The Hebrews author, James, Peter, John, and Jude all wrote to various groups of Christians at various points in the first century. They may have addressed different issues and challenges, but they all grounded everything they taught in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus of Nazareth, and what it all meant for those who believe in Him.

For convenience, we often characterize Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude as the “General,” or “Catholic/Universal” Letters of the New Testament, since they all seemingly wrote to a wider audience than one specific congregation or individual like Paul did. We should never let this categorization, however, obscure the distinctions and variety among these letters. The letters were most likely written across the whole of the second half of the first century: James wrote no later than 60, perhaps as early as the 40s, and we believe John wrote his letters in the 80s or 90s, with the rest likely somewhere in-between. James wrote to the Jewish Christians of the Diaspora; Peter’s first letter was written to Christians in the Roman provinces of much of modern-day Turkey; we assume John’s letters had particular relevance to Christians in the area of Ephesus and the province of Asia; despite its name, the letter to the Hebrews’ audience cannot be manifestly discerned from the material within the letter, but much of the circumstantial evidence seems to point to Christians in Rome; the specific audience of 2 Peter and Jude knew who they were, but little evidence remains for us to discern who they might be. James, Peter, and John bore witness as having personally seen and experienced Jesus in His life, death, and resurrection; the Hebrews author and Jude both speak as if one level removed from the Apostles, although as James’ brother, and thus Jesus’ half-brother, we presume Jude had eyewitness experience of Jesus himself (cf. Hebrews 2:4, Jude 1:17-18).

Jesus’ life featured quite prominently in many of these letters. While John spoke of Jesus as the Word of life and the Light in whom Christians should walk, and both 1 and 2 John were written in large part to insist upon Jesus as having lived in the flesh, the Hebrews author well explicated what it meant: Jesus was truly the new and living way, the Pioneer of our salvation, having been tempted in all points without sin, learning obedience in what He suffered, and embodying the faithful high priest in all He suffered (cf. Hebrews 2:5-18, 4:14-10:25, 1 John 1:1-6, 2:18-27, 4:1-4, 2 John 1:6-9). James and Peter both make much of the expectation and willingness to suffer since Jesus suffered (James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 2:21-25, 4:1-19). Furthermore, their instruction to Christians was strongly shaped by what Jesus taught and embodied (James 1:27, 2:1-26/Matthew 25:31-46, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6/Matthew 23:12, James 5:12/Matthew 5:37, 1 Peter 5:1-4/Mark 10:42-45). Peter even made explicit appeal regarding his witness of Jesus’ life: he appealed to his experience of Jesus and God the Father in the Transfiguration to assure Christians their faith was not based on myths and fables (2 Peter 1:16-19; cf. Mark 9:2-13). We do well to remember the ancient testimony regarding the Gospel of Mark as Mark’s compilation of Peter’s witness of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and we can see the points of continuity between that witness and what Peter wrote in his letters.

The Hebrews author, James, Peter, and John grounded much of their exhortations in Jesus’ death. Jesus had spoken of His death as providing atonement for sin and representing the new covenant in His blood; the Hebrews author would provide the fullest exposition on Jesus’ sacrifice, as the fulfillment of what had been spoken regarding David’s Lord as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110:1, 4 (and going all the way back to Genesis 14:17-24 for context), Jeremiah’s expectation of a new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and the satisfaction of the heavenly reality behind the earthly copy of the Tabernacle and Temple so central to Israelite religion (cf. Hebrews 4:14-10:25). Peter likewise made much of Jesus’ death as providing atonement and healing, and encouraging Christians to prove willing to likewise suffer (1 Peter 1:2, 19, 2:19-25, 3:18, 4:1, 12-13). John well grounded his exhortations to Christians to love one another in the love Jesus displayed toward us in dying for us and being the propitiation of our sins (1 John 3:16, 4:10).

Jesus’ resurrection on the third day proved a very major theme in the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters, yet not nearly as much within these general letters. The Hebrews author considered instruction regarding the resurrection as “elementary” and something he was passing over in order to focus on other themes (Hebrews 6:1-2), and did make reference to Jesus’ resurrection in his doxology in Hebrews 13:20. Thus the Hebrews author presumed Jesus’ resurrection throughout his explication, and chose instead to focus his meditations on Jesus’ life, death, ascension, lordship, and imminent return. Peter strongly affirmed how both the Christian hope of eternal life and the efficacy of baptism were anchored in Jesus’ resurrection in 1 Peter 1:3, 3:21. While John never explicitly mentions Jesus or the resurrection in his letters, 1 John 3:2 seems to be an encouragement to Christians to recognize how they will be like Jesus in the resurrection when He appears in His return. We should not assume a lack of explicit mention or emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection in the general letters means its authors do not find it important or somehow would deny it; instead, they all presumed the truth of Jesus’ resurrection in what they taught and encouraged, and did not feel the need to place as much emphasis on the resurrection in these letters as proved necessary in the Book of Acts and among Paul’s letters.

