Amy L. B. Peeler. You Are My Son: The Family of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Library of New Testament Studies 486. London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014. Pp. xiv + 224. ISBN 978-0-5676-6501-0. $29.95 paper.
While many scholars have noted the familial language in the
Book of Hebrews, Amy Peeler’s monograph is probably the first full-length study
to explore this theme in Hebrews. In the brief introduction, Peeler highlights
the familial language in Hebrews: God is portrayed as a Father; Jesus as God’s Son
and heir; and believers as children of God, Jesus’ siblings, and heirs. Peeler
contends that the familial relationship between God the Father and Jesus the
Son is foundational for the theology of Hebrews. God calls Jesus to suffer and
to be exalted to his right hand, where he becomes heir of all things. This
process enables believers to become part of God’s household and participate in
Jesus’ inheritance. Peeler approaches her argument in a straightforward manner.
The four chapters that form the heart of the book deal with all of the
pertinent passages in Hebrews in a sequential manner.
Chapter 1 examines the familial language in the first
chapter of Hebrews. Verse 5 is the key verse which establishes the familial
relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son: God announces by means
of two OT passages that Jesus is his Son and that he is his Father. Verse 5
thus becomes the basis for interpreting the story of God’s Son as narrated in
verses 1–4. These verses describe the character of the Son and reflexively also
define the character of the Father. In the remaining verses of the catena
(verses 6–13), God articulates the privileges and responsibilities that Jesus
inherits as the Son. One important insight that emerges from Peeler’s
investigation is that Jesus’ preexistence is a personal one: God has a
relationship with a person distinct from himself, not an aspect or function of
God’s self. Peeler also argues that the name that Jesus inherits from his
Father is “Lord God” (κύριος θεός), in
contrast to the majority of interpreters who propose that the name is “Son.”
“Son” is a title that is unique to Jesus and thus cannot be descriptive of the
Father.
In chapter 2 Peeler engages in a close exegetical analysis
of Heb 2:6–16. Jesus the Son must become human and experience suffering and
death in order to be perfected as God’s heir. As heir Jesus inherits God’s many
sons and daughters as his possession and he leads them as the ἀρχηγός into their own
inheritance. Jesus displays his character as the Son by trusting God to the
point of becoming human and experiencing suffering and death. God reveals his
character as Father by using suffering as a means of perfecting his children.
In chapter 3 Peeler turns to the central cultic section of
Hebrews (chapters 3–10). She first demonstrates the intimate relationship
between Jesus’ Sonship and his high priesthood. First, it is God, in his role
as Father, who appoints Jesus to the priesthood. His appointment includes the
necessity of becoming human. Hence, Peeler makes the interesting observation
that τῷ ποιήσαντι in 3:2 refers both to his
appointment as high priest and his being made human. Second, it is precisely
the fact that Jesus is God’s Son that disqualifies him for the Levitical
priesthood but qualifies him for the priesthood of Melchizedek. Third, Jesus is
perfected for the vocation of high priesthood because he is obedient to the
Father in carrying out his filial role in experiencing the human condition of
suffering and death, and because he receives the inherited blessing of exaltation
from the Father. Fourth, it is Jesus’ priestly actions that secure the
possession of his own inheritance, God’s many sons and daughters. Jesus’
priestly offering removes sin, achieves cleansing, and obtains redemption for
God’s children. Jesus’ death enables them to obtain their inheritance of
eternal salvation, and he aids his siblings in their attainment of salvation
through his priestly intercession.
Chapter 4 focuses on the final two chapters of Hebrews and
highlights the shared status that Jesus and the audience have in their
relationship to God. The audience’s relationship to God as children correlates
to Jesus’ relationship to God as Son. The author assures the audience that they
are children of God by appealing to Prov 3:11–12. God disciplines the audience like a father
disciplines his son. Peeler contends that the author is emphasizing the
educative rather than the punitive aspects of God’s παιδεία. Just as God the Father used suffering
in order to perfect Jesus the Son, in the same way God is using suffering to
perfect the audience in righteousness and holiness. The author employs four
positive injunctions to urge the audience to endure suffering and he warns them
with the negative example of Esau, who lost his inheritance when he gave away
his birthright. The author assures his audience that they now stand at the foot
of the mountain where God’s children dwell, and that they are privileged to
hear God speaking to them as a Father; hence they should respond appropriately
as obedient children. The concluding chapter summarizes the argument of the
book and proposes seven ways in which the book makes contributions to
scholarship on Hebrews.
Peeler articulates her thesis well and clearly lays out her
argument throughout the book. By viewing Hebrews through the lens of familial
language, Peeler brings into focus interesting new insights into Hebrews. She
convincingly demonstrates the importance of the familial motif in the argument
of Hebrews. Her analysis does raise a couple of questions for me. First, is it
appropriate to say that Jesus inherits his own family members? Inheritance
normally refers to the possession of land or property, and not to the
possession of one’s own family members. As “big brother” Jesus is the guardian
who is entrusted with the care of his siblings until they enter into their own
inheritance, but do they become part of Jesus’ inheritance? Second, while
Hebrews does emphasize the educative aspects of God’s παιδεία, does it exclude the punitive
aspects? The quotation from Prov 3:11–12 uses the language of reproof and
flogging. Both terms suggest that correction or punishment was included in the author’s
concept of παιδεία. The
author does occasionally chastise his audience, and the audience, while
certainly sharing many things with Jesus, does not share his sinlessness. Could
not God’s παιδεία of his
children include both educative and corrective aspects? These two questions
aside, readers will find that this monograph makes important contributions to the
understanding of Hebrews.
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