Reflections on Hebrews 1

 

Hebrews 01 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Long 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.
4. He had become much greater than the angels, and the name he was given is far greater than any of theirs.
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.
9. You 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.
11. They will all disappear and wear out like clothes, but you will last forever.
12. You 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.
    

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    The author of this letter, known as Hebrews, is unknown as is those for whom it was originally intended, but the writer immediately sets out to establish the majesty of God's Son, Jesus.  And his first point is that with the coming of God's Son into the world, God has chosen Him to replace the prophets as His mouthpiece. Whereas the prophets were imperfect conduits through whom God once spoke, His Son is "the exact expression of His nature" and thus a natural choice to be His spokesperson. (1:3) It was through the Son that God made the universe and is through Him that He sustains all things. It was the Son who made "purification for sins" which earned Him a place "at the right hand of the Majesty on high." (1:3)
    
    The result is that the Son is ranked higher than the angels. No angel has ever been referred to as God's Son, this title is reserved only for Jesus. This elevation above the angels is further evidenced by the worship the angels give the Son. Because the Son "loved righteousness and hated lawlessness," it was Him rather than His "companions" that was anointed "with the oil of joy." (1:9) Who are these companions? As will be made clear later in Hebrews, the Son's companions are Christians.
    
    The eternal nature of the Son is then the topic of the last verses of the chapter. Whereas the earth and the heavens, which were "the works of Your (the Son's) hands," will perish, the Son will remain. Though they - the earth and heavens - will "wear out like clothing," the Son's years "will never end." (1:11, 12) While all of this is true of the Son, the role of angels is "to serve those who are going to inherit salvation." Those who are going to inherit salvation refers to the Son's companions, Christians.