Yeah, Jesus is a good teacher and that, but come on. Don’t take him too seriously. He’s not God or anything. Don’t let him cramp your style. Have you ever heard that? That’s the secular Aussie, laid back, self-assured. That’s the Mambo ‘Australian Jesus’, that so many of our fellow citizens wear on their tee-shirts.
What about this, ‘Jesus is a Prophet? But it is a terrible blasphemy to call him God! God has no children. Jesus is not God. Jesus is not the Son of God.’ That is Islam! So much for ‘All religions are the same!’ Remember what the Apostle John says: ‘Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son.’ (1 John 2:22)
What about, ‘Jesus is the Archangel Michael, God’s created Master Worker, higher than the other angels, but still one of them, the first one created. That’s the Watchtower Organisation and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Again, Jesus is not God the eternally begotten Son.
Then, of course, there is the baby Jesus. Innocent, harmless, held in the arms of a holy looking Madonna, Not making too many demands of you, trotted out every Christmas in nativity scenes. Sure, Jesus ‘was’ a baby. But not anymore. Anyone who thinks of the Jesus Christ that they are going to meet in judgment as a baby is badly mistaken.
All these Jesuses, lined up, next to one another: Australian Jesus, Muslim Jesus, Archangel Jesus, Baby Jesus. Will the real Jesus please stand up?
Fortunately, none of these Jesuses cut it. They are bad charicatures, straw men, that will not stand the blow torch of thorough investigation. For the real Jesus is much, much bigger. Their Jesus is too small.
This term, we are looking in morning church at the letter to the Hebrews. I am also offering bible studies on Hebrews this term. And the unnamed, anonymous Author to the Hebrews brings to us the Real Jesus. We can only guess who he was. Some thought Barnabas, some Apollos, some Paul, some Luke. But no-one knows. However, from the earliest times, it was accepted as Scripture[1].
Hebrews first of all reminds his readers how blessed they are. In the history of the world, they live at the best time. Because they live in the time of the Son.
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… (Hebrews 1:1-2a NIV)
Now, it’s important to realize that the Author to the Hebrews almost certainly never saw or heard Jesus’ teach himself. For in chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, he says:
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his will. (Hebrews 2:3b-4 NIV)
So this author received the testimony of those who heard Jesus directly. But he probably didn’t receive that testimony first hand. Yet, he can say in chapter 2 verse 1, that God has spoken to us by his Son.
How is this? Because the Son speaks to us through his Apostles. And we have the Apostolic writings and Apostolic teachings. So, what we have in front of us, while it may not have been written by an Apostle, it contains the teaching of the Apostles about the Son. Just like Luke or Mark, or James or Jude, while not apostles themselves, passed on the teachings and witness of the Apostles.
In Old Testament times, God spoke at many times, or more accurately, ‘little by little’. God gave them ‘many parts or pieces’ of his plan over the 1600 of years of God speaking to his Old Testament people, Abraham and his descendants. Over that time, God’s Old Testament prophets looked carefully into what God said. They tried to work out the time when God would send the one who would crush the serpents head, when he would send the Prophet like Moses, David’s Greater Son, the Servant who would suffer, die, and see the light, and justify many (compare 1 Peter 1:10-12).
But it was a piecemeal revelation. They were given pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. Not the finished picture.
But we, with God’s New Testament Saints, see the finished picture. God has spoken to us ‘through his Son’. Literally, it says ‘in Son’, which, while difficult to translate, probably means ‘sonwise’ or ‘in a son kind of way’, or ‘in one who is son’[2]. Just as in the parable of the tenants in the vineyard, first God sent the prophets, and only at the end he sends his only Son, so we God has spoken to us in a ‘son-kind of way’. He has so loved us that he sent us his only Son. No one has ever seen God, yet God the only begotten Son, who is at the bossom of the Father, has made God known, has explained God, has exegeted God the Father.
And that is the privilege that you and I have. We don’t have to put together God’s jigsaw puzzle of the Old Testament to know what God is doing. We have Jesus, who is the complete and perfect picture, who places all the pieces of the Old Testament jigsaw in an orderly and complete picture.
