In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
Hebrews 5:12
When we hear the words, get back, I bet we think about a bunch of sights and sounds in our lives. Probably the first time we heard it was when we were little children. We got to close to something and someone who loved us told us to get back. It could have been a warning to get back from the street. A dog. A hot stove. The edge of a pool.
Funny thing about those two small words “get back,” they’re always a warning. They’re used when someone sees something or someone that can hurt. Something that can dent your feelings. Something that damages. Something that can kill.
Sometimes a get back warning is just to wait a while. Whenever my dad would cook steamed crabs at home, he’s dump them onto the table that I’d covered with old newspapers. Even while the crabs were still falling from the steaming pot, I was already looking them over to find the biggest one.
It was then that my mom or dad said, “Get back.” Not because they didn’t want me to enjoy the crabs, but because they were just too darn hot to handle or enjoy. If I would just wait five minutes, then I could dive in.
When The Beatles sang “Get Back[1],” it too was a warning. The song tells its listeners that they’ve strayed from the place that they once were. The place where they belong. But there’s something more. We’re not just to stay in the place where we are, we’re to get back. We need to leave the place where we are and get back.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged[2]
Now the idea that the writer of this letter is saying the same thing as The Beatles probably sounds weird at best. But it’s really the truth. He’s telling the Hebrews that they need to get back to the place that they once belonged.
You see, the Hebrews that this letter is addressed to had heard the truth about Jesus. How he personally paid for all sins on the cross. And since all sins were now forgive by God, there was no need for any more sacrifices. After all, if all sin’s been paid for, why try and pay for it again?
If you think I’m trying to be funny or something, just try it yourself. Take some bill or invoice that’s already fully paid. Go back in person and try to pay it again. I guarantee that you’ll get the strangest looks.
At first, they’ll smile and politely say that you don’t owe them anything. But then as you keep trying to pay for something that’s already paid for, they’ll change. At first, they’ll start to frown. The tone of their voice will go from happy to annoyed. Eventually, they’ll throw the paid invoice at you and start yelling because you’re wasting their time. If you keep it up, they may call security or the police to have you thrown out.
This is exactly what some Hebrews were doing by starting to offer sin sacrifices again. With their background, they should have become teachers. With everything that God had done for them, they should have responded by wanting to share the good news of Jesus with everyone.
But instead of sharing and teaching about full and free forgiveness through Jesus, they decided that they knew better than God and would start sacrificing all over again. They needed a refresher course in the elementary truths of the good news. There’s nothing more basic about Christianity than Jesus paying for all our sins.
Now it’s really easy for us to look back at these poor, unintelligent, unspiritual Hebrews and ask what’s the matter with them. Why would they want to go back to trying to earn their own salvation and forgiveness? What would push them to fall away like this? Obviously, they needed a swift spiritual kick in the pants. Or a video master class on Jesus and the three steps to spiritual maturity.
Well, I’d like to say that we’ve never experienced this kind of going backwards in our walk with God. But I can’t. We’ve all done the same thing. Sure, we never returned to sacrificing animals and spilling their blood to pay for our sins. But there have been times in all our lives when we’ve tried to buy God off.
You know what I mean. If we pray this prayer, God’s going to drop a truckload of blessings down on our head right now. If I fall flat on the ground and give myself to Jesus, then he’s going to heal the one I love right now.
But any prayer or commitment to God that has strings is no prayer at all. It’s a negotiating strategy. It’s getting what we want. When we want it. How we want it. It’s nothing but more selfishness on our part. It’s time for us to get back to simply loving God for who he is and all he’s done. And energized by his payment for our sins, to go out and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Noodling Questions
What goes through your head when someone says, “Get back?” Why?
How is trying to pay for our sins such an assault on God?
Why does simple acceptance of forgiveness lead us to thankful obedience?
[2] Get Back lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul McCartney
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