their faith had consisted. More correctly, however, on account of the antithetic correspondence between ὁ αὐτός, Heb_13:8, and ποικίλαις καὶ ξέναις, Heb_13:9, are the words, Heb_13:8, taken as constituting the foundation and preparation for the injunction of Heb_13:9. Jesus Christ is for ever the same; the Christian therefore must give no place in his mind and heart to doctrines which are opposed to Christ, His nature and His requirements.

ἐχθὲς … σήμερον … εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας] Designation of the past, present, and future; exhaustive unfolding of the notion ἀεί. The expression is rhetorical; ἐχθές is consequently not to be further expounded, in such wise that we must think of the time of the former teachers (Schlichting, Grotius, Hammond, Limborch, Bleek, de Wette, Bisping, Delitzsch, Maier, Kluge, Kurtz, Hofmann, Woerner, al.), or of the time before the appearing of Christ (Bengel, Cramer, Stein), or to the whole time of the Old Covenant (Calvin, Pareus, al.), or even to the eternal pre-existence of Christ (Ambrose, de Fide, v. 1. 25; Seb. Schmidt, Nemethus, and others).

Ἰησοῦς Χριστός is the subject, and ὁ αὐτός (sc. ἐστίν, not ἔστω) the common predicate to all three notes of time. Wrongly Paulus: Jesus is the God-anointed One; yesterday and to-day is He altogether the samewhich must have read: Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός. But mistaken also the Vulgate, Oecumenius, Luther, Vatablus, Zeger, Calvin, and others, in that they interpunctuate after σήμερον: Jesus Christ yesterday and to-day; the same also in eternity. For that which is to be accentuated is not the eternity of Christ, as would be the case by means of the ἐχθὲς καὶ σήμερον taken alone, but the eternal unchangeableness of Christ.

[124] Imitamini vestrorum praefectorum fidem, nimirum hanc: Jesus Christus heri, hodie et semper ὁ αὐτὸς Deus est.

Heb_13:8-15. Exhortation to hold aloof from unchristian doctrines and ritual observances.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He repeateth the sum of the doctrine, to wit, the only ground of all precepts of manners, and that is this: That we ought to quiet and content ourselves in Christ only: for there was yet never any man saved without the knowledge of him, neither is at this day saved, neither shall be saved hereafter.

We have to set before us the examples of valiant Captains, whom we ought diligently to follow.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

This verse is not, as some read it, in apposition with "the end of their conversation" (Heb 13:7), but forms the transition. "Jesus Christ, yesterday and to-day (is) the same, and (shall be the same) unto the ages (that is, unto all ages)." The Jesus Christ (the full name being given, to mark with affectionate solemnity both His person and His office) who supported your spiritual rulers through life even unto their end "yesterday" (in times past), being at once "the Author and the Finisher of their faith" (Heb 12:2), remains still the same Jesus Christ "to-day," ready to help you also, if like them you walk by "faith" in Him. Compare "this same Jesus," Act 1:11. He who yesterday (proverbial for the past time) suffered and died, is to-day in glory (Rev 1:18). "As night comes between yesterday and to-day, and yet night itself is swallowed up by yesterday and to-day, so the "suffering" did not so interrupt the glory of Jesus Christ which was of yesterday, and that which is to-day, as not to continue to be the same. He is the same yesterday, before He came into the world, and to-day, in heaven. Yesterday in the time of our predecessors, and to-day in our age" [BENGEL]. So the doctrine is the same, not variable: this verse thus forms the transition between Heb 13:7 and Heb 13:9. He is always "the same" (Heb 1:12). The same in the Old and in the New Testament.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday] In all past times there was no way to the holiest but through the blood of Jesus, either actually shed, or significantly typified. To-day - he is the lamb newly slain, and continues to appear in the presence of God for us. For ever-to the conclusion of time, he will be the way, the truth, and the life, none coming to the Father but through him; and throughout eternity, εις τους αιωνας, it will appear that all glorified human spirits owe their salvation to his infinite merit. This Jesus was thus witnessed of by your guides, who are already departed to glory. Remember HIM; remember them; and take heed to yourselves.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Jesus Christ the same, etc. The only way by which we can persevere in the right faith is to hold to the foundation, and not in the smallest degree to depart from it; for he who holds not to Christ knows nothing but mere vanity, though he may comprehend heaven and earth; for in Christ are included all the treasures of celestial wisdom. This then is a remarkable passage, from which we learn that there is no other way of being truly wise than by fixing all our thoughts on Christ alone.

