The Message of Hebrews

Raymond Brown

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781783590728
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Times were hard for the first readers of the letter to the Hebrews. Many had been exposed to fierce persecution. They had been assaulted, their homes had been plundered, and some had been cast into prison. To such people this letter came as an encouragement. The writer of the letter turns their eyes to Christ, and shows how he fulfils the hope expressed in the Old Testament sacrifices. He calls his readers to a steadfast faith that will take them through the hard times they now face. Such encouragement and challenge is never without relevance to Christians. Raymond Brown demonstrates this clearly in his passage-by-passage exposition.

Part 1

God’s Son

Hebrews 1:1–3

1. The majestic Christ

We live in a society which recognizes the necessity of good communication. In the world of commerce millions are spent on persuasive advertising; it has become a highly developed technique and one of recognized financial importance. Politicians know how vital it is to communicate effectively. Diplomats recognize the immense dangers that can arise in international affairs when there occurs a serious ‘breakdown in communications’. Stresses in family life frequently arise in situations when the partners in a marriage merely talk to each other but fail to communicate.

The letter to the Hebrews begins by asserting the greatest single fact of the Christian revelation: God has spoken to humanity through his word in the Bible and through his Son, Jesus. In Christ God has closed the greatest communication gap of all time, that which exists between a holy God and sinful men and women.

Some first-century Jewish Christians had abandoned their faith because they no longer recognized Christ’s deity and equality with God. The author’s first task is to expound and exalt God’s Son. He reminds them of eight things about Jesus.

1. Jesus is God’s prophetic voice

It is naturally important in these circumstances for the author to emphasize the continuity of the Old and New Testaments. Christ does not break with the great Jewish past. He comes to bring it to fulfilment. Without him the Old Testament revelation is partial, fragmentary, preparatory and incomplete. God spoke at different times by different means. He used many and various ways (1). But in Christ he spoke fully, decisively, finally and perfectly. The first-century Christians must listen to him, the greatest prophet of all times. Ezekiel portrayed the glory of God,1 but Christ reflected it (3). Isaiah expounded the nature of God as holy, righteous and merciful,2 but Christ manifested it (3). Jeremiah described the power of God,3 but Christ displayed it (3). He far surpassed the best of prophets of earlier times, and these wavering Christians must listen to his voice.

Although we are glad to acknowledge that something essential, new and eternally effective has been accomplished by Christ, we are not to set one Testament against the other, but recognize that ‘all Scripture is God-breathed’ (2 Tim. 3:16, niv). The way in which this letter unites both Testaments is a persuasive reminder of the authority of Scripture, a truth which is just as much exposed to attack now as in previous generations. The early Christian communities found themselves harassed by a number of zealots who wanted to discard the Old Testament revelation, and the problem is certainly not confined to antiquity. In our day, those who take seriously the message of the Old Testament as well as the New, and who are determined to submit themselves to its teaching, are hastily dismissed in some circles as unintelligent obscurantists or unthinking fundamentalists. A commitment to Scripture demands that we grapple honestly with any difficulties our contemporaries have about the biblical narratives, but the teaching of this letter encourages us to reaffirm our confidence in the God who has spoken clearly to humanity in Scripture and in his Son.

‘Attending to the word’ is a key theme in Hebrews, especially in the opening and closing sections of the letter. These Christians cannot hope to press on to mature spiritual experience if they ignore, minimize or despise it.4 Christ is God’s greatest prophet with a distinctive message for these last days (2). His coming inaugurated a new era. In him the last days have most certainly begun; the phrase conveys the superiority of the message and the urgency of the times.

2. Jesus is God’s Son

Those Jewish Christians whose faith