A TORTURED TEXT
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Hebrews 13.8)
AN EXAMPLE OF FAULTY REASONING WHICH CONFUSES MANY CHRISTIANS
By Peter Masters
FROM SWORD & TROWEL 2002 No
2
IF JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, today and for ever, does this mean that signs and
wonders, and the gifts of tongues, healing and prophecy continue unchanged today? This is the line of
reasoning followed by so many believers, namely that nothing changes if Christ is always the same. Does
this follow?
No, because the Bible says that many things about the Lord Jesus Christ do
change. His human body knew death, and was raised a glorified body. He stopped atoning for sin, because
this work was finished. He left earth, no longer to be seen here in a body until He returns in power and
glory. He told the disciples that the Bible would be completed in their time, and so there would be no
more Scripture written.
Clearly, this statement that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever does not
include everything. It does not refer to whether or not apostles will be for ever, or other such matters. It
refers to Jesus Christ Himself - His divine person and His redemptive work. It refers to
Christ in His offices of Prophet, Priest and King (the theme of Hebrews). He
does not change. Nor does the effect of His work. His atoning death and offered up
righteousness will always be the power unto salvation for believers. None of His power or other attributes
will ever fade.
It is not the first time in Hebrews that this point has been made. In
Hebrews 1.12, we read - ‘But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.’ In
Hebrews 7.24-25, we read - ‘But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them.’
It is Christ as the Son of God Who does not change. It is His saving and high priestly work
that will never change. Throughout time and eternity the ransomed will have the same object of faith, the
same means of salvation, and the same foundation for eternal life.
If the verse in question includes tongues, healings, prophecies and visions, are we to
understand that these will still take place in Heaven? If the text includes these, then they must surely be
(like Christ) ‘for ever’. The idea is obviously a mistake.
What is meant by ‘yesterday, and to day, and for ever’? Some old teachers say that
yesterday includes the Old Testament, when Christ’s future work was seen in the prophecies
(beginning with Genesis 3.15), and in the great symbols of the ceremonial law, such as the
sacrifices. In fulfilling all things, He showed Himself to be the very same One Who had been prophesied
and depicted in earlier times.
The old order of worship passed away. It was not that which was for ever,
but Christ, in so far as He was depicted by it.
If Christ’s unchanging, eternal Being suggests that everything connected with Him also
remains for ever, then this surely applies also to Old Testament things. Because Christ’s redemption
covered Old Testament converts, who had the pictures of His atoning work in the sacrifices, therefore the
ceremonial law should continue today. This would obviously be faulty reasoning.
‘Yesterday’ most probably refers to Christ’s work on the cross. If this is so, then He
remains, and His work remains, but His earthly body has changed, and so has the
organisation of His Church, which was reshaped from the time of Pentecost. His divine person and work
remains, but not secondary things.
The verse in view is absurdly wrenched out of context in order to prove the continuation of
the revelatory and sign-gifts. It does not refer to such things - but to Christ and His redemptive work. The
Old Testament signs were fulfilled in Christ, and then they ceased. The New Testament signs were
fulfilled in the apostolic age (the foundational stage of the church). They authenticated the new Gospel
era to doubting Jews, and they attested the inspired writers of the New Testament. Their task having been
completed, the revelatory and sign-gifts had fulfilled their purpose. They are (in genuine form) no longer
seen on earth, nor will they be seen in Heaven. But our glorious Lord will be there - the same yesterday,
today and for ever.
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