Hebrews 1

Chapter 1. The Apostle of Our ProfessionFix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 3:1)God… in these last days… has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1-2)The epistle to the Hebrews in importance stands side by side with Romans and Corinthians as one of the major messages of the Holy Spirit to the Church after Pentecost. At the same time it has a unique place not only on account of the special people to whom it was addressed, but of the great wealth of Old Testament allusion and illustration which it contains, throwing as it does a flood of light upon the ancient types, and more fully than any other New Testament writing unfolding the intimate connection between the Old and New Testaments.

The Authorship

The AuthorshipThe authorship of this epistle is in doubt. Popularly it bears the name of Paul, but the style and internal evidence are all against his authorship. In any case if he wrote it he must have written it in Hebrew, and some other hand translated it into Greek, thus dropping the peculiarities of his style in the translation. The most probable alternative suggested is that it was written by Apollos, the learned Jew of Alexandria, who was mighty in the Scriptures and who was led into deeper spiritual truth by Aquila and Priscilla, who themselves were disciples of Paul. The uncertainty, however, of the human channel through which it came makes it all the more the message of the Holy Spirit to the people of God. While addressed to the Hebrew Christians it is no less the heritage of the whole Church than the other epistles that were also addressed to particular churches or individuals, but meant for the whole household of faith.

The Plan

The PlanThe plan of the epistle is very simple. Its chief design is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and show His superiority to Moses, Joshua, the angels and all other beings, as the Son of God and the divine Head of redeemed humanity. This is done in three distinct sections representing Christ in various offices and aspects: Christ the Apostle of our profession, or the divine Messenger by whom God hath spoken in these last days to His people (Hebrews 1:1 to Hebrews 4:13). Christ our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14 to Hebrews 10:34). Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 10:35 to Hebrews 13:25).

Christ Our Apostle

Christ Our ApostleThe word apostle means “one sent, a messenger.” The first section of this epistle is devoted to the consideration of Christ as God’s last messenger to humankind. The opening sentence of this epistle is most impressive, standing out like an inscription cut in stone over the entrance to some majestic building, or, like the frontispiece of some great volume. Two words compose this majestic message: “God spoke.” (Hebrews 1:1). “[God] has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2). Long and vainly had the world waited for some message from above. Nature had spoken, but her message was too confused and vague to tell us what we needed to know. Written on the glowing skies and the verdant earth the dullest eye could read the two words, “God is.” But there the sentence ended with a note of interrogation, and another voice was needed to complete the sentence and write it out fully, “God is love.” Philosophy had sought to penetrate the mysteries of truth and from human intuition and natural reasoning find out the unknown God; but the best that philosophy could find was the dead, cold, abstract trinity of Plato, “The True, the Beautiful, the Good.” This, however, had no power to lift humanity from its wretchedness and sin. Idolatry had spoken, but its gods were monsters of cruelty and corruption, and it had no light or help for hopeless humanity. Sorcery and spiritualism pretended to speak, and they brought some messages from the darkness of the unseen and the future world, but their words were idle and unsatisfying and only ignis fatuus gleams that left us in deeper darkness. But “God spoke.” “At many times and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1) He had previously “[spoken] to our forefathers through the prophets,” but now “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2). He has given us at length His greatest, fullest, latest word, and it is the living Word Himself— Jesus, who is not only the Messenger of the truth, but is Himself “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The gulf between earth and heaven is spanned. The mystery of the unknown is unsealed. The will of God is revealed, and “God spoke.” How solemn, how thrilling, how important to know that the Sovereign of the universe has condescended to make Himself known to the inhabitants of this remote and insignificant world, and that we have in this sacred book and this holy gospel the word and will of eternal God! But the weight of the message is infinitely enhanced by the dignity of the Messenger. In a previous Chino-Japanese war an attempt was made two or three times through some subordinate officials of the Chinese government to negotiate a peace. But no attention was paid to the message because of the unimportance of the messenger. But when at last the Chinese government expressed their earnestness and sincerity by sending to Japan their Plenipotentiary, their most distinguished citizen, the Viceroy himself, the government of Japan treated the matter with due consideration and steps were taken to meet the embassy and arrange an amnesty. And so God has shown His deep sincerity and profound interest in our race and the great question of reconciliation between man and God by sending to us as His Ambassador and Apostle no less a person than His own beloved Son. The difficulty with the Hebrew people in receiving the gospel of Christ was their profound veneration for Moses and the prophets, and their unwillingness to admit any other to a place of equal authority, and therefore the author of this epistle takes special pains to prove to them that the Lord Jesus Christ in His own right and by His Father’s recognition is superior in dignity and importance to Moses and the prophets.

