Hebrews

Chapters

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9
10. 10
11. 11
12. 12
13. 13

In the maps

• Hebrews 4:15

  The New Testament says plainly that Jesus was without sin. Pitre states the Protestant question in its sharpest form (p 39): Scripture makes an exception for Jesus, so how can Mary be added to the list? His answer is that a sinless human is not less than human — Adam and Eve before the fall were sinless and fully human — and that the New Eve is sinless by the grace of her Son, not by nature.

• Hebrews 9:4

  Hebrews lists the three treasures kept in the ark: the manna, Aaron's rod and the tablets of the law — bread, priesthood and word. Pitre shows that Mary carried the reality of all three in one person: Jesus the Word made flesh, the Bread of Life, and the great High Priest. If the gold-covered ark had to be holy because of what it held, so must the woman who held Christ.

• Hebrews 12:23

  The righteous in heaven are 'made perfect.' Pitre closes the New Eve chapter with this verse (p 41): Scripture already teaches that redeemed humans will be wholly free from sin in the age to come, so a sinless Mary is not a contradiction but a preview. She is the living sign of what grace will do in everyone Christ saves.