Remember Your Leaders – Hebrews 13:7-19
Jun 11, 2026 23840
Nobody comes to Jesus alone. Someone got there first and brought us along. Hebrews 13 says don’t forget them. And it shows us why they still matter today.
Hebrews 13:7–19
[7] Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. [8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. [9] Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. [10] We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. [11] For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. [12] So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. [13] Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. [14] For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. [15] Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. [16] Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
[17] Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
[18] Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honourably in all things. [19] I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. (ESV)
Remember the Leaders Who Came Before
We’re nearing the end of Hebrews. The message is the same as it’s always been. Jesus is better. And in response, the call is to faithful endurance. Don’t drift away from Jesus. Don’t go back to the old covenant. Keep going in him.
But how do we keep going? Hebrews 13 doesn’t leave us guessing. It points us to people, to Jesus, and back to people again. Endurance comes from looking outside ourselves.
In verse 7, we read, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
Look back with gratitude. Most of us have a few names that come to mind. Leaders who didn’t just teach us about Jesus, but lived in a way that pointed to him. Remember them. Imitate them.
Remember the Jesus They Pointed To
But those leaders were always pointing past themselves. They knew who the real anchor was. Verse 8 names him. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
The pressures change. The cultural winds change. You change. But Jesus doesn’t. He’s the same Saviour he was yesterday. He’ll be the same Saviour tomorrow. That’s why your leaders pointed you to him in the first place. Not to themselves. To him.
Remember What He Did
This unchanging Jesus is the suffering Jesus. Verses 12 and 13 take us to the heart of it. “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.”
Jesus was shamed. Jesus shed his blood. Jesus suffered to make us holy. And now we go to him. Faithful endurance isn’t muscling through on our own. It’s identifying with the suffering Saviour, knowing that suffering came before glory for him, and it will for us, too.
Listen to Your Leaders Now
And because Jesus is still better, we still need leaders. Verse 17 brings the same theme forward. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls.”
It can sound jarring. But the call here isn’t about authority for its own sake. Leaders aren’t to be obeyed because they wield power. They’re to be heard because of the word they bring, the word about the unchanging Jesus who suffered for us. The same Jesus your past leaders pointed you to is the one your current leaders are still pointing you to.
The Good News Is…
The good news is that Jesus is better than every leader we’ve ever had. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. He suffered outside the camp so that you would never face suffering alone. And as verse 14 reminds us, “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” He is leading you home.
You don’t endure to earn God’s love. You endure because the same Jesus who saved you yesterday is still with you today, and will be forever.
Reflection
Who is one leader who taught you about Jesus that you could thank God for today? What would it look like to imitate their faith this week?
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