Commentary - Hebrews 13:20-21

Bird's-eye view

This magnificent benediction in Hebrews is not simply a pious sign-off, a way of saying "farewell and God bless." Rather, it is a dense, tightly-packed summary of the entire theological argument of the epistle. Every phrase is load-bearing. The author grounds his final prayer for the believers in the character and finished work of God Himself. He anchors their future sanctification in the past event of the resurrection. The peace we have, the Shepherd who leads us, the covenant that secures us, the Lord who was raised, the will we are to do, and the glory that God receives are all woven together into one glorious tapestry. It is a declaration that the God who brought cosmic peace through the bloody death and triumphant resurrection of His Son is the same God who is at work within us, equipping us for every good thing. It is a prayer that moves from the eternal counsels of God, through the bloody cross and the empty tomb, right into the heart of the believer, and then back out to the eternal glory of God. It is, in short, the gospel in miniature.

The structure is a Trinitarian crescendo. It begins with God the Father, the "God of peace," who is the ultimate actor. It centers on the work of the Son, "our Lord Jesus," the great Shepherd, whose resurrection is the central historical fact. And it culminates in the work of the Spirit, who is implicitly the one "doing in us what is pleasing in His sight." The entire benediction is a robust affirmation that our salvation and our subsequent Christian life are not our project, but God's. He initiates, He accomplishes, He applies, and therefore, He gets all the glory.

Outline

Context In Hebrews

This benediction comes at the very end of a long and complex letter. The author has spent twelve and a half chapters arguing for the supremacy of Christ over the entire Old Covenant system. Jesus is a better messenger than the angels, a better leader than Moses, a better rest than Joshua's Canaan, and a better priest than Aaron. His sacrifice is a once-for-all reality to which all the Old Testament sacrifices merely pointed. The recipients of this letter were Jewish Christians who were tempted, under pressure of persecution, to drift back to the shadows of Temple worship and the Levitical system. The author has warned them sternly against apostasy (Heb 6, 10) and has encouraged them with the great cloud of witnesses to persevere in faith (Heb 11). After a series of practical exhortations in chapter 13, this benediction serves as the final, pastoral prayer. It is not an afterthought but the capstone of the entire argument. It reminds these weary saints that the God who raised the ultimate sacrifice from the dead is more than able to equip them to live out the realities of the New Covenant.

Key Issues

The God Who Works

At the heart of this prayer is the unshakeable sovereignty of God. Notice the verbs. God "brought up" Jesus from the dead. The prayer is that He would "equip" you. He is the one "doing in us" what is pleasing to Him. This is a far cry from the modern evangelical tendency to see God as a helpful coach who gives us a pep talk and then sends us onto the field to do our best. The God of Hebrews is the one who acts decisively in history and continues to act decisively in the hearts of His people. The resurrection was not something Jesus accomplished on His own; it was an act of the Father, vindicating the Son's perfect sacrifice. In the same way, our sanctification is not something we accomplish on our own; it is the work of God in us. Our part is to "do His will," but even the ability and the desire to do that will is a gift, an equipping that comes from Him. This is a profoundly comforting and strengthening reality. The Christian life is not a matter of us mustering up our strength for God, but of God working His strength in us.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,

The benediction begins by identifying its foundation: the character and action of God the Father. He is the God of peace. This is not a reference to a tranquil state of mind, but to objective, cosmic reconciliation. The war between a holy God and sinful man, a war that raged throughout the Old Testament, has been brought to an end. And how was this peace accomplished? Through the action that follows. He is the one who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus. The resurrection is the Father's great "Amen!" to the Son's "It is finished." It is the public declaration that the debt of sin has been paid in full and that peace has been secured. Without the resurrection, there is no peace with God.

The one raised is identified as the great Shepherd of the sheep. This is a direct allusion to Old Testament passages like Psalm 23, Isaiah 40, and Ezekiel 34, where Yahweh Himself is the shepherd of His people. The author of Hebrews is making an astonishingly high Christological claim: Jesus is the divine Shepherd. He is not just a shepherd, but the great Shepherd, the chief Shepherd, under whom all other shepherds serve. He is the one who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11), and the Father raises Him in triumph.

And this entire transaction, this shepherding, this death and resurrection, was accomplished through the blood of the eternal covenant. The covenant is the central theme of Hebrews. The Old Covenant was temporary and its blood (of bulls and goats) could never truly take away sin. But Christ is the mediator of a New, a better, an eternal covenant. His blood, shed once for all, does not just cover sin but cleanses it, securing an eternal redemption. This covenant was not a plan B; it was established in the counsels of the Trinity from all eternity. The resurrection was the validation that the terms of this eternal covenant had been met perfectly by the blood of the great Shepherd, who is none other than our Lord Jesus.

21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Having laid this massive theological foundation, the author now builds his petition upon it. He prays that this same God of peace, this God of resurrection power, would equip you in every good thing to do His will. The word for "equip" means to make complete, to furnish, to supply what is lacking. This is the essence of sanctification. God does not save us and then leave us to our own devices to figure out how to please Him. He actively supplies everything we need. The goal of this equipping is practical: to do His will. Christian obedience is not a grim duty we perform to try and earn God's favor; it is the natural result of being equipped by the God who has already given us His favor.

And how does God do this equipping? The next phrase explains the internal mechanism: by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight. This is a crucial clarification. God's work is not merely external, like a carpenter giving a saw to a piece of wood. It is internal, like a tree drawing life from the soil. He works in us, changing our desires, shaping our affections, and strengthening our resolve, so that what becomes pleasing to us is what is already pleasing to Him. This entire internal renovation happens through Jesus Christ. Christ is not only the basis of our peace with God, but He is also the conduit of God's sanctifying power in us. We are in Christ, and it is through our union with Him that the Father works His will in us.

This leads inexorably to the final, ultimate purpose of everything: to whom be the glory forever and ever. The "whom" here refers most naturally to Jesus Christ, who was just mentioned. But in a Trinitarian context, glory to the Son is glory to the Father. The ultimate goal of creation, redemption, and sanctification is not our comfort or our self-fulfillment. The ultimate goal is the glory of God. When God works His pleasure in us, through the Son, He is displaying His own goodness, power, and grace, which results in His eternal praise. The prayer, and the entire letter, concludes with a firm Amen. So be it. This is true, this is certain, and this is our hope.

Application

This benediction is a powerful antidote to two opposite errors that plague the church. The first is the error of lazy quietism. This is the person who says, "If it's all of God, then I don't have to do anything. I'll just sit back and wait for God to zap me." But the prayer is that God would equip us to do His will. God's sovereign work does not eliminate our responsible action; it enables it. We are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, precisely because it is God who is at work in us, both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). God provides the equipment, but we are the ones who must pick up the tools and get to work.

The second error is that of frantic activism, or legalism. This is the person who believes the Christian life is an endless series of tasks and duties, and that our standing with God depends on our performance. This benediction demolishes that notion. Our standing with God is based entirely on the blood of the eternal covenant and the resurrection of the great Shepherd. The Christian life is not about us working for God, but about God working in us. Our good works are not the cause of our salvation, but the fruit of it. When we grasp this, it liberates us from the treadmill of performance-based religion and frees us to obey God out of joyful gratitude for the peace He has already secured for us.

Therefore, when you feel weak, inadequate, and unable to do what God requires, look back. Look back to the empty tomb. The same power that rolled the stone away and brought the Lord of life out of the grave is the power that is at work in you right now. He is the God of peace, and He is for you. He is the great Shepherd, and He will not lose His sheep. He is the one who equips, and He will not fail to complete the work He has begun. To Him be the glory, now and forever. Amen.