Now as he is dealing with the Jews, he teaches them that Christ had ever possessed the same sovereignty which he holds at this day; The same, he says, yesterday, and today, and forever. By which words he intimates that Christ, who was then made known in the world, had reigned from the beginning of the world, and that it is not possible to advance farther when we come to him. Yesterday then comprehends the whole time of the Old Testament; and that no one might expect a sudden change after a short time, as the promulgation of the Gospel was then but recent, he declares that Christ had been lately revealed for this very end, that the knowledge of him might continue the same for ever.

It hence appears that the Apostle is not speaking of the eternal existence of Christ, but of that knowledge of him which was possessed by the godly in all ages, and was the perpetual foundation of the Church. It is indeed certain that Christ existed before he manifested his power; but the question is, what is the subject of the Apostle. Then I say he refers to quality, so to speak, and not to essence; for it is not the question, whether he was from eternity with the Father, but what was the knowledge which men had of him. But the manifestation of Christ as to its external form and appearance, was indeed different under the Law from what it is now; yet there is no reason why the Apostle could not say truly and properly that Christ, as regarded by the faithful, is always the same.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(8) Jesus Christ the same . . .—Rather, Jesus Christ is yesterday and to-day the same; yea, also for ever. Their earlier guides have passed away (Heb_13:7); their Lord and Saviour abides the same for ever. He who is the subject of all Christian teaching is the same, therefore (Heb_13:9) “be not carried away by divert teachings.” Thus, this verse stands connected both with what precedes and with what follows. “Yesterday” carries the thought back to the lifetime of the teachers now no more; what the Saviour was to them, that will He be to their survivors. The whole period since He “sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb_10:12-13) is covered by this word. What He was “yesterday and to-day” He will be for ever. (See Heb_1:11-12.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Jesus Christ the same] Rather, “is the same” (comp. Heb_1:12). The collocation “Jesus Christ” is in this Epistle only found elsewhere in Heb_13:21 and Heb_10:10. He commonly says “Jesus” in the true reading (Heb_2:9, Heb_3:1, Heb_6:20, &c.) or “Christ” (Heb_3:6; Heb_3:14, Heb_5:5, &c.). He also has “the Lord” (Heb_2:3), “our Lord” (Heb_7:14), and “our Lord Jesus” (Heb_13:20). “Christ Jesus,” which is so common in St Paul, only occurs as a very dubious various reading in Heb_3:1.

yesterday, and to day, and for ever] See Heb_7:24. The order of the Greek is “yesterday and to-day the same, and to the ages.” See Heb_1:12; Mal_3:6; Jas_1:17. The unchangeableness of Christ is a reason for not being swept about by winds of strange teaching.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Who is the substance of the word spoken by the above mentioned rulers, the author and object of their faith, and the end in which their conversation terminated. These words may be expressive of the duration of Christ: he was "yesterday", which does not design the day immediately foregoing, nor some little time past, but ancient times, formerly, of old; and though it does not extend to eternity, which is true of Christ, yet may be carried further than to the days of his flesh here on earth, even to the whole Old Testament dispensation; yea, to the beginning of the world, when he existed not only as the eternal Word, the everlasting "I am", but as the Saviour and Redeemer of his people; during which dispensation he frequently appeared in an human form, and was the sum of all promises and prophecies, and the substance of all types and shadows, and the spiritual food of his people: and he is "today" under the Gospel dispensation; in his person as God-man, and in his offices as prophet, priest, and King: and will be so "for ever": he will never die more; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his priesthood an unchangeable one. Moreover, these words may regard the immutability of Christ; who is unchangeable in his person, perfections, and essence, as God; and in his love to his people; and in the fulness of his grace, and in the efficacy of his blood, and in the virtue of his sacrifice and righteousness: it may be observed, that , translated "the same", answers to "he", a name of God, Psa 102:27 and which is used in Jewish writings (x) for a name of God; and so it is among the Turks (y): and it is expressive of his eternity, immutability, and independence; and well agrees with Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever.

