Hebrews 6:5-6
6:5 a tasted the goodness of the word of God: These people had heard the word of God preached (2:3-4 b; 4:1-2 c) and had seen its effects.• the power of the age to come: They had witnessed signs and wonders when they heard the Good News (2:4 d; cp. Exod 7:3-4 e; Deut 7:19 f; Pss 66:3 g; 77:15-20 h; 78:9-16 i; 1 Cor 10:1-13 j).
6:6 k then turn (or fall) away: The image is reminiscent of the wilderness wanderers who turned away from obeying God and fell in the desert (3:17 l; 4:11 m; Num 14:1-4 n, 29-30 o).
• to bring such people back to repentance: They had repented before, but had no fruit from their repentance (Heb 6:7-8 p). When people turn their back on Christ and his superior sacrifice, it is impossible for them to find any other means of repentance.
• Rejecting the Son of God constitutes nailing him to the cross once again. Crucifixion was the ultimate instrument of rejection and humiliation in the Greco-Roman world and brought public shame. Those who turned away from Christ had in effect joined those who stood before the cross shouting insults, insisting that Jesus was not really the Messiah and Son of God but was instead worthy of shame (see Matt 27:39-44 q).
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