The Dignity and Glory of the Messenger

The Dignity and Glory of the Messenger1. The Son of God “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father?’ Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’?” (Hebrews 1:5). God’s last Messenger to men is His own wellbeloved Son. This is finely set forth in the parable of the vineyard (see Matthew 21:33-45). The husbandman sent his servants one by one, but they took them and beat them and killed them. “Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him” (Matthew 21:37-39). Foreknowing all this, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). 2. The Heir of All Things It is for Him that all things were made and planned. He is the end as well as the beginning of the universe of God. “All things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). In Him at last shall be summed up all the glory of nature and all the government of the new heaven and earth. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19). It is this glorious and dignified Person who has come to us from the heavenly world as the bearer of God’s last message to men. He is the Viceroy of the universe and the Vice Regent of God Himself. 3. The Image of God He is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). This stronger language expresses His equality and unity with God. He is the effulgence and outflow of the Father’s glory and the very counterpart of His person. Two persons of equal dignity and glory and yet distinct personality are here described. Therefore all that the Father is He is, and He can truly say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,” for “I am in the Father, and… the Father is in me” (John 14:9-10). Would you know the character of God, the will of God, the thoughts of God, the plan of God for men? Look at Jesus, listen to His words, accept His teachings. 4. The Creator of All Things “Through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2) (or more literally, the aeons or ages). He is the Creator therefore, not only of space, but of time; not only of matter, but of all the cycles, dispensations and ages to come. His wisdom has planned the unfolding stages of God’s mighty purpose down to the latest ages of eternity. His hand has formed and poised every circling planet and every central sun amid the constellations, and as you look up into the shining firmament and think of the infinite wisdom and grandeur of God’s works and ways turn sweetly to the gentle Presence that is filling all your heart with peace, and say, “This is my Redeemer and my Friend.” 5. The Sovereign Lord He is the sovereign Lord and the Almighty Creator “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). He is the God of providence as well as nature, controlling all events and circumstances from the fall of a sparrow to the conquest of an empire. 6. The Mediatorial King “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (Hebrews 1:3-4). This is not the same authority referred to in the last paragraph. This is a new kingdom given to Him in consideration of His completed redemption and accomplished atonement. This is the place of ascension glory on the right hand of the Majesty on high where He sits enthroned as King of saints and King of nations, and in a little while to be the Lord of the millennial world. 7. Greater Than the Angels The apostle enters into a very elaborate argument to prove Christ’s superiority to all angelic beings. Mighty beings they doubtless are. A single one of them by a touch destroyed an army of 185,000 men. A single one sitting on the stone of the sepulcher frightened away the whole Roman guard. But Christ is mightier than all the angels. They are but His obedient servants, nay, the servants of His disciples, “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). 8. Witnessed to by the Father “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom…. In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Hebrews 1:8, Hebrews 1:10). This is the language of the Father to the Son. With the deepest reverence the eternal God addresses Jesus Christ as God and Lord. How can any reverent heart ever doubt again the deity of Jesus? Rather should we in humble fellowship with the Father’s testimony bow at His feet and cry, “My Lord and my God.” 9. Witnessed to by the Holy Spirit “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:4). The miracles of Christ were all testimonies by His Father and by the Holy Spirit to His divine character. The forces of nature, the powers of hell, the germs of disease, the dread monster Death itself, were all subject to His command, and His mighty works give emphasis to His authoritative words and seem to say, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7). 10. The Head of Redeemed Humanity and Lord of the Millennial Age It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death. (Hebrews 2:5-9) That is, man as a race has not yet attained his lordship over the world, but the Son of man has. We see Jesus exalted as Lord of all, and we know that His people will share the glory which He has achieved. He is already crowned King of the millennial earth, and is waiting only until all the many sons that have been given Him shall be brought unto glory for the final manifestation. 11. The Conqueror of Death and Satan By the grace of God He tasted death for every man, and “since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15). He who speaks to us as our great Apostle has not only come from above and dwelt on earth with man, but He has also penetrated the underworld of death and hell and brought back its spoils. Therefore, He can now speak with authority as He gives to us eternal life and declares, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). Satan has no power to resist the authority of His Word, and death is spoiled of its awful sway. 12. Greater Than Moses “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself…. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,… But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house” (Hebrews 3:3-6). 13. Greater Than Joshua He is greater than Joshua, their victorious leader into the Land of Promise, for He, too, is leading them into a better rest, and as the Captain of their salvation bringing many sons unto glory. “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;… Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:8-9, Hebrews 4:11). 14. The Living Word “For the word of God is living” (Hebrews 4:12). Not only is He the Messenger of the truth, but He is Himself the Truth. Therefore He is called by the disciple who was nearest His heart, the Word of God. God has not merely spoken to us in articulate sentences but by a living Personality. Like the ancient prince who begged for the freedom of his captive queen, and the conqueror sent him not a written answer to his plea but his very queen herself with the message, “This is my word of reply,” God has given us Jesus as His highest, sweetest, last Word; and when we receive Him we have within us as part of our very mind, the heart, the will, the thought of God. This mighty Word is here described as “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Will we receive Him as God’s Word to us? Will we hear Him say, “Today, if you hear [my] voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7)? And will we follow Him as the Captain of our salvation until He leads us into all the fullness of the Land of Promise, the rest of faith and the will of God?