(x) Seder Tephillot, fol. 2. 1. & 4. 1. Ed. Basil. fol. 6. 2. & 7. 1. Ed. Amstelod. Zehar in Exod. fol. 35. 4. Maimonides in Misn. Succa, c. 4. sect. 5. (y) Smith de Moribus Turc. p. 40.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Ver. 8. Jesus Christ, the same] This was the sum of their sermons, and is the substance of their and your faith; which therefore you must stick to, standing fast in the street which is called Straight, Act 9:11, and not whirred about with various and strange doctrines.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday ... - As this stands in our common translation, it conveys an idea which is not in the original. It would seem to mean that Jesus Christ, the unchangeable Saviour, was the end or aim of the conduct of those referred to, or that they lived to imitate and glorify him. But this is by no means the meaning in the original. There it stands as an absolute proposition, that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever;” that is, that he is unchangeable. The evident design of this independent proposition here is, to encourage them to persevere by showing that their Saviour was always the same; that he who had sustained his people in former times, was the same still, and would be the same forever. The argument here, therefore, for perseverance is founded on the “immutability” of the Redeemer. If he were fickle, vacillating, changing in his character and plans; if today he aids his people, and tomorrow will forsake them; if at one time he loves the virtuous, and at another equally loves the vicious; if he formed a plan yesterday which he has abandoned today; or if he is ever to be a different being from what he is now, there would be no encouragement to effort. Who would know what to depend on? Who would know what to expect tomorrow? For who could have any certainty that he could ever please a capricious or a vacillating being? Who could know how to shape his conduct if the principles of the divine administration were not always the same? At the same time, also, that this passage furnishes the strongest argument for fidelity and perseverance, it is an irrefragable proof of the divinity of the Saviour. It asserts immutability - sameness in the past, the present, and to all eternity but of whom can this be affirmed but God? It would not be possible to conceive of a declaration which would more strongly assert immutability than this.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever. That is, Christ is the same merciful and powerful advocate and protector, in regard of all that serve him faithfully to the end of the world. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Though this hath no term of connection, yet it may be referred either to what precedeth or followeth it; for the apostle is not here dropping aphorisms, but pressing on the subjects of Christ’s kingdom known duties. It is here interposed as a weighty reason of the duty foregoing, to remember their guides, imitate their faith, and consider the end of their conversation, for they taught, believed in, conversed with, and at last were perfected by, Jesus Christ; so that they might be saved by him as their guides were, there being no other way to blessedness, but by

Jesus Christ the same, & c., Joh 14:6. Or a reason enforcing what followeth, that since Jesus Christ is the same, as in his person, so in his doctrine, faith, and conversation, which he enjoineth on his subjects, they should not be carried about with divers and strange doctrines. Jesus Christ personal is immutable in his care and love to his mystical body, and all the members of it, throughout all times and ages, he never leaves nor forsakes them; so Christ doctrinal, in his faith, law, and rule of conversation, Eph 4:20,21. The pure, full, and entire religion of Christ is unchangeable, being simply, indivisibly, and constantly the same throughout all measures of time, Mat 5:18; 2Co 11:3,4; Ga 1:6,7; Eph 4:4,5; 1Pe 1:23,25.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. What is (Heb_13:7) that end or outcome? It is Jesus Christ, the immutable. His double name is given in solemn emphasis. The eternity of his sameness consists in this, that the today is an ever movable standpoint. Take whatever to-day you please, and Christ was the same yesterday, and will be the same to-morrow, and so on forever.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The unchangeableness of Jesus Christ. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. The Lord Jesus Christ is unchangeable

I IN HIS PERSON. "Our Lord"s Godhead is the seat of his personality. The Son of Mary is not a distinct human person mysteriously linked with the Divine nature of the eternal Word. The Person of the Son of Mary is Divine and eternal. It is none other than the Person of the Word." This personality is immutable. This has been already asserted by the writer of this Epistle: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth," etc. (Heb_1:10-12) He is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever" in his great attributes his eternity, spirituality, omniscience, omnipotence, etc. He is the same in his perfect and blessed character in his righteousness and faithfulness, his love and mercy, his forbearance and tenderness, etc. In this respect how vast is the difference between him and us! We are ever changing in many respects. Our outward appearances, the particles of which our bodies are composed, the opinions which we entertain, the experiences which we pass through, the characters which we are forming, all these change. But he is sublimely unchangeable, eternally and infinitely perfect.

