Heb 6:4a (C):
Having Tasted of the Heavenly Gift
The author continues his instruction: “For
it is impossible once enlightened, having tasted of the heavenly gift” (6:3a).
The audience began to be alerted to what is impossible for them as among those
once “enlightened” (φωτισθεντας) by God (divine
passive) in becoming believers at their baptism. Their having been enlightened includes
having “tasted” (γευσαμενους) of the heavenly
gift given them as a result of the grace of God by which Jesus might “taste” (γευσηται) death on behalf of all (2:9), the death
through which he destroyed the power of death and freed those enslaved by the
life long fear of a death depriving them of eternal life (2:14-15). This “tasting”
alludes to but is not limited to their communal eating of the eucharistic meal.
As partners of a “heavenly” (επουρανιου)
calling (3:1) to participate in the heavenly worship, the audience have already
begun to experience and share in this “heavenly” (επουριανου) gift of God’s grace. (John Paul Heil, Hebrews:
Chiastic Structures and Audience Responses [The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Monograph Series 46; Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2010], 144)
