NOTES for Heb 12:18-24

Sometimes, when reading the Bible, one even begins to feel a little hurt: how fortunate those people were, what miracles they saw... Ah, if only we could see a mountain in flames and hear a thunderous voice, surely we would not close our eyes and ears; surely we would try to hear everything the Lord was saying to us. But we were not so fortunate—what can be done? Yet the apostle Paul tells us today that it is precisely we who are more fortunate than those who lived long before us. He is addressing people who, like Paul himself, for the most part did not see Christ during the days of His earthly life—just like you and me. We have been given more than those who saw God in cloud and darkness. We have been given His living presence. Our Church is one with the heavenly Church, and the righteous who have attained perfection are beside us. Most importantly, however, access to God Himself has been opened to us. The wall which separated fallen humankind from Him no longer exists. We have been given far more than the prophets could have imagined...