II IN HIS WORD. The teaching of our Lord, like his personality, continues and changes not. His words are true, vital, suited to the conditions and needs of human nature and life. More than eighteen centuries have passed away since they were uttered; but they have lost none of their clearness, or freshness, or force. They are still the great fountains of religious light to our race. And the noblest human spirits still say to him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." It has been well said by Dr. Parker, "Plato"s definitions are practically forgotten, but the Nazarene"s words intermingle with universal civilization. A great composer said he was spending a long time over his work because he intended it to live long, but this Galilean peasant talks extemporaneously, as if simply answering the question of the hour; yet his words float over all generations, and are prized by men today as if they had been addressed exclusively to themselves. These "sayings" are not local lamps, but suns set in the firmament commanding the range of all nations.... In Christ"s "sayings" there was always something beyond a quickening sense that the words were but the surface of the thought; there was nothing to betoken conclusion, much less exhaustion; there was ever a luminous opening even on the clouds that lay deepest along the horizon, which invited the spectator to advance and behold yet fuller visions" ("Eece Deus"). How different is the teaching Of Jesus Christ from the changing opinions, speculations, and theories of men even of distinguished men! Of every province of human thought and investigation we may truthfully sayOur little systems have their day; They have their day, and cease to be.

But Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." "The Word of God liveth and abideth The Word of the Lord abideth forever.

III IN HIS WORK. Part of his great work was perfectly and splendidly accomplished while he was upon earth. The work which was given him to do upon earth, says Dr. Wardlaw, "was the expiation of human guilt, and the provision of a righteousness for the justification of the ungodly; the laying of the groundwork of man"s redemption the foundation on which might rest together the glory of God and the hopes of sinners. But his mediatorial work did not cease then. It does not properly terminate till "the end come," when he shall have accomplished all the ends for which his office as Mediator had been assumed." He who for man their Surety stood, And poured on earth his precious blood, Pursues in heaven his mighty plan; The Savior and the Friend of man. (Logan.)

Many of the miracles which he wrought when upon earth are illustrations, parables, of the work which he is ever performing in human spirits.

1. As Savior of sinners he is the same. The cross upon which he gave himself in death for us has lost none of its ancient power. By his glorious gospel and his Holy Spirit he is still convincing men of sin, drawing them to himself, and imparting to them pardon and peace, liberty and joy.

2. As the Helper of his people he is the same. He ever liveth to make intercession for them". (Heb_7:25) "Christ"s perpetual presentation of himself before the Father," says Canon Liddon, "is that which constitutes his intercession." He is in the presence of God as our Representative, our Advocate, and our Friend.

From the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ we infer:

1. That he is essentially Divine. All created beings change. This is one thing in which each and all of them are alike. We are different today from what we were yesterday, and tomorrow we shall differ from what we are today. Immutability belongs only to God. (cf. Heb_1:10-12)

2. That be is worthy of our utmost confidence. If he were fickle, changeable in his character and purposes, loving man today and regarding him with indifference to-morrow, how could we trust him? Nay, if it were even possible for him to change, how could we calmly and confidently commit cur souls to him? But seeing that he is what he is in his character and in his relation to us, and that he is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever," we may repose in him the fullest confidence of our being.

3. That the success of His cause is assured. In the preceding verse we were reminded of the death of Christian ministers and elders; but the great Head of the Church ever liveth and is ever the same. "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged," etc.. W.J. (Isa_42:4)

The unchanging Jesus.

I THE NEEDS OF MEN DO NOT CHANCE. No doubt there is change and progress in some respects. Each generation of the human race, like each succeeding wave when the tide is flowing, is an advance on the generation going before it. As the world grows older this advance is more marked. Our fathers traveled in stage-coaches, we by express trains; they had to wait weeks for the answer of a letter, we have the telegraph to bring the same answer in an hour. But all these changes, however impressive, are only on the surface of life. Our nature has not changed, it wants the same ministries, though they may come in a different way. Though each wave is an advance on the preceding wave, they are all composed of the same elements. We who travel in railway trains are exactly the same sort of beings as those who rode in stage-coaches. The great facts of existence are the same birth and death, sin and sorrow, hope and fear. A picture is not altered because you put it in a different frame. Man is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

II THE SERVICE OF CHRIST DOES NOT CHANGE. Let the words be taken as true of Christ in his relation to us, that relation arising out of his life among men in the flesh. He has come into special relations to us, and it is in those special relations that we have to consider him as "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." He came to this world to do a work for all generations. As to us, the closer we keep to the evident and pressing wants of our generation, the better work we shall do. We know not the wants of posterity, and therefore we had better leave it to look after its own wants. But Jesus in his brief life did a work for the whole world for all who ever have lived or will live on the broad surface of the earth. Because there are sinners still, Christ is still a Savior, The world is still full of Pharisees and Sadducees, publicans and harlots, sinners of every type and shade; full of the sick and the sorrowing; full of women like the widow of Nain and the sisters of Lazarus, weeping for their departed kindred.