Now what is it about the Son that makes the Son-type of revelation better? Why are you better off than an Old Testament Saint, or a Jew, who has the Old Testament but rejects the New? That’s in Hebrews 1 verses 2b to 3 Half way through verse 2 and into verse 3:
2… by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven,’ (Hebrews 1:2b-3 NIV)
In that one and a half verses, there are 7 huge statements about the Son. Seven things that tell us who Jesus is and what he has done. Seven aspects of his identity and achievements. There is more to Jesus, the Son of God, than meets the eye. First, at the end of verse 2:
Whom he appointed heir of all things (NIV)
Everything was made for Jesus. Every human through all time, every angel, every animal, every blade of grass, every galaxy and star and every cell and amobeia and atom. All things are to be given to Jesus as his right at the end of time. Even the devil and his wicked angels and impenitent humans reserved for eternal punishment in hell are and will be for the glory of Christ. Every knee will bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is lord. He owns the lot.
And then at the end of verse 2:
Through whom he made the universe (NIV)
Nothing was made without Jesus. For Jesus is God’s powerful word, and God created with his word. Father and Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, made everything that there is.
So Jesus made everything, and Jesus will receive everything. He created everything at the beginning, and he will get everything at the end.
Is your Jesus this big? He needs to be. Because Jesus is your maker and your owner.
Next, we get two statements about who Jesus is, his identity. What is Jesus’ relationship with God?
The first part of verse 3:
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (NIV)
Here is why ‘revelation the Son-way’ is best. The Son type of knowing God is superior to all Old Testament revelation. Because of who Jesus is.
First, Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. The word ‘radiance’ either means light radiating out from a source, like rays from a sun, or an image bouncing back from the source, like the reflection in a mirror[3].
Second, Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. Literally, Jesus is the ‘character of God’s essence’. Jesus is the very stamp of God’s nature. Whatever God is, Jesus the Son is. The exact, perfect picture of God. The Son is God. John’s way of saying the same thing is ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.’ (John 1:1). He is God the only, unique Son, at the Father’s bosom, who has made him known (John 1:18). Paul’s way of saying it is: ‘All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority’ (Colossians 2:9).
Continuing in verse 3, the Son sustains all things by his powerful world. Not only in the beginning did Jesus create all things, Not only at the end will Jesus inherit all things, But in the middle, he sustains all things. Jesus upholds the universe with his powerful word. From beginning of creation to the end of the world, nothing happens in the world without the say so of the Son. Even during his manhood, the deity of the Son continued to uphold everything[4]. Every breath you take, every move you make, is powered by Jesus. Let alone Jesus upholding a zillion galaxies of stars, and knowing every blade of grass and grain of sand. He understands the googleplex of atoms in our universe, and each of them obeys his word. And he knows you and me and sustains us. This is a massive, inconceivable, mind blowing Jesus. Only this Jesus is worth worshipping, because it is the only Jesus there is. Don’t accept phoney, second hand imitations, only the genuine article, the Jesus that sustains all things by his powerful word.
Jesus does this work for all creation. But there is a job that he does peculiarly for humans, and peculiarly for his people.
The next part of verse 3:
After providing purification for sins… (NIV)
The Jesus who is the exact representation and reflection of his Father, who is the agent of creation, and who sustains everything, did something about sins. This is a reference to us. We are the ones who have done sins. And so Jesus came into this world to do something about them. He came to cleanse us from our sins. Hebrews will talk about Jesus as our Great High Priest, who offered himself as a bloody sacrifice to turn God’s anger from us.
And Jesus did it right the first time. It only took him one go. He died and rose again, and after his resurrection and ascension, the last part of verse 3:
He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. (NIV)
Why does a Great High Priest sit down? Because he has finished his bloody and messy manual work of sacrifice. His work is complete. Why does a King and Judge sit down? Because he is about to start his work. His work is about to begin, his court is in session. Jesus finished his work as Priest, so that as King and Judge, he can have everything placed under his feet and so he can judge the world. Jesus, seated at the place of honour, the right hand of the Father, now waits for everything to be brought into subjection to him.
