In The Cradle-Out Of The Grave

Background

In chapter one the writer of Hebrews begins by exalting the Son of God. A song is written with the word, “He is exalted, the King is exalted on high.”

This Hebrew audience, Jewish by birth but Christians by the new birth, were having difficulty letting go of their Judaism like Paul did (Philippians 3:1-10). Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” The Hebrews had a tight grip on their legacy in Abraham and Moses and the priesthood and the sacrifice. This book was written to teach them that “Christ is better; He is superior.”

He is superior to the prophets (1:1-3)

Heb 1:1-3 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”

He is superior to the angels (1:4-2:18)

Heb 1:4-6- “…having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

He is superior to Moses (3:1-6).

Heb 3:5-6 - Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

The Hebrew Christians were to put their faith in Christ alone (3:7-4:16).

Heb 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

Not only was Christ’s person superior, the writer of Hebrews also taught that Christ’s priesthood was superior (5:1-10:39).

Heb 9:11-12 - But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

The only way that Christ could be superior to the prophets and the angels and Moses and the priesthood is that He had to be God. He had to be God Incarnate, which means, “God in the flesh.” He had to be Immanuel, which means, “God with us.”

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is “the radiance of His (God’s) glory and the exact representation of His (God’s) nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

Jesus is God! Verses 8-10 say, “But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.”

Jesus Christ is God but for the purpose of accomplishing that great work of redemption, that great work of saving us from our sins, Hebrews 2:9 says that He had to be made lower, just for a little while, than the angels.

Not only did He have to be made lower than the angels, the Bible says that He had to suffer. Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”

The word "perfect" has the idea of completion. In other words, Jesus had to fully experience the suffering of humanity through complete identification with humanity. (BSB) Jesus, God the Son, had to become human in order to suffer for our sins.