The New Testament letter to the Hebrews is a richly structured book. The basic message of the letter is clear enough. The recipients of the letter were facing severe temptation to give up on being Christians, and to return to the Judaism of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the letter was written to warn them not to do that, and to remind them that being a follower of Jesus is unspeakably glorious and wonderful in comparison (despite superficial appearances to the contrary). And the basic message for us today is clear enough: Jesus is amazing, so don't give up on him! But within the letter, various themes are repeated and developed and connected in all sorts of ways, so it's difficult to give a simple or definitive outline. Nonetheless, I think a few basic contours can be discerned. Something vaguely like this, perhaps...
- The supremacy of the Son (1:1-4), even to angels (1:5-2:18)
- Anticipation of the next section: "a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (2:17, quotations from the ESV)
- Jesus the High Priest (3-10)
- Faithful (3:1-6), calling for faithful obedience, and for us to draw near (3:7-4:16)
- Merciful High Priest (5:1-10)
- Call for faith and endurance (5:11-6:12)
- Anticipation of chapter 11: "imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (6:12)
- The certainty of God's promise (6:13-20)
- Anticipation of next section: "a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (6:20)
- A priest after the order of Melchizedek, calling for us to draw near (7)
- Jesus' priestly work: offering up himself (8:1-10:18)
- Call for faith and endurance (10:19-39)
- Anticipation of chapter 11: "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls" (10:39)
- A call for faith (11) and endurance (12:1-17), because the new covenant is better than the old (12:18-29)
- Offering sacrifices pleasing to God (13:1-16)
- Conclusion (13:17-25)