A Study of Hebrews — Introduction and Chapter 1

If you had to give the book of Hebrews a single keyword, it would be better. Everything is better in Christ — better than the prophets, better than the angels, better than the Levitical priesthood, better than animal sacrifice. That is the argument the writer builds from chapter one all the way to the close, and it raises a question that is just as urgent today as it was in the first century: why would anyone trade the superior for the inferior?

Written to People Under Pressure

The letter was addressed to Jewish Christians — men and women who had left a centuries-old covenant faith to follow Jesus, and were now facing enormous pressure to go back. The law they had left did come from God. The synagogue was in nearly every city. Family loyalty ran deep. And Judaizing teachers were pressing them hard. We should not be quick to dismiss those pressures. We see the same thing today when someone leaves the tradition they were raised in to obey the gospel — the family says, "Come on back home." That is exactly the situation the Hebrew writer was addressing, and he does it not with condemnation but with a clear, logical argument: think about this, then think about this.

God Has Spoken Through His Son

The first four verses of chapter one carry the weight of the whole letter's opening argument.

"God, having spoken to the fathers in the prophets by portions and in manners, at the end of these days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had made purification of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." (Heb 1:1-4)

For roughly a thousand years God sent His word through prophets. Those prophets were great men. But consider who God's spokesman is now. He is the heir of all things. He is the one through whom the worlds were made. He is the brightness of God's own glory — Jesus is to God what the radiance is to the sun. You do not see the sun itself; you see its light. When you see Jesus, you are seeing the brightness of God. He has made purification for sins and sat down — not circling the throne as the angels do, but seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. That is who is now speaking to us.

Better Than the Angels

The rest of chapter one draws on psalm after psalm from the Old Testament to press one point: to which of the angels did God ever say any of this? To which angel did He say, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You"? To which angel did He say, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Heb 1:8) — a verse drawn from Psalm 45, where the Hebrew writer applies directly to Jesus the title "God"? The angels announced His birth. They worship Him when the Father brings the Firstborn into the world. They are, the chapter closes by saying, ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (vs 14). Their role is glorious — but it is a servant's role. Jesus sits at God's right hand. No angel has ever been invited there.

The writer goes back to the very scriptures his readers revered to make the case. That is the genius of the letter. You love the Old Testament? Good — look at what the Old Testament says about the Son.

In Closing

There is no safer place to stand than with Jesus. His name is more excellent. His sacrifice is complete. His throne is forever. Why would anyone — in the first century or today — swap that for something less? Don't do it. He is worth whatever the cost of following Him.