Pentecost 19B

Hebrews 1:1-4; [2:5-12]

¹Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ²but in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. ³He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

(Scroll down to the end of this post for the rest of the appointed reading.)

Prayer

Compassionate God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray,
and to give more than we desire or deserve;
pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those things
for which our prayer dares not ask;
through Jesus Christ
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

© Bosco Peters / Liturgy

Hebrews

Titled in bibles as "The Epistle to the Hebrews," scholars believe this book addressed to Jewish Christians either nearby or in widely scattered diaspora originally was a sermon intended to be proclaimed aloud, and not a letter in the traditions of the apostle Paul and others. The person who wrote it remains unknown; no one has been able to make a reasonable educated or random guess.

This Sunday begins seven weeks of Hebrews as the second reading—but it's not that simple. Because the date of Easter varies, the Day of Pentecost that's the fiftieth day of Easter changes each year. That results in the portion of Ordinary Time when we count Sundays after Pentecost being shorter or longer depending on when Easter occurs. When Easter is early in Mark's lectionary year B (as it was last spring) we'll hear from Hebrews all seven Sundays prior to Reign of Christ, the final Sunday of the Christian year. If Easter happens late, we'll hear only three or four readings from Hebrews.

Although I won't blog about the gospel reading this week because Mark 10:2-16 has enough content and asks enough questions for a long sermon series or a month of daily studies and I didn't want to approach it in a few paragraphs, I also won't write about Hebrews seven weeks in a row because the book is dense and complex and because I'm only marginally familiar with it. However, this passage is the second reading on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in all three lectionary years, and despite not having memorized nearly enough scripture, I can recite the first four verses from memory. I've headed this blog with my interpretation of verses 1 through 2b; the original design was a large banner we hung in the sanctuary and I almost definitely have a picture of the full color original somewhere, but didn't look for it… yet.


Hebrews 1:1-4

Throughout its thirteen chapters, Hebrews is extremely theological! With countless references to Old Testament history and ceremonial observances, it articulates Jesus' position as continuation and fulfillment of God's revelatory presence and action. The preexistent Christ is God's creative and sustaining Word who also redeemed creation. Does that sound trinitarian—or does that sound Trinitarian? The book's poetic opening exquisitely sums up Jesus' essence, role, purpose, and persona; the entire letter consistently reminds us Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human, with refrains of "like God" and "like us."

Ministries of healing, teaching, forgiveness, feeding, and sheltering in Jesus' name at his command occupied the early church. Telling Jesus' story and writing it down, baptizing, and celebrating the Lord's Supper happened from the start, but scrolls later canonized as scripture along with doctrine about Jesus the Christ developed slowly and gradually. That's a quick intro into saying Hebrew's explicit insistence on both "natures" of Jesus Christ looks forward to the Council of Chalcedon that in the year 451 described Jesus "…in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation…" Most denominations and church bodies affirm the very short Definition of Chalcedon that's so worth the two or three minutes it takes to read.


Jesus the Word

From the beginning, God has spoken and acted on creation's behalf, often through human agents or prophets. Jesus the Son is God's definitive Word, so it's no surprise the lectionary appoints this passage for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when our songs celebrate "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing" – "veiled in flesh, the godhead see – hail the incarnate deity" – "Jesus, our Emmanuel" (Emmanuel means God-with-us.) What are your favorite Nativity songs and carols?

Hebrews tells us Jesus is human like us, Jesus is divine like God, yet Jesus has done and continues to do for us what we cannot accomplish for ourselves. In this book you'll notice familiar phrases you knew were in the bible but may not have known where, including Jesus as "author and finisher of our faith" in 12:2.

When the very young John Calvin wondered whether to begin his forthcoming systematic theology with humanity or with divinity, he finally decided it made no difference because his Institutes of the Christian Religion would travel the same (doctrinal and theological) places and come out in the same place. As we ponder post-COVID ministries, we often discuss how God created humans in the Divine image (imago dei) and calls us to be holy as God is holy, to be Jesus' crucified and risen presence bringing justice, love, and mercy to earth. Yet we are not God; we are not Jesus.


• Here's the rest of this week's reading if you want to read it without opening a bible or searching online.

Hebrews 2:5-12

⁵Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶But someone has testified somewhere,

"What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷"You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,

⁸ "subjecting all things under their feet."

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, ⁹but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, ¹²saying,

"I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you."