October 27, 2002
First Church of the Brethren
H. Kevin Derr
Hebrews 1:5-14
“The Son is superior”
5For 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 ” 6And again, when God
brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7In speaking of
the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.” 8But about the Son
he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of
your kingdom. 9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” 10He also says, “In the
beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your
hands. 11They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12You 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.” 13To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I
make your enemies a footstool for your feet” 14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve
those who will inherit salvation?
Introduction
I. Review of Last Week:
A. God has gone to great lengths to speak to his people
1. In the past he spoke important words through prophets, men who God had
claimed for his purpose and who were attuned to hearing from God.
2. But God has taken action to speak to us today, he has gone to even greater
lengths to make sure that we are able to hear the message of God’s redemption
of humanity
A. He now speaks to us through his son, and who is his son?
1. He is the one who created the universe
2. He is heir of all things
3. He is the radiance of God
4. H is the exact representation of God
5. He sustains all things through his word
6. He has made for purification of sins
7 He is seated at the right had of the Majesty on High
8 He has humbled himself and because like us so that we could
hear from God
A. He is now exalted to the right hand of God
B. The message we heard in the past was important, the
message we have heard through the son is even more
important,
B. But as believers what have we done with this message? Have we paid great attention
to it, or do we treat it lightly?
II. Our Text for Today:
A. We will be looking at three groups of OT quotations, all of which address the
comparison of Jesus to the angels, the Son of God to Servants of God.
1. The first group will be Vs. 5 & 6
A. OT quotes include, Ps2:7 & 2 Samuel 7:14
B. These will provide evidence for Jesus’ divine sonship
2. The second group will be Vs. 7-12
A. Psalm 104:4, 45:6-7, 102:25-27& Psalm 110:1
B. This moves from the assertion of an idea to the argument for the idea
3. And the third group Vs. 13-14
A. Deut 32:43
B. This will assert Jesus superiority to the angels
B. We will essentially be looking at issues of Christ ology based in a Hebraic Christian
context, remember our author almost exclusively quotes from the Greek translation of
the OT, the LXX. Remember again, it is written to people who are believers, and who
are familiar with the OT scriptures.
Prayer
I. Jesus is superior to the angels. The author of Hebrews continues this assertion with a bit more
force than what he had in vs. 4. We again see the dependency on the OT for building a Christ
ology. At times it is easy to forget the Jewish origins of Christianity, the author of Hebrews will
not allow us to forget this, he draws heavily upon the Greek OT here to help us understand who
Jesus is.
A. For to which of the angels did God ever say, begins the first two OT quotations
1. The first comes from Psalm 2:7, and it reads, “You are my Son; today I have
become your Father”
A. Psalm 2, is a coronation psalm, a psalm used during the coronation of a
Davidic King
1. There was an understanding that the anointed king became a
“son of God”
2. While it was originally used at the enthronement of a king, it
also takes on a messianic theme, especially in light of the
promise that God makes to David through the prophet Nathan
recorded for us in 2 Samuel 7.
2. The second quote we have here in Vs. 5 comes from 2 Samuel 7:14. This
should not be at all suppressing. The author is building for us a powerful
argument that Jesus is God’s Son
A. In 2 Samuel 7 the word of the Lord comes to Nathan, and it is a
promise to David, a promise that the throne of the David King will last
forever.
1. We know that the Davidic Kings ended long ago, the nation of
Israel did not exist for two thousand years, the people remained,
but the kingdom was gone.
A. Now if the kingdom spoken of in the promise to David
was about a kingdom like David’s then God’s promise
did not hold, it failed.
B. But if God’s promise spoke of a different kingdom, then
the promise remains true.
2. Jesus is the Son of David, the Son of God, and his kingdom has
not ended, in fact, he sits enthroned in heaven now.
B. But what the author of Hebrews is working on here is directly related to
this discussion we’ve been having.
1. In 2 Samuel 7:14 God says, “I will be his father, and he will be
my son.”