In general, as with Jesus’ resurrection, so with His ascension: James, John, and Jude may not mention it, but they presume it as part of how they exhorted and encouraged their fellow Christians. Peter spoke of Jesus as ascending into heaven in 1 Peter 3:22. The Hebrews author made much of Jesus’ ascension as the means by which He could purify the heavenly places and present Himself as the offering for sin in Hebrews 7:1-10:18, thus becoming the high priest in the order of Melchizedek and fulfilling Psalm 110:4. Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection and ascension both undergird the elided but necessary conclusion to all of the exhortations to endure suffering by the Hebrews author, James, and Peter: Christians should prove willing to endure suffering like Jesus so they might share in Jesus’ vindication and victory, manifest in His resurrection and ascension (more fully seen in Philippians 2:5-11).

All of the authors of the general letters affirm Jesus as Lord and Christ, the Son of God (Hebrews 13:20, James 1:1, 2:1, 1 Peter 3:22, 2 Peter 1:11, 1 John 5:20, 2 John 1:3, Jude 1:4, 25). The Hebrews author’s exposition on Jesus as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek rooted in Psalm 110:4 always had the natural association and connection with Psalm 110:1 in mind: Jesus offered Himself for sin, (was raised from the dead), ascended to the Father, and now sits at the right hand of God, reigning as Lord and Christ (cf. Hebrews 10:12-14). Peter used the same language from Psalm 110:1 in 1 Peter 3:22, as he had in Acts 2:34-35. Everything written in these letters was done so under the recognition Jesus is Lord and Christ, and humanity can only find life and truth by following and serving Him. Thus the Hebrews author, James, Peter, John, and Jude all encouraged Christians to faithfully serve Jesus as Lord, and all of their specific concerns and exhortations were directed to this end, whether to continue to serve Jesus faithfully after many years and trials (Hebrews), in how they treated one another and approached various challenges in life (James, 1 John, 3 John), to prove willing to suffer hostility or worse and doing good anyway, entrusting themselves to a faithful Creator (1 Peter), or to stand firm in the apostolic witness against false teachers (2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, Jude).

The expectation of Jesus’ imminent return also featured prominently among the general letters. The Hebrews author earnestly looked forward to Jesus’ return bringing salvation and encouraged Christians to endure a little longer to that end, but warned regarding a fearful expectation of judgment for those who persist in sin (Hebrews 9:27-28, 10:26-39). Peter could only expect the Christians of Asia Minor to endure suffering by entrusting themselves to God in Christ and their beautiful hope of salvation and confidence in judgment of those who mistreated them (1 Peter 1:3-9, 4:5, 12-19); he also set forth expectations about the Lord’s return and a new heavens and new earth so Christians might not be dismayed at those who scoffed at the prospect of Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:1-14). John wanted to encourage Christians in the eternal life they would share in Christ, and they would be as Jesus is (1 John 3:1-3, 5:11-13). Jude made a similar appeal to the testimony of the Apostles regarding the end time as did Peter, and exhorted Christians to anticipate the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ which would provide life (Jude 1:17-23; cf. 2 Peter 3:2-3).

Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude have their various purposes and provide various forms of exhortation and instruction to Christians. The life, death, resurrection, ascension, and lordship of Jesus undergirded everything written in these letters. Their authors would often make the associations and connections between their messages and the Gospel explicit: the Hebrews author brilliantly set forth much of the meaning of Jesus’ life, death, ascension, and lordship in his exposition, James and Peter made much of Jesus’ instruction in their own exhortations, and everything John was about was founded on Jesus having come in the flesh, fully God, fully man, suffering and dying, so we might share in love and eternal life in God. They all encouraged and warned Christians regarding their conduct in light of Jesus’ imminent return. Yet even when they did not explicitly speak of aspects of the Gospel, their teaching and exhortation only made sense in light of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return.

Thus we can perceive how thoroughly the Gospel is enmeshed in the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of James, the First and Second Letters of Peter, the First, Second, and Third Letters of John, and the Letter of Jude. However much they may make appeal to aspects of the Hebrew Bible or make specific references to various issues bedeviling the Christians to whom they wrote, the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus remained foundational and pivotal for all their messages and exhortations. They all, in their various ways, exhorted Christians then and now to “get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 11:1b-2b). May we recognize the importance of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return of Jesus of Nazareth to the “general” letters of the New Testament, well follow Jesus, and obtain the resurrection of life in Him!

Ethan R. Longhenry

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