The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage those Christians who had been Jews originally, to remain steadfast in their new faith despite various temptations and pressures, both from within and without. The aim here was to point to Christ as the only way to a right relationship with God. The gap between sinful humans and a holy and righteous God could only be closed by one who is both God and man. Humans on their own with their ritualistic offering of the blood of slaughtered animals could not do it.

God had reached out to humankind by sending Christ who offered himself in perfect obedience. In this sacrifice, the perfect Mediator established a new and eternal covenant which made available its fruits of salvation to those who persevered in the Christian community.

Mark's account of Jesus' encounter with the scribes who accused him of dallying with Beelzebul is an example of those who deliberately refuse to see Jesus as the perfect Mediator between God and His sinful people. Jesus warns the scribes and such others, ourselves included, of the dangers of "blaspheming against the Holy Spirit" (v.29), i.e. of disbelief in the goodness of God, the sin of calling good evil, for which there is no forgiveness. The inability to recognise and acknowledge the beauty of God's goodness is regrettably common.