In a nutshell, that’s who Jesus is and what he did. I hope none of that is new, or at least, not completely new. I hope if it is new, it is old information in new words. If it is new, please talk to me about it. This is the only Jesus there is, and this is the Jesus we preach at this church.
Now, the author had a particular reason for pointing these things out. They are true, so they are worth saying anyway. But it seemed that some of the Hebrews were fascinated with angels, and they were being distracted from Jesus.
Verse 4 gives us a heads up about the issue of Angels:
So he [the Son, Jesus] became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (NIV)
People have long been fascinated with angels, today still, just as New Testament times. But it is not simply because of delight in angels per se.
Angels were involved in the Old Testament revelation. Angels led the people in the Exodus (Exodus 23:20-23). The Old Testament law was put into effect through angels (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19). So in this context, the Hebrews interest in angels represented a desire to go back to the Old Testament religion that angels represented. But the Author to the Hebrews saying, ‘you’ve got better revelation than angels’. You’ve got the Son-type of revelation. You’ve got the best revelation that God could give. Verse 4:
So he [Jesus, the Son] became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (NIV)
You’ve got better revelation than the Old Testament because Jesus’ is superior to all the angels. He has the name above every name.
And so the author to the Hebrews lists 7 Old Testament passages showing that Jesus is no angel.
The first two (Psalm 2:7, 2 Samuel 7:14), declare Jesus is God’s unique Son, and thus infinitely higher than the angels. The second two (Psalms 97:7; Deuteronomy 32:43, 104:4), tell us angels worship and serve Jesus, thus showing his superiority. The third pair (Psalm 45:6-7; Psalm 102:25-27) focus on Jesus’ eternity, divinity and unchanging nature. Angels and not creators, but creatures. And the climax is Psalm 110:1, where God says to Jesus, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’. Jesus is no angel.
Particularly interesting is the third pair. Verse 8: But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever.’ Psalm 45:6-7 addresses the King at his Wedding as God. And Hebrews applies it to Jesus. Hebrews is calling Jesus the Son, God. Thus, Jesus the Son is superior to Angels as Creator is to Creation. Yet another passage were Jesus is called ‘God’.
Again verse 10, a quote from Psalm 102:25-27. Verse 10: In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. (NIV)
In verse 8, Jesus is called God In verse 10, Jesus is called Lord[5]. And he is both, both God and Lord. Verse 10 says Jesus is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Verse 11 and 12 says that the heavens and the earth will perish and be rolled up. Clothes wear out. Shoes wear out. The universe wears out, the heavens and earth are running down and perishing. But by contrast, Jesus remains. Jesus doesn’t change, but remains the same and his years will never end. At the beginning of Hebrews, the author says that Jesus doesn’t change and remains the same. And at the end of Hebrews the author says this: Hebrews 13:8:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Jesus doesn't change, so we can trust in him. And friends, we are part of this universe. We are wearing out and perishing. We groan as we experience the frustration and decay of this world. Change and decay all around I see. O God who changest not, Abide with me.
But not Jesus, the Son. He experiences no change or decay. His years never end. He is the same yesterday and forever.
According to this verse, the heavens and the earth will change and perish, but Jesus Christ will remain unchanged. His years shall not weary him, and the years shall not condemn him. According to the bible, only of Jesus is that true. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So why is Jesus not here now? Well, Psalm 110:1 explains the present absence of Jesus with us. Chapter 1 verse 13 to 14:
To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Are not angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. (NIV)
Jesus is above all the angels. God the Father has said to God the Son, as priest you’ve done your job. Sit down at my right hand. You have paid for the sins of your people. Priests work by standing up. But kings and judges work by sitting down. They make their decisions and judgments from their throne of judgment. As Judge and King, the Father says, you still have work to do. Sit down here as my judge and King. Perform your rule from your Kingly throne of judgment.
Jesus is above all the angels. And so are you. Notice verse 14 again:
angels are ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. (NIV)
That’s you and me. Angels are sent to serve you and me, whom God is saving. Jesus is higher than angels. And in a sense, so are you. For the angels serve you, not you them.
