When we come to church, we usually do not come primarily to learn about doctrine. We come to find inspiration, to lay our hurts at the altar, and to draw strength from the fellowship. Doctrine can seem kind of dry. Doctrine causes arguments and who needs more of those? The book of Hebrews has been committed to the idea that a proper understanding of doctrine sustains our faith and keeps us from drifting away from it. Our passage for today has something important to say about how we understand Christ, and why it matters for our faith.

Hebrews is a puzzling book. We have no idea who wrote it. Even though the end of the book names some of Paul's associates, the author doesn't think or write anything like Paul. Father Origen, a second-century theologian and Bible scholar, famously said that o…