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The apostle often speaks of the God of peace toward the close of an epistle:
"Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen" (Rom. 15: 33).
"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Rom. 16: 20).
"Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace: and the God of love
and peace shall be with you" (II Cor. 13: 11).
"Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,
do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Phil. 4: 9).
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (I Thess. 5: 23)
"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means" (II Thess. 3: 16).
It was the lot of the apostle Paul continually to stir up strife. He likens his whole life's
ministry to a conflict, yet he ever desired, and hoped for peace.
The emphasis here in Heb. 13: 20 is upon the resurrection, "that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus". This is the only place in the epistle where the resurrection of
Christ is specifically mentioned. In Romans the resurrection is prominent, and this is so
in I and II Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians, but in Hebrews the emphasis is upon
the ascension; the seated Priest Who has passed through the heavens to the right hand of
God. That there should be no occasion to say that the epistle to the Hebrews takes no
cognizance of the resurrection however, this passage stands written. That resurrection is
acknowledged and essential to the doctrine of the epistle, a reference to Heb. 7: 16, 23,
24 and 28 will show, and its presence in the great examples of faith (11: 19, 22 and 35)
confirms its place in the scheme of the epistle.
Christ is here called "that great Shepherd of the sheep". This, it is suggested, is an
allusion to Moses: "Then He remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people,
saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock?"
(Isa. 63: 11). Moses was the shepherd of the sheep, Christ the great Shepherd of the
sheep. Moses was brought up out of the sea, Christ was brought up again from the dead.
As the Shepherd, Christ is presented to us in a three-fold capacity in the New
Testament. As the good Shepherd He gives His life for the sheep (John 10: 11). (The
word "life" being strictly "soul" has reference to the shedding of blood). As the chief
Shepherd He is yet to appear and give a crown of glory to the faithful under-shepherds
left in charge of the flock of God (I Pet. 5: 2-4). These three titles correspond with the
three "appearings" of Heb. 9: 23-28, the order of the first two being changed.
The word "great" of Heb. 13: 20 may read with the clause, "through the blood of the
aionian Covenant", i.e., He was great through the blood etc., or it may indicate that
Christ, as the great Shepherd, was raised from the dead because the blood of the
Covenant had been shed, and all things pertaining to sin and salvation had been dealt
with.
"Make you perfect" (katartizo) has in it the idea of adjusting to new circumstances.
For example, it is used for "mending" nets (Matt. 4: 21). It is rendered, "perfectly joined
together", in connection with "divisions", in I Cor. 1: 10. Gal. 6: 1 renders it "restore"
where a fall or rupture had occurred. Katartismos is the word used in Eph. 4: 12 to