Pentecost 20B

Hebrews 1:1-12

¹ Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ² but 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. ³ He 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, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵ Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶ But 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, ⁹ but 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.

¹⁰ It 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. ¹¹ For 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, ¹² saying,

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

Hebrews

Although bibles call it "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. 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.

The header is my interpretation of Hebrews 1:2. The original was a large banner in oil pastel on butcher paper we hung in the sanctuary and I almost definitely have a picture of the full color original somewhere. I'm going to try to write about Hebrews all seven weeks; the book is dense and complex and I'm only marginally familiar with it, so I want to learn more.

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 book's poetic opening 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."

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 every year 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.