Beloved, I am glad to share with you the above theme from Hb 1.1 and following. Indeed, the author of Hebrews is probably the apostle Paul. But he does not call himself, to leave all the room for the Lord Jesus, the great “apostle … of what we publicly recognize” (Hb 3:1-6). Others think that Luke would be the author. After speaking through so many different instruments, God came to speak directly to Israel and men in His own Son (Jeremiah 7:25-26; Mark 12:1-11). He is “the Word,” the full and definitive revelation of God. And to give us a higher idea, He teaches us who this Son is: the heir of all things, the creator of the worlds, the brilliance of his glory and the expression of his essence, the one who sustains all things (John 1:1-18). Well! He who made the worlds also did the cleansing of sins. But while to create, he only needed one word, for this work, He had to pay the supreme price: his own life.
A series of quotations from the so-called messianic Psalms (Ps. 2, 45, 102, 110…) establishes the exaltation and supremacy of the Son of God. Angels are creatures, Jesus is the Creator; they are servants, He is the Lord. Angels, in an invisible way, serve on our behalf; Jesus alone has done the purification of sins, mine and yours. And what He is incomparably enhances the value of what He has done. The fact that God spoke in the Son immediately introduces the idea of incarnation, but establishing all the glory of His Person. And it should be noted, in fact, that what stands out in this chapter, about the dignity of the Person of the Son, is his divinity in humanity: the God man has spoken; God descended into our midst. It is through him that God made “the worlds,” that is, all the vast systems of this universe: everything that exists in time and space. Truth on which sacred writers repeatedly and forcefully insist (John 1:3, 10; Collar. 1:15-16), and who makes us know the glory and power of the Son. The worlds that circulate in heaven and say the glory of God, it is He who made them and it is He who spoke to us.
So he is “the resplendence of the glory of God and the imprint of his substance”, another feature of his divine greatness. He is in His Person the revelation of God Himself. Just as light is revealed to us by its resplendence, by its brilliance, so in Christ we see the rays of glory, that is, of the perfections of God, shining. He thus reveals to us the One “who dwells in the inaccessible light” (1 Tim. 6:16). He is the imprint of his substance or being, of what God is in himself. As a seal affixed to wax reproduces exactly all the features of the seal itself, so in Christ showed himself, in a perfect way, all that God is, and all this was seen in his Person here on earth, in what he said and in what he did. “No one ever lives God; the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, made him known.” And “he who has seen me,” Jesus says, “has seen the Father” (John 1:18; 14:9).
Moreover, he sustains “all things by the word of his power.” His word has that divine power by which he has not only drawn all things out of nothingness, and has ordered them well, but by which he maintains their existence and order, and governs them. Without it, without its constant action, they would cease to exist; they would fall into confusion and nothingness. The effects of this power manifested themselves when he was on earth. He was squeezing the wind and saying to the sea, “Be silent, shut up!” (Mark 4:39). It was on his tacit order that the fish came to fill Peter’s nets (Luke 5:4-6).
Such is his personal divine glory. But there is another part of his glory, divine too, but manifested in human nature, and can only be manifested there: he “did by himself the purification of sins”. It is the work of redemption accomplished on the cross, but it is his own work, a divine work whose all glory belongs to him personally. The sinners who benefit from it are not in sight here. It is a work that only he, God and man could do at the same time, and whose glory is added to that of his works in creation, although infinitely superior and of another order. Wonderful thing that the Son, the heir of all things, the Creator, in whom the splendor of God’s glory and his perfect character is shown, is the One who “makes by himself the purification of sins”. How much what it is enhances the greatness of this work!
Having thus accomplished it, and by virtue of this very work, “He sat to the right of the Majesty in the high places.” This is currently his position as Man, but always God. Let us note that here, in this passage, he is not contemplated as the Son of man dependent on God for his resurrection and exaltation above, as we see in Acts and in the epistles to the Ephesians; it is he himself who, having cleansed sins by himself, by his sacrifice, comes to take this place as belonging to him by right. He is the Son, the Creator, a divine Person, the revelation of God; he is also the Redeemer, exalted now at the right hand of God. Such is his personal glory, such is his glorious position. It is indeed the Messiah, but the Messiah occupying a heavenly position, having done the work of salvation. What a fitting thing to detach Jewish Christians from Judaism by attaching them to heaven, and what effect it will also have on our hearts to contemplate our Jesus up there!
