The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever
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What is the main purpose of today’s episode and the verse being explored?
Well, it's Friday already again. And today on Things Unseen we're coming to the last of what I've called texts that shaped me. and I've appreciated being able to reflect with you on verses that have shaped my own life. But if this is your first time listening, I need to reassure you these podcasts are not all about me. I'm going to close out the week with words I imagine are familiar to all of us. Hebrews chapter thirteen, verse eight. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The author of Hebrews was inviting his readers to think about those who had been their leaders. And just as he had done after reminding them of the great heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter eleven, he tells them, You've got to fix your eyes on Jesus.
And he points them away from all others to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Leaders come and go. But Jesus, he says, is the same yesterday and today and forever.
What does Hebrews 13:8 mean when it says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever?
I suspect these words are sometimes, maybe even often read, as more or less the equivalent of saying, Jesus is eternally the same. But there's more to the words yesterday and today and forever than that. So what does this statement really mean? Well yesterday here doesn't just mean merely the day before today. is referring to yesterday from the point of view of the writer. To what he had called earlier on in Hebrews the days of Christ's flesh. That's in chapter five, verse seven. He's talking about what Jesus was like during those years. Jesus, as we read about him in the Gospels, the Jesus who preaches the kingdom of God, who calls men and women to repentance and faith. The Jesus who shows the power of his kingdom in works of grace and transformation.
How does the word “yesterday” describe Jesus’ earthly ministry and character?
The Jesus who reveals himself as full of grace and truth. The loving Jesus caring for the needy. For the poor, for the sick, that Jesus. The Jesus who was the friend of sinners. The Jesus who said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly, and you'll find rest for your souls. The Jesus who said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. If that's when yesterday was, then it follows that today is not just the day after yesterday. It's all the days after the yesterday, when the Son of God walked this earth. It's what the author calls today, meaning any day or week or month or year until Christ returns.
And he's telling us that the
What does “today” refer to in the context of Christ’s ongoing work until His return?
Lord Jesus is today and he will be forever the same wonderful person he was yesterday, the person we read about in the Gospels. It's not just that he's like that Jesus, no, he is. Is that Jesus? Yes, he's now exalted at God's right hand in glory, but nevertheless he is the same today and will be forever, as he was in that yesterday of his ministry on earth. Now, why would this verse shape my life? I think first of all because it taught me how to read and apply the gospels, and how to get to know the Lord Jesus better. I think I may have mentioned before what I call the findwaldo or find walley approach to reading the gospels. Where people read the gospels and try to identify themselves with one of the characters, to find themselves in one of the characters, maybe Nicodemus or Zacchaeus or Mary or Martha and so on.
But the Gospels were written so that we would find and see Jesus Himself in them, who He is, what He is like, what He came to do for us, what He has accomplished for our salvation. Because he is that same Jesus for us today. That's what Hebrews 13, verse 8 is telling us. Do you see Jesus in the Gospels? He's still that same Jesus for you today. Not only so, but he's going to be that same Jesus every today until he comes again.
How can we read the Gospels to see the same Jesus described in Hebrews 13:8?
And he's always going to be like that, because that's who he is. Incidentally, I wonder if you read the Gospels that way. Or if you're a preacher, do you preach the Gospels that way? I said before on the podcast that there's a lot of emphasis these days on how to preach Christ from the Old Testament. But you know, there's something I would be bold enough to say is more important than that.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main purpose of today’s episode and the verse being explored?
0:07–1:13
2
What does Hebrews 13:8 mean when it says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever?
1:13–2:08
3
How does the word “yesterday” describe Jesus’ earthly ministry and character?
2:08–3:07
4
What does “today” refer to in the context of Christ’s ongoing work until His return?
3:07–4:46
5
How can we read the Gospels to see the same Jesus described in Hebrews 13:8?
4:46–5:52
6
Why does this verse matter for personal faith and how should listeners apply it?
5:52–6:35