Hebrews 3, One Greater than Moses

In the first two chapters of this letter, our author emphasizes that Jesus is God, far above the angels. Now the author compares Jesus with that ancient Jewish hero, Moses.

3:1-4
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.  He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.   Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.  For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

What is the house here?  How does the metaphor of house & house-builder fit into the Jewish point of view?

What role does Jesus have?  What is he called here?  Note how the roles & titles of Jesus seem to morph; the author is not consistent; his metaphor is fluid.

3:5-6
Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future.  But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Jesus is the architect/owner of "God's house"; Moses is the butler who welcomes you in.

"God's house" is equivalent to God's kingdom, or (in New Testament language) the universal Church.

3:7-11
So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, `Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'  So I declared on oath in my anger, `They shall never enter my rest.'"

We are quoting from Psalm 95 (verses 7-11) here.

Note the new metaphor, from ancient Jewish history.  What is the "rest" implied here? How is Jesus involved? Moses?

3:12-15
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.  As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

More from Psalm 95.  The nation of Israel, as recorded in the book of Exodus, saw dramatic displays of God at work, yet backed off at the last moment, unable to enter the Promised Land.

"as long as it is called Today" -- what does this mean?  What is the concern here?

3:16-19
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?  And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?  And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?  So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

The action that kept the Jewish people out of the promised land was (active) unbelief, an active refusal to acknowledge God's plan.  The writer of Hebrews is concerned here that his/her readers may also back away at the last moment, snatching defeat from victory.

Compare the ending of this passage with the beginning.  The overall comparison is of Moses and Jesus; what Moses began, Jesus completes.  So move on and don't get left behind!

Hebrews 2, Our Suffering Brother

The writer of Hebrews has spent the first chapter emphasizing that the Jewish messiah, Jesus, is the exact imprint of God, creating the universe.  This Jesus is greater than the angels.  Why is this important?  Jewish tradition (and the Septuagint translation) has the angels giving the law to Moses.  So the angels are the agents through which the Law was passed down.  But if Jesus is even greater... then we must take Jesus very seriously!

2:1-4 
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.  For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,   how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? 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 distributed according to his will.

The salvation offered by Jesus has been passed on by those followers who personally saw and heard Him.  Unlike Paul, the writer of Hebrews appears to have received this message from one of those followers.

Like the miracles of the Exodus, this message has been confirmed by similar miracles in Jesus's day, including the gifts and confirmation of the Holy Spirit.

2:5-8a 
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.

"It is said somewhere".  The writer knows the passage (from Psalms 8:4-6) and knows that his (her?) readers know the passage also.  There is no need to mention David.  The Davidic passage appears to be talking about mankind but the writer interprets it as speaking of the Son of Man, the Messiah.

Here we are reminded that although Jesus is superior to all angels, he stooped to become a man, for just a time lower even than the angels.

2:8b-10
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, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

The suffering Messiah (of Isaiah 53) was, just for a time, lower than the angels, in order to lift mankind up.  So we too are (eventually) even superior to angels, as we are lifted up by the Messiah.

In the next passage, we are told that Jesus is both "brother" and "high priest".

2:11-13
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.  He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." 

These passages are from the messianic Psalm 22 (verse 22) and from Isaiah 8:17-18.

2:14-18
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.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

This passage has a theme we will hear a number of times.  Jesus, the exact imprint of God (verse 1:3, at the beginning of this letter) was also human, so that he might be a sympathetic representative for us.

Note that final verse, Hebrews 2:18.  Don't pass it by.  We have a "brother" who has been tempted and suffered as we have.  As his brothers and sisters, we have One who wants to help.

In the next passage, the writer will move away from angels and compare Jesus to Moses, that ancient hero who brought the divine Law to the people of Israel.

Hebrews 1:5-14, Jesus, Better than Angels!

The author of Hebrews ends our first chapter with a flurry of Old Testament references to prove that the Jewish Messiah is greater than angels.

1:5-9 - Jesus greater than the angels
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"?  

These two quotes are from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:13-14, part of God's promise to David and his descendants.  (A passage parallel to 2 Samuel 7:13-14 is 1 Chronicles 17:13.)

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

This quotation is an interesting one, for it is from the Pentateuch, from Deuteronomy 32:43.  Modern translations like the NIV, based on the Masoretic text, don't mention angels, but the Septuagint does, and the Septuagint was the Greek version of the Old Testament available for Greek readers of that day.  The Jewish readers would have been familiar with this quotation.

In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."

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."

These two quotations are from the psalms, first Psalm 104:4 and then Psalm 45:6-7.

1:10-12  Jesus -- from the beginning
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."

This beautiful cosmological scene is from Psalm 102:25-27. 

1:13-14 Angels are different
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 all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

The final Old Testament quote in this passage is from Psalm 110:1.  Clearly the psalter and the book of Moses were well known to the readers.  The psalms will be used as references throughout the letter.

Why, suddenly, this essay on angels?  There are two reasons the writer pauses to compare Jesus and the angels.  

First, the Jewish reader of that time would believe (of course) that there is only one God.  But he/she might also believe in other divine beings between God and man, that is, spirits or "angels" or "sons of God" (such as those who showed up in Old Testament episodes with Abraham or Daniel.)  Jewish followers of Jesus might be tempted to believe that Jesus was a spiritual hero, a divine spirit, therefore relegating Him to angelic status.  The author of Hebrews wants the readers to understand that this demotion is unacceptable.  Jesus is far above the angels!  This is intended (with verse 3) to be a clear statement about Jesus's divinity: Jesus IS God.

There is a second reason the author of this letter want to compare Jesus with angels.  That will become clear in the next chapter of the letter.  

I hope to post of Hebrews 2 on Wednesday.

Hebrews 1:1-4, Representation Theory

The letter to the Hebrews opens with an eloquent statement for the Jewish readers.

1:1-3  The Final Representation of God.  
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, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 

This is a clear statement claiming that "the Son" is the fulfillment of the Judaic plan of God ... and that this has been part of that plan from the beginning.   Jesus is both an heir at the end of history and the creator of the universe at the beginning of history.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 

In my mathematical research area, a representation is a mapping that takes a very abstract idea, one hard to understand, and creates a concrete example of the idea, an example where one can do precise mathematical computations, where understanding is achieved by "concreteness."  (Yes, there is a whole mathematical theory of this -- I have books on "representation theory" in my office!)  A representation is "faithful" if it carries all the properties of that difficult abstract idea.

When we humans ask about the abstract, strange, scary idea of "God" and want to understand who God is, we have been offered the "exact representation" of God, that is, God in human form (Jesus), as a concrete example.  If you wish to understand God, look at Jesus.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The first two verses could be understood by Greek philosophers.  But this concluding sentence returns to God's work in the Jewish nation, for "the Son" is indeed the Jewish Messiah, the Jewish sacrificial Lamb, the Savior of all mankind.

1:4  Better than angels  

So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 

After a strong thematic opening on the identity of "the Son", we have a transition to a lengthy passage about angels.  Of course, if "the Son" is the exact representation of God and was involved in Creation then this Messiah is above all created things, including angels.  But the author wants to dwell on that a bit... and that will be the next half of chapter 1.

I hope to post on Hebrews 1:5-14 tomorrow.