III NO CHANGE IN THE THINGS TO BE SAID ABOUT CHRIST. Do not be carried away, says the writer of the Epistle, with new doctrines concerning Christ, however attractive and plausible. Let us ever remind ourselves of what Christ has been in the great yesterday. Especially let us consider that yesterday which is revealed to us in the Scriptures of the New Testament. If that day was not a dream of the imagination, then it is one of the most glorious of soul-supporting realities. Jesus justified the name he bore, for he did indeed save his people from their sins. The yesterday of which we are now able to speak is a long one. It has known many changes in the world, but none in Jesus Christ.

IV NO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE. The world will not change in its need of him. They are certainly wrong who tell us the religion of Christ has seen its best days. Look at the future in the light of the past, and you will be assured of your Savior ever standing in the midst of the golden candlesticks, watching that their light goes not out. We may change in our faith and hope and patience, but Christ changes not. Rising to the measure of our duties and opportunities, this would become a practical truth to us. We are not straitened in him, but in ourselves. He asks to let him do for us what he has done for those going before. He asks for admission. Let the door no longer be locked with the key of unbelief and double bolted with indolence and worldliness. Let us not go from the world without leaving a testimony that shall if possible have a savoir of life unto life to those following in our steps. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Men may die; but Jesus Christ, yea, and his gospel, is the same from everlasting to everlasting.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

These words may be understood three ways; with respect to the person of Christ to the office of Christ, and to the doctrine of Christ.

1. With respect to the person of Christ, he is eternal and immutable in every state of the church, and in every condition of believers he is the same, and always will be the same in his divine person; he is, ever was, and ever will be, all in all unto his church.

2. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever: not only in respect of his person, but in regard of his office. The virtue of the legal sacrifice expired with the offering, but the precious oblation of Christ hath an everlasting efficacy to obtain full pardon for believers; his blood is as powerful to propitiate God, as if it were this day shed upon the cross.

3. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; in regard of his doctrine, that remains unchangeable and irrevocable. The gospel is the last revelation of the mind of God, made know by Jesus Christ, that ever will be laid before the world: such therefore as reject him and his doctrine, reject the last remedy, the only remedy, and must needs perish, without any possiblity of recovery.

Learn from the whole, that our Lord Jesus Christ was from the beginning of the world the immutable object of his church’s faith; and the consideration of Jesus Christ in his eternity, immutability, and all-sufficiency of his power, as he is always the same, is the great encouragement of believers in the profession of their faith, and a mighty support under all the difficulties they meet with upon the account thereof: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, etc. He is named as the end or object of the lives of the rulers just referred to. With them the unchangeable Christ was the all in all. Since he remains the same, he is as able to help you as he was to help them.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

8. Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς … ὁ αὐτός. “Jesus Christ is the same” (comp. Heb 1:12). The A. V. by its omission of the copula seems to connect this with τὴν ἔκβασιν as if Jesus Christ were the “end of their conversation,” which it is scarcely necessary to say is impossible. The collocation “Jesus Christ” is in this Epistle only found elsewhere in Heb 13:21 and Heb 10:10. He commonly says “Jesus” in the true reading (Heb 2:9, Heb 3:1, Heb 6:20, &c.) or “Christ” (Heb 3:6; Heb 3:14, Heb 5:5, &c.). He also has “the Lord” (Heb 2:3), “our Lord” (Heb 7:14), and “our Lord Jesus” (Heb 13:20). “Christ Jesus,” which is so common in St Paul, only occurs as a very dubious various reading in Heb 3:1.

ἐχθὲς κ.τ.λ. See Heb 7:24. The order of the Greek is “yesterday and to-day the same, and to the ages.” See Heb 1:12; Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17. The unchangeableness of Christ is a reason for not being swept about by winds of strange teaching.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] Jesus Christ is yesterday and to-day the same, and for ever (as to the construction, ὁ αὐτός is the predicate to all three times, not as vulg. (not Syr., if at least Etheridge’s version of it is to be trusted), “Jesus Christus heri et hodie: ipse et in sæcula;” (passim), Calvin, al. As to the connexion, the verse stands as a transition from what has passed to what follows. ‘It was Christ whom these ἡγούμενοι preached, ἐλάλησαν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ: Christ who supported them to the end, being the author and finisher of their faith; and He remains still with regard to you (ὥσπερ τοὺς ἡγουμένους ὑμῶν οὐ κατέλιπεν, ἀλλʼ ἐν πᾶσιν ἀντελαμβάνετο αὐτῶν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμῶν ἀντιλήψεται· ὁ αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι, altern. in Thl. Similarly Chrys. alt.) the same: be not then carried away’ &c. As to the meaning of the words, ἐχθές (the common and also Attic form, whereas χθές is Epic, Ionic, and Attic) refers to the time past, when their ἡγούμενοι passed away from them; σήμερον to the time present, when the Writer and the readers were living.