Why is Jesus not here now? Because he is waiting for God the Father to put everything under his feet. It was necessary for Christ to go away from us for a short time so that the Father’s plan of having everything under Christ would be fulfilled. That’s why Jesus is not here with us bodily. Bodily, he is seated at the right hand of God. But he does dwell with us and among us by his Spirit.
So we have a superior revelation based on a superior Son. The Son in New Testament revelation is superior to the Angels of Old Testament revelation.
Because of this, we have greater privileges. But we also have greater danger. We know more. But that makes us all the more accountable. And so the Author to the Hebrews gives us a sharp warning.
Chapter 2 verses 1 to the first part of 3:
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2For if the message spoken by angels was binding and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if ignore such a great salvation? (NIV)
We know more than Old Testament people, because we live after Jesus. But because of that, we will be punished more severely if we ignore it and drift off. From he who has been given much, much more will be demanded. And that is you and I, we have been given much. And I have been given more than you, as a teacher.
The warning against drifting away in verse 1 pictures a boat coming off it’s moorings. It’s a boat drifting free down a channel. It heads down to certain destruction on rocks or sand bars.
We don’t want that to be us?
What might cause us to drift away?
Worries about wealth. Will I have enough super. Will I be able to maintain my quality of life.
Worries about health. Maybe I will get sick. Maybe I won’t be around to see my grandkids. Maybe I won’t be able to afford health care. Make your declining years as comfortable as you can.
Worries about significance. What has my life been about. I’m about to shuffle off the coil not having achieved anything. My life doesn’t really matter in the great scheme of things.
Maybe you sometimes have worries about your doubts. Maybe there is no God, no forgiveness, there’s just death and nothingness.
Maybe the Atheists and the Greens and are right. Have consensual sex with who you want. Enjoy life now (how you can do that without God I don’t know, I guess the same way those who total themselves in Kings Cross do), because there’s probably no God.
Or Maybe the Muslims are right. After all, Australian society is so decadent and superficial: look at Home and Away and the Shire!
Friends, all these things, sure need to be faced maturely. But let’s not let these things cut us loose from our moorings. Let’s not drift away. God has spoken to us through his Son. God hasn’t sent some schmuck, some droid, some angel with a message. God has come himself in the person of his Son, and given us the very reflection of himself. And moreover, this Son has provided purification of sins.
Do not despair over regrets in the past, for Jesus Christ has died for them. Do not despair over your present, becauser Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, in kingly authority. He is King, and he will look after everything. And in the future, he will return, rolling up everything like a garment, like old clothes. And we will see Jesus the King, face to face, who died and rose again for us. And the years won’t have effected his beautiful glorious face.
Let’s pray.
[1] By 96 AD, Clement Bishop of Rome was citing it along with other Romans and the letters of Paul to the Corinthians Compare: ‘He is the splendor of God’s majesty and as much greater than the angels as the title He has inherited is a loftier one than theirs. For it is written, He makes his angels into winds, and his servitors into a flame of fire, but of the Son the Lord declares, You are my son, this very day I have fathered you; ask of me, and I will give you nations for your inheritance and the furthest limits of the world for your possession. Again, God says to him, Sit down at my right hand, until I make your enemies a cushion for your feet.’ Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, in M Staniforth, A Louth (trs & ed), Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers (London: Penguin, 1968, 1987), 38-9
[2] The anarthrous noun ‘son’ is qualitative, ‘placing the stress on quality, nature or essence’: P T O’Brien, Hebrews: Pillar, 50 fn 40 citing Wallace.
[3] P T O’Brien, Hebrews: Pillar, 54
[4] The so-called, Calvinistic extra in Institutes, II.8.4: ‘For even if the Word in his immeasurable essence united with the nature of man into one person, we do not imagine that he was confined therein. Here is something marvelous: the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, he willed to be borne in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet he continuously filled the world even as he had done from the beginning.’ See B Milne, Know the Truth 2nd Ed, 184.
[5] Hebrews quotes the LXX, not the MT, which doesn’t have the vocative in Psalm 102:26