Hebrews 1:5
I have to admit, I don’t think about angels much, but I’ve met plenty of people who do. Angels are real. Scripture makes it clear that they are real. We see them all over the place in the Bible. And it’s not that angels aren’t important; they are some of God’s creatures created for his glory. They are often used as God’s agents for his work. We see them delivering messages, warning people, leading, etc. We just often have the problem, don’t we, of making lesser things the main thing?
Just by way of example, I once heard a person talk about a car problem they had—a pretty massive car problem, something that should have caused them to crash, possibly killing them. They didn’t notice the problem until they were safely to their destination. You’ve probably had a situation like this or know of someone who has.
The person said to me, “My guardian angel was looking out for me that night.” Now, that may or may not be true. We aren’t really going to get into the doctrine of angels too much, whether or not we have guardian angels and things like that. But it concerns me that rather than thanking God for safety and protection, a person would turn and rejoice in the (possible) agent.
The story highlights a central issue in Hebrews. Angels are real, the Law is good, the priesthood is important, and even Melchizedek and his role are something to be pondered, but none of these things are ends unto themselves. Each of these should point us to Christ and his superior role as our great high priest.
We don’t exactly know the outside context of Hebrews 1. Some have posited that 1st-century Judaism had an issue with angel worship. It’s certainly possible. We know that angel worship was a problem in certain areas of the Roman world. Paul deals with it in Colossians and the issue of Gnosticism. However, rather than outright angel worship, the issue in the Hebrew church seemed to be syncretism.
Some believed that angels would come and play some important roles, including being in charge of the Messiah. The Essenes, a certain sect of Judaism like the Pharisees or Sadducees, believed that there would be a king messiah and a priest messiah because they believed that the office of king and priest could not be held by the same person. They also believed that an angel, Michael in particular, would be the one in charge of both.
When we make human comparisons, we often feel the need to lessen one side and elevate the other. The author of Hebrews could probably use a technique like this, but it would be unnecessary. Jesus is always the superior, the better when compared with anything else. He can stand far above anything he is compared to because his greatness is incomparable. Hebrews sets out then not necessarily to lessen the role and importance of angels but to elevate the importance of the Son.
Look at verse 4. We saw this in the last post, but I want you to see again how the author moves into this conversation about Jesus being better than angels.
We read that Jesus has “become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
In verses 1-4, the Son’s role as prophet, priest, and king is highlighted, as is his divinity and humanity. The Son is eternally God, the creator, the sustainer. At the same time as the Incarnate One, he completes the work of redemption, purifies sins, and, at his resurrection, has the name “Son of God” bestowed upon him.
Now, the name “Son of God” is like a crown that he wears because of his accomplishment. So he is the Son in two ways: 1. He is the Son because he is the second person of the Trinity, one in being with the Father as God. But 2. He is the Son because he earned the title in his accomplishment of salvation.
So the Son became superior to the angels, not in his being—he is God fully—but as Messiah, he earned the superior rank.
Now, here’s the picture. You’re a Jewish believer. This world of angels is what you grew up in. You have parents, friends, and siblings still living in Judaism. What question are you going to come ask your pastor after church on a Sunday? “Pastor, I believe all of that about Jesus being God and being messiah, creator, purifier, majesty… all of it. I need some bible verses, though. I’m going home this afternoon, and I have to tell my dad about how great Jesus is, but I need some solid bible verses to bring back to him to show him that the text has said it all along!”
That’s what 5-14 is. The first word of verse 5 “for” means “let me explain, let me show you.”
And he’s going to take us to 7 passages and make 3 comparisons between Jesus and the angels. But for now we’ll just be looking at verse 5.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “you are my Son, today I have begotten you.” Or again, “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a son?”
So he’s explaining two things 1. The name that the Son has inherited, and 2. The unique relationship that the Son has with the Father.
The Son, who is the Son, also inherited the name Son.
Psalm 2:7. This is a hymn of coronation. You all know about coronation because you’ve had to watch Frozen 1000x right? I could sing Let It Go in my sleep! Coronation is the crowning of the new royalty. God the Father quotes Psalm 2:7 6 times in the gospels, but only the first half. At the baptism of Jesus and on the mount of transfiguration he also includes, “This is my son.”
But it is not until after the resurrection that the full verse is applied to Jesus like we see here in Heb 1 and in Acts 13. This “begetting” of the Son is the crowning or anointing of the Son at his resurrection, the exaltation of the Messiah, declaring him as the finisher of the task and the one to whom alone praise and glory and honor are due.
Interestingly angels are referred to as sons of God in Job 1:6, but only Jesus is referred to as THE Son of God.
So the first thing we see is that Jesus by his perfect work and resurrection from the dead has inherited this triumphant, messianic title of Son.
The second thing we see is the unique relationship between the Father and the Son.
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
This is a quotation from 2 Sam 7:14, which prophesies to David that his descendant will sit on the throne forever. He’s pointing to his eternal reign, his eternal sovereign kingship.
But in that prophecy, he gives us more than merely the status of the descendant of David as king; he tells us of the unique relationship that he will have with the Father. He isn’t merely someone who will serve him. He will be himself a son.
Jesus referred to himself this way in John 5. The Jewish leaders knew what he meant when he said it. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God in the Bible. It’s utter nonsense; they haven’t read it if they think that’s true. He calls God his own Father, and John says, “making himself equal with God.” And the Jewish leaders knew that’s what he meant, and they hated him for it.
Wait, weren’t we talking about angels? Yes, we were. Do you see the point? Jesus is better. He’s developing the truth about Christ’s superiority for us with these quotes from the Old Testament. He isn’t pulling out obscure texts. These are the most well-known and most frequently cited texts by the Jews. They weren’t confused about whom these texts were speaking. They knew that these texts were about the messiah. They just couldn’t fathom that it would all be fulfilled in one man, God.
This is what the author of Hebrews means by saying, “These last days he has spoken to us in Son.” He doesn’t mean that the scriptures ended at Christ’s ascension; he means that we now understand and have our eyes opened by the Spirit of Christ, that all of scripture speaks of him.
Hebrews goes on to tell us about all sorts of things people place their hope in. The rest of the book will display how Jesus is not just better than all of them but how nothing else is sufficient to accomplish our salvation. You’re lost if your hope is in anything other than the incarnate Jesus!