In our E. V., this verse, by the omission of the copula ‘is,’ appears as if it were in apposition with “the end of whose conversation:” and in the carelessly printed polyglott of Bagster, the matter is made worse, by a colon being substituted for the period after “conversation.” Observe Ἰησοῦς χριστός, not common with our Writer: only e. g. ver. 21, where he wishes to give a solemn fulness to the mention of the Lord: Jesus, the Person, of whom we have been proving, that He is χριστός, the Anointed of God. Cf. also ch. 10:10).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus Christ the same [ιησους χριστος ο αυτος] . The A. V. is slipshod, leaving the sentence without connection, or in apparent apposition with the end of their conversation. In translation this is commonly corrected by inserting is : "Jesus Christ is the same," etc. But even thus the real point of the statement is missed. No doubt the old teachers believed in the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ; but that fact is not represented as the subject of their faith, which would be irrelevant and somewhat flat. The emphatic point of the statement is Christ. They lived and died in the faith that Jesus is THE CHRIST - the Messiah. The readers were tempted to surrender this faith and to return to Judaism which denied Jesus 's messiahship (comp. ch. 10 29). Hence the writer says, "hold fast and imitate their faith in Jesus as the Christ. He is ever the same. He must be to you, today, what he was to them, yesterday, and will be forever to the heavenly hosts - CHRIST. Rend. therefore" Jesus is Christ. " Observe that our writer rarely uses the formula Jesus Christ. In ch. 10 10 it occurs in a passage in which the messianic mission of Jesus is emphasized (see vers. 5, 9), and in Heb 13:21, in a liturgical formula. The temptation to forsake Jesus as Messiah is treated in the next verse.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. ‘1. X....alévas] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for ever, Vulg. J. Ch. heri et hodie ipse est, et in scecula.

Tho statement is true universally, but tho immediate thought appoars to be that as Christ had but just now brought victory to His disciples so He would do in the present trials.

Ac ai dicatur: Idem Christus qui

9 παραφέρεσθε

cum illis fait vobisoum est, οὐ erit cum eis qui futuri sunt usque ad consummationem seeculi. Heri fuit cum patribus, hodie est vobiscum, ipee erit et cum posteris vostris usque in ssecula (Herv.).

Ceterum divinitas ejus interminabilis plenitudinem totam pariter comprehendit ac possidet, cui neque futuri quidquam absit nec preoteriti fluxerit, quoniam esse ejus totum cat et semper est nescitque mutabilitatem (éd.).

The full title ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός occurs again in the Epistle in Ὁ. 21; 6. x. 10. The words ἐχθὲς καὶ σήμερον express generally ‘in the past and in the present’ (comp. Ecclus. xxxviii. 22 Clause καὶ els τοὺς αἰῶνας is added to the sentence which is already complete to express the absolute confidence of tho Apostlo: ‘Josus Ohrist is the samo yesterday and to-day: yea, such a confession falls wholly below the truth : Ho is the samo for ever.’

The phrase els τοὺς αἰῶνας occurs here only in the Epistle (Rom. i. 25; ix. 5; xi. 36; xvi. 27; 2 Cor. xi. 31).

Compnre vr. 21 (els τοὺς al. τῶν αἰῶνος).

For 6 αὐτός compare i. 12. The usage is common in classical writers, eg. Thucyd. fi. 61 ἐγὼ μὲν (Pericles in the face of Athenian discontent) ὁ αὐτός elus καὶ οὐκ ἐξίσταμαι.

9. The unchangeableness of Christ calls up in contrast the variety of human doctrines. The faith of tho Christian is in a Person and not in doctrines about Him.

διδ. π. καὶ ξ, μὴ wap.| Be not carried

(8) 10—12. The strength of the Christian comes from God’s gift, but He uses the natural influences of life for the fulfilment of His purpose. Provision is made in the Christian society for the enjoyment of the benefits of Christ's Life and Death in social fellowship. In this respect Christians have that which more than compenentos for any apparent loss which they may incur in their exclusion from the Jowish services.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.