Read
1Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. 2 But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son. 3 God's Son has all the brightness of God's own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together.
After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven. 4He had become much greater than the angels, and the name he was given is far greater than any of theirs.
God's Son Is Greater
5 God has never said
to any of the angels,
“You are my Son, because today
I have become your Father!”
Neither has God said
to any of them,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son!”
6 When God brings his first-born Son into the world, he commands all of his angels to worship him.
7 And when God speaks about the angels, he says,
“I change my angels into wind
and my servants
into flaming fire.”
8 But God says about his Son,
“You are God,
and you will rule
as King forever!
Your royal power
brings about justice.
9You loved justice
and hated evil,
and so I, your God,
have chosen you.
I appointed you
and made you happier
than any of your friends.”
10 The Scriptures also say,
“In the beginning, Lord,
you were the one
who laid the foundation
of the earth
and created the heavens.
11They will all disappear
and wear out like clothes,
but you will last forever.
12You will roll them up
like a robe
and change them
like a garment.
But you are always the same,
and you will live forever.”
13 God never said to any
of the angels,
“Sit at my right side
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you!”
14 Angels are merely spirits sent to serve people who are going to be saved.
Reflect
Hebrews is often referred to as an ‘epistle’ or letter, despite the fact that it jumps straight into things without the customary greetings and introductions. And straight away, we get the sense we are reading someone else’s mail. Hebrews is clearly addressing a Jewish audience, one that needs reminding and reassuring that the way of Jesus is far better than the laws, traditions and ceremonies of their old covenant.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never needed convincing that Jesus is superior to the angels. In the Hebrew mind however, angels were hugely significant, partly because they had assisted in giving the Law to Moses (See Deuteronomy 33:2 and Psalm 68:17). If the writer of Hebrews wanted to make the case for living under grace through Jesus, he had to address the angel issue.
We may be tempted to skim Hebrews 1:5-14 and its carefully crafted riposte to the argument that angels might be equally important to Jesus, but these words are for all of us. Which of us has fully grasped the true divine nature of the Galilean carpenter who walked the earth for 33 short years? This man “laid the foundations of the earth and created the heavens” (v 10). He “holds the universe together” (v 3). He will “rule as King forever” (v 8). Jesus is no less than “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (v 3, NIV). We might not have given him the same status as angels in our mind, but does he hold the right place in our lives? Have we really understood the place he holds in history, in the universe, in our lives?
Respond
Lord God, dazzle me with your radiance. Stun me with your beauty. Humble me with your holiness. I’m sorry for the times I have underestimated, misunderstood and disrespected you. You are worthy of my worship and obedience. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Jo Swinney
Jo Swinney is a UK based author, speaker and editor, with an MA in theology from Regent College, Vancouver. Her latest book, Home: the quest to belong (Hodder & Stoughton) is part memoir and part retelling of the life of David and explores what it means to be rooted in an ever more transient world. Jo is Director of Church Communications at www.cpo.org.uk and editor of the lyfe journal.