A. Nathan is speaking for God about the son of David
whose throne would be established forever. It is not
Solomon, but it is Jesus. God’s son.
B. Here in these two passages we have God speaking about
his son, about the one declared as God’s son.
1. Both are centered in the Davidic promise of
Kingship
2. Both are centered in one of the Davidic line
being called the Son of God.
C. Moving through this passage are some underlying assertions about
Jesus
1. One is that the Christ has always been, as divine wisdom, as
creator, as we established last week. If you recall from Vs 2,
we say Jesus as pre-existent. Much like John 1, the Word was
with God in the Beginning.
2. Here we are looking at the incarnate word, as John said, 14The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
A. Did becoming flesh mean that Jesus ceased to be God,
to be fully divine, not at all, and we have two examples
here that God declares this son of David to be His Son
B. There is a progression that we see happening here in Vs.
5 & 6
D. The progression that we see is Jesus who is the Pre-existent God,
becoming flesh and blood, becoming the incarnate Word, and then in
Vs. 6 we see the exalted Jesus at God’s right hand.
B. Let’s look at vs. 6 6And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
1. We have a transnational issue to work with here in Vs. 6. “when God brings
his firstborn into the world”. This does not sound like a difficult passage, it
seems rather straight forward.
A. Who is the first born? Jesus who we are told in Vs.2 that God
appointed heir of all things. Who is the heir, the firstborn son.
B. But the difficult point comes here with where God is bringing his
firstborn, into the world?
1. The Greek word is oikoumenhn
A. Typically this word means “the inhabited earth, the
world” as Bauer indicates (561) in he Greek-English
Lexicon of the NT
B. But in this context does this make sense, is this what the
author of Hebrews wants us to hear?
2. If we look at the progression which began in Vs. 2, we see the
incarnate Christ, then in Vs. 5 we see the incarnate Christ, but
do we see the incarnate Christ here?
A. William Lane, suggests that this is actually a reference
to the enthroned Christ who is seated at the right hand
of God.
B. Lane’s suggestion makes sense to me, the progression
from incarnate to exalted Christ works well
C. And in this sense, the right hand of God is the habitable
place where Christ belongs.
C. And in the context of salvation history, Jesus the pre-
existent, Jesus the incarnate and Jesus the exalted
parallel the history of Israel, Israel the free nomadic
people, Israel the slave and finally Israel the redeemed
of God in the promised land.
1. And so it parallels human history, Humanity in
fellowship with God, humanity subjected to sin
and death, and now humanity in restored
relationship with God awaiting full fellowship
with God
3. And if we look to the book of Revelation, we will
find Jesus worshiped by the angels in heaven.
We are a bit more hard pressed to find Jesus
worshiped by angels while incarnate though.
II. The portion of the text that we will look at is Vs. 7-12, and we will divide that into two
sections, Vs. 7-9 and 10-12. This series of quotations is tied together thematically, both
groupings working on the same subject matter. The angles are changeable, the son is
changeless.
A. If you look at Vs. 7 you will see there the malleability of the angels, 7In speaking of
the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
1. To establish the angels changing nature, the Author of Hebrews quotes Psalm
104:4 from the Greek OT
2. We see quickly that when God wants his angels as wind or fire, so it is. Why
wind and fire?
A. Do your remember how God spoke to Moses? The burning bush of
Exodus 3
B. Do you remember wind that passed by Elijah before the still small
voice spoke to him in 1 Kings 19
C. Think about Pentecost day, how the spirit appeared in sound like a
mighty rushing wind and in tongues of fire, as recorded in Acts 2
3. But notice, these are all as needed, they change, but look at how the Son is
spoken of in Vs. 8-9
B. The changeless nature of the Son is stressed in the following quotations from Psalm
45:6-7, but listen to the enduring nature displayed in the way the Son is described.
