Jesus Is Better Than A Burrito – Hebrews 12:16-17 | Good News Unlimited
Jesus is Better than a Burrito – Hebrews 12:16-17
May 14, 2026 8797
Before Esau sold his birthright, he’d already sold something in his heart. Hebrews 12 uses his story as a flashing warning: don’t trade eternal joy for a single meal. What are you tempted to value more than Jesus? He’s better than the stew.
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[16] that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. [17] For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. (ESV)
Trading the Eternal for the Instant
Esau is a confronting picture, isn’t he?
He sold his birthright “for a single meal” (v16). He had the privilege of being the firstborn. A rich inheritance. A future. And he gave it up for… lunch.
The writer has just told us to lay aside every weight and sin, and run with endurance (v1). Then he says don’t be “unholy like Esau.” (v16)
Esau’s problem wasn’t just a bad decision on a bad day. It was a pattern of the heart. He valued the immediate more than the ultimate, and the temporary more than the eternal. He devalued his relationship with God and the long-term blessings awaiting him in pursuit of instant self-gratification.
My favourite lunch at the moment is a grilled chicken burrito. I try to have at least one every other week. But I know that Jesus is infinitely better than a burrito!
What are the “single meals” you’re tempted to trade Jesus for? Sexual compromise. Comfort. Approval. Financial security. An easy life with no pushback for following Christ.
None of those things looks as silly as Esau’s stew when you’re starving. But they’re just as short-sighted.
Tears Aren’t Repentance
Verse 17 is confronting. Esau wanted the blessing back. He didn’t want the God of the blessing. He wept over the consequences, not the condition of his heart.
This is a sober word to a community tempted to drift back, give up, or go soft on holiness. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God” (v15). We have a responsibility for each other here.
Holiness matters. Community matters. What we love and live for now really does echo into eternity.
The Good News Is…
The good news is that we have a better firstborn than Esau.
Jesus did the opposite. He didn’t grasp his rights. He didn’t trade away his inheritance. “For the joy that was set before him”, he endured the cross (v2). He held on so that you, who keep letting go, could be held forever.
On the cross, he bore the rejection we deserve, so that everyone who turns to him in real repentance is welcomed, washed, made holy, and brought into the family as sons and heirs.
If you’re currently feeling the pull of “a single meal”… run to Jesus! If you’ve already made foolish trades, run back to Jesus! Today is a day of grace, not of shut doors.
Jesus is better. Better than the stew. Better than the shortcut. Better than the sin.
Hold on to him, and help others hold on, too.
Reflection
Father, show me where I’m trading eternal joy for a single meal. Expose shallow sorrow and give me real repentance. Fix my eyes on Jesus, the greater firstborn, and help me help others endure in holiness until the end. Amen.
