Bible Study

The Radiance of God's Glory:
a study of Hebrews 1

By Michael Morrison

In the first century, some Jews believed in Jesus as the Messiah and yet still wanted all the rituals of Judaism. The boundaries between Christianity and Judaism weren’t clear, and these people weren’t sure where their primary identity was.

The book of Hebrews may have been written to some of them. It was apparently written to people who already believed in Jesus as the Messiah. What the book argues is that Jesus is better than Judaism. The readers should see their religious identity in Jesus. It is Jesus who gives us access to God. Let’s see how the letter begins.

"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..." (Heb. 1:1-2). The sentence goes on for two and a half more verses. It’s an elaborate, well-composed sentence, written with rhetorical polish. This is not the way that Greek letters normally begin—this is the way that oratory begins. This book was written to be delivered as a speech, as a sermon.

Here, in the first sentence, it draws a contrast between old and new. God spoke to the patriarchs in many ways—some things to one person, something else to another, a different portion to someone else many years later, etc. God would sometimes speak in a thundering voice, sometimes in a whisper, and sometimes in a vision.

Some Jews might have been proud that God had dealt with their nation in many different ways, but the problem is that none of the methods were perfect. None of the prophets had the whole message, none of the visions revealed everything we need to know.

That is in contrast to the way that God has spoken in his Son. Jesus is not a prophet—he is a Son, and as a Son he has a complete revelation of what God wants to reveal. This is definitive. The day of Jesus Christ is the day the prophets could only dimly foresee, but Jesus is the fulfillment of what they said. God has spoken to us in his Son.

How great is he? Verse 2 tells us: "whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." He was appointed heir even before anything existed. He is the Creator and the owner of the universe.

Not only that, "the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word" (v. 3). Unbelievers would probably think it blasphemous to say that Jesus is just as glorious as God, that he looks just like what God is, and that he does what only God can do. He radiates God’s glory and he is the exact representation of his nature, and he is so powerful that he can sustain the universe simply by speaking a word.

Why does the author think that the readers will accept this without any evidence? Probably because he knows them and knows what they have been taught. Perhaps he is the one who taught them. He is reminding them of how great Jesus is, because they are letting this greatness slip away, and they are ignoring the salvation that Jesus brought.

Now the author gets to the real subject of the letter, the subject that he will develop in much more detail: "After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" (v. 3).

If you want your sins to be forgiven, then you need to pay attention to Jesus, because he provides the way for us. He is with God, and he carries far more authority than the prophets do, because they had only part of the truth. It was true, but it was only part of what we need. Now we have Jesus, and in him, we have all that we need.

The author now introduces the subject of the first chapter, which argues that Jesus is better than angels: "So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs" (v. 4). As the Son of God, he is superior to the angels, the messenger servants of God.

Jews in the first century had a lot of respect for angels. They speculated about them and even assigned them a role in giving the law at Mt. Sinai (see Gal. 3:19). Some even gave the angels too much honor (Col. 2:18), but this does not seem to be a problem among the readers of Hebrews.

The author wants to correct some of the readers’ ideas, but he does not attack them in the very first chapter. That might cause resistance. Instead, he is warming up to the subject and reminding them of things they already know. It is only later in the book that he says, now let’s go on to something new.

The author uses a chain of scriptures to support his point that Jesus is superior to the angels. He does not stop to demonstrate that these scriptures are really about Jesus—that seems to be something he figures the readers already agree on. On this topic, he is writing to a sympathetic audience, not a hostile one.

But in preparation for the subjects that he deals with in later chapters, he does want to remind them of how great Jesus is, and he begins by comparing him to angels. Hebrews 1:5: "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’?" The answer is that God never said this to any angel, but he did say it for Jesus.

The first quote comes from Psalm 2:7, which was originally about the kings of Israel, but was often understood as a messianic prophecy. The second quote is from 2 Samuel 7:14, which was originally about Solomon, but came to be applied to the end-time Son of David, the Messiah.

The point in both quotations is that Jesus is the Son of God, whereas angels are only messengers. Although angels are great and powerful, they aren’t even in the same league as Jesus. They are the hired help; Jesus is the Son of God.

The next two quotations are about angels. "And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire’" (Heb. 1:6-7).

The first quote is from the Greek version of Deut. 32:43; the Hebrew original doesn’t say this. And even in the Greek version, the scripture is about the angels worshipping God. But the author makes no attempt to explain why he can use this verse for Jesus—he apparently knows that these readers already understand the verse in this way.

The second quote is from the Greek version of Psalm 104:4; the Hebrew version has a different emphasis.

The next two quotes are much longer. "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. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy’" (Heb. 1:8-9, quoting from Psalm 45:6-7).

Again, there is no attempt to explain why these verses can be used for Jesus Christ, even when they plainly call him God: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever..." Apparently the author is reminding the readers of something they have already been taught. The point is that the Son is a ruler, but the angels are only servants.

The next verses are quoted from Psalm 102:25-27: "He also says, ‘In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end’" (Heb. 1:10-12).

The original psalm is about God. In Hebrews, it is applied to Christ, saying that he is the Creator and that he will live forever. In every respect, Jesus is greater than angels.

"To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?" (v. 13). As in verse 5, the answer is "none." God never put an angel at his right hand, but he did put Jesus there.

This is quoted from Psalm 110:1, the Old Testament verse that is quoted the most often in the New Testament. This verse will be used again in Hebrews, but here, it is used simply to say that the Son is better than the angels. They are merely "ministering spirits," as it says in verse 14, "sent to serve those who will inherit salvation."

Angels serve us; we serve Christ; that makes them two steps lower than Christ is. He is really great—exactly like God, called God, creating like God and living like God.

What conclusion can the readers draw from this review? That will be revealed in chapter 2.

Questions for application

• When I think of God, do I remember that Jesus is exactly like him? Does my concept of God look just like Jesus?

• When I think of creation, do I think of Jesus?

• Without the book of Hebrews, would I apply these Old Testament verses to Jesus Christ?

• Do I view the heavens and earth as perishable, scheduled for change? How does this affect my priorities?

• In what ways have angels ministered to the children of God?

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002