“Having become all the more excellent than the angels, that he inherited a name more excellent than them.” The author of the epistle will now establish the excellence of Jesus above the angels, these heavenly creatures, “powerful in strength.” And he does it, as he will with regard to all the features of the Jewish system, to show the superiority of Christianity. God had frequently used the ministry of angels in his dealings with the people of Israel and his ancestors. The Jews had “received the law by the disposition of angels,” and they boasted of it (Acts 7:53; Heb. 2.2; Gal 319). The apostle will show the superiority of Christ, through various passages of the Old Testament and first of all in that he inherited as a thing of his own, a name more excellent than that of angel; a name by which God has revealed what He is. This is what we learn from the following verse.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The son is superior to the angels:
- True Worship
Mt 2:11 They entered the house, saw the little child with Mary, his mother, prostrated and worshipped him; they then opened their treasures, and offered him gold, incense, and myrrh as a present. Lk 24:52 For them, having worshipped him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy; Hb 1:6 And when he brings the firstborn back into the world, he says: May all the angels of God worship him! Rev 5:8 When he took the book, the four living beings and the twenty-four old men prostrated themselves before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden cups filled with perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints.
- Angels, servants of Christ
Mt 24:31 He will send His angels with the resounding trumpet, and they will gather His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Luke 2:13 And suddenly he joined the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying, Jn 1:51 And he said to him: Truly, truly, you will henceforth see the open heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. 2 Thess 1:7 and to give you, who are afflicted, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power,
- Dominion of Christ
-Eternal Isaiah 9:5-6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and dominion will rest on his shoulder; He will be called Admirable, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (9:6) To give to the empire of growth, And an endless peace to the throne of David and his kingdom, to strengthen and sustain Him by law and justice, From now on and forever: This is what the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do.
-On nature Mt 8:27 These men were seized with astonishment: What is this one, they said, to whom even the winds and the sea obey? John 3:35 The Father loves the Son, and He has put all things in His hands.
-On the heavenly powers 1 Pet 3:22 who has been at the right hand of God, since he went to heaven, and the angels, the authorities and the powers, were submitted to him.
- Royal Scepters
Gen 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the sovereign staff between his feet, until the Schilo comes, and the people obey him. Is 4.11 All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is a law imposing the death penalty against anyone, man or woman, enters the king’s house, in the inner courtyard, without having been called; only he has his life saved, to whom the king hands the golden scepter. And I have not been called to the king for thirty days. Isaiah 14:5 The Lord broke the staff of the wicked, the rod of the dominators. Hb 1:8 But he said to the Son, Your throne, O God is eternal; The scepter of your reign is a scepter of fairness;
From all the above, we note that this is the character that distinguishes, in an absolute way, Christ from the angels. “For to which of the angels has he ever said, ‘You are my Son, I have begotten you today?’ He is Son. It is true that angels, as creatures coming out of God’s hands, are called “sons of God” (Job 1:6), but they are not with God in that special relationship implied by the word begotten, and the set of words: “You are my Son”; which indicates that he is Son in an exclusive way. He is the Son of all eternity; but this name given to him here, while indicating this relationship, applies to Christ as born on earth. “I have begotten you today”; it is his relationship with God in time. All things will be subject to him, and in the meantime he is at the right hand of God; the angels, who worship him, are all but spirit administrators, at the orders of God, servants of God, exercising their ministry on behalf of the heirs of salvation. We have examples of this service in several passages in the book of Acts (Acts 5:19; 12:7-10; 27:23), and there is no doubt that, although invisible to us, we are not yet in the benefit of their care. But it is better that we do not see them, because man is always inclined to attach himself to the instrument that God employs, instead of rising to God himself. It is better to house angels without knowing it. Everything in this chapter therefore exalts the divine glory of Christ, of the Son who became a Man on earth. May our hearts contemplate it while worshipping! Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “such a great greeting; Jesus Christ, the Son of man.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.