1. 8But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and
ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9You have
loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has
set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
A. The son is addressed as God, whose throne will last forever
1. These are the characteristics of his rule, righteousness and
steadfastness and joy
2. The one enthroned does not change as situation may suggest,
rather he is righteous, steadfast, and enduring. He is overall
dependable!
A. The Son loves righteousness and hates wickedness.
B. This is not a king who will be swayed by the flattery of
humanity, but rather will rule rightly at all times.
B. The son is dependable, righteous and changeless, and this speaks about
his superior nature to those who are always changing at the whim of
others. And in this the Son is greater than the angels, because the
angels change at God’s command and are therefore part of creation,
and not to be counted as equal with the creator.
C. We see this again in Vs. 10-12 we see God speaking about the changeless nature of
the Son. This is a quote from Psalm 102:25-27, a psalm that is a prayer of the
Davidic family, or a Davidic king, and keeping with the theme established in Vs.2b.
The Son is creator, we see here the created order of things will pass away, it is
changing and will wear out like a garment, but the creator will not change, and the
creator is for ever and ever, eternal.
1. Listen again to this and hear the changeless nature of the Son, 10He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the
heavens are the work of your hands. 11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment. 12You 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.”
A. Again the Son as creator, the one who laid the foundation of the
universe
B. The created order will perish, the creator will remain
C. The Lord remains the same, and His years will never end
2. This is the Son, he is much greater that the angels who are changeable
D. Vs. 13 becomes another point stressing that the Son is greater than the angels. The
author of Hebrews writes, 13To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”
1. Can you think of any occasions where God says to an angel, “Sit at my right
hand...”
A. But who is seated at the right hand of God? The Son.
1. In Verse 3, where we are told, “After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven.”
2. Angels did not make purification for sins, they carry messages,
they are mighty beings who do the bidding of God, but they are
servants, they are not sons
B. It is the son who is seated at the right hand of God, he had been lower
than angels for a time, but he is again the exalted Son, ruling creation
at God’s right hand.
III. The author of Hebrews closes this series of quotes with a question, a question that demands
that the read answer in a specific way.
A. It is again centered in the argument that Jesus, the Son is greater than angels. The
question that the Author asks us, as the reader is, 14Are not all angels ministering
spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
1. It is a question asking us if, after all angels are ministering spirits sent to those
who will be saved.
2. In asking the question, it makes the statement that in fact what angels do is to
serve those who are being saved.
1. The assumption is that God sends them into the world to serve
humanity
2. And this is in sharp contrast to the Son
B. The son did come into the world and serve humanity in providing purification for sin,
and there by brining salivation to us, but Jesus is now ascended, he now is seated at
the right hand of the Father, where he rules creation.
1. The angels continue to serve humanity as God sends them, and in fact will
never do more than that.
2. The Son on the other hand rules creation.
3. The son is much better than the angels.
IV. Conclusion
A. Why the worry about establishing that Jesus is more than an angel?
1. Angels played a great role in first century Judaism, and in places people were
inclined at times to worship angels as gods
2. Christ ology was also a question, and establishing who Jesus, the Son is, was an
important task. Jesus is the pre-existent Christ, the incarnate Christ and the
exalted Christ, he is God.
3. We see in this passage the continuing teaching that the Son and the Father are
one, if you have seen one, you have seen the other. If you know the Son, you
also know the Father.
B. While the issues may not be the same today, we still run the same risks.
1. We can confuse who Jesus is, especially in our highly pluralistic world, where
many people are quick to say that you can find God in any religious experience.
That the Christ Spirit is present in all of the Worlds religions.
2. It was not true in the first century, it is not true now, time does not change
falsehood to truth
3. I do not know if there was ever a time that Christ ology was more important
than it is presently. But if we as believers do not have a clear sense of who
Jesus is, biblically and personally we will be subject to all sorts of heresy and
poor teaching.
A. You and I need to know clearly who Jesus is, the Son, so we when we
interact with those who are not believers we will know what we are
about and who we serve
B. Otherwise we will loose our way and worship false gods.
