James Swetnam 118 Here the unique saving effect of the lovgo~ is apparent. Just as the structure of Heb 3,7 – 6,20 indicates that the lovgo~ is uniquely qualified to effect a definitive entrance of God’s people into God’s rest, so the structure indicates that the lovgo~ is uniquely qualified to create the people who are to enter 76. The author of Hebrews mentions at Heb 5,9 that the Christ who has been brought to ‘perfection’ has become ‘cause of salvation without end’ (aitio~ swthriva~ aijwnivou) for all who obey Him. Because of this use of [ swthria at Heb 5,9 in the context of the Christian tôdâ, it is possible to v ascertain at what point this ‘message of salvation’ had its ‘beginning of being spoken’ (Heb 2,3): at the institution of the Christian tôdâ by Jesus. And because of the context of the Christian tôdâ it is also possible to ascer- tain what the author of Hebrews means by ‘obeying’ (uJpakouvw) Jesus, whose command to His followers was ‘Do this in memory of me’. And because the comparison with Melchizedek occurs in the context of the Christian tôdâ it is also possible to ascertain the relevance of the Christian tôdâ for the definitive fulfillment of the promise of a progeny which, like Melchizedek, is without father, without mother, without genealogy, with- out beginning, without end: Eucharist generates God’s People 77. III. Summary and Conclusions The present article was occasioned by a previous article which offered a tentative solution to the classic crux at Heb 5,7-8. That article, by rigid adherence to the syntax and vocabulary of the verses, supplied an initial interpretation which viewed Christ as begging to die. Then the coinci- dence of vocabulary between the verses of the crux and Ps 22 led to a sug- gestion about a Sitz im Leben for this interpretation in the gospel por- trayal of Jesus: that Jesus begged to die by reciting the opening verses of Ps 22 on the cross and thereby freely accepting death when onlookers thought he would share their expectations that he could possibly still be saved. An analysis of Ps 22 in the light of the tôdâ suggested how Jesus could ‘learn’ obedience from His sufferings freely accepted, just as did the one suffering in the psalm. The present article seeks to understand the background of the sug- gested solution to the crux at Heb 5,7-8 by attempting to place it in its context in Hebrews. By interpreting the verses immediately previous to 76 Cf. the use of the word teleiovw at Heb 10,1, where by implication, since the law of the old dispensation could not ‘perfect’ those ‘approaching’ (prosevrcomai) cultical- ly, the new Law can. 77 Cf. the implications of the use of teleiovw and prosevrcomai in Heb 10,1 (above, n. 72) with regard to the Christians who approach the risen Christ in the Christian tôdâ. There is much more to be said about the Christian tôdâ in Hebrews than has been said in the present article, but this will have to await separate treatment..