Hebrews 1-- A More Excellent Name

Scripture: Hebrews 1

The book of Hebrews is amazing. Commentator Matthew Henry declared that "if we compare all the epistles of the New Testament, we shall not find any of them more replenished with divine, heavenly matter than this to the Hebrews." Adam Clarke asserted that it "is by far the most important and useful of all the apostolic writings... so many are the beauties, so great the excellency, so instructive the matter, so pleasing the manner, and so exceedingly interesting the whole..."

I've always loved Hebrews, so I have no argument. Though Clarke's Apostolic Writings Power Rankings were pretty forward-thinking in the late 1700s. I imagine he posted them on his Irish town's local Buzzfeed Stone Wall.

Anachronistic joking aside, go read chapter 1 of Hebrews if you didn't click that link above earlier. Isn't it interesting that the opening foray of this theological masterpiece is meant to establish the superiority of Jesus over angels? At quite great length.

This seems, at least within the modern church, like a doctrine we all already agree is true. Whatever heretical problems the Hebrew audience may have had (returning to the Law? denying Jesus' divinity?), those problems probably aren't plaguing our communities or minds.

And yet, I'm convinced that the message and motivation of Hebrews 1 is pivotal to our lives. Why?

Look at the very beginning of the next verse, in Hebrews 2: "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard..." Our view of Jesus, unsurprisingly, will have drastic implications on our view of His message:

The things said about Jesus are so much greater than things said about angels (Heb 1:5-14), and therefore we know that He himself is much greater than they are (Heb 1:4). Therefore His message is greater, and requires more response from us, than theirs [in this case, the Law] (Heb 2:1-3a). [This, as far as I can tell, is the message of Hebrews 1 and 2:1-3a.]

Here's the catch-- angels aren't the only things we might begin to think are more excellent, important, or worthy than Jesus. When our awe of Him wanes or our fixation on something else rises, we stand in danger of living for the wrong things. The author's argument holds true in any case: Jesus is more excellent than--and thus gives a more authoritative message than-- America, your job, your significant other, your bank account, romantic comedies, etc.

• Are there glorious truths about Jesus you have been forgetting? (See Heb 1:1-3)
• Is there a message you're paying "much closer attention to" than Jesus' call to repent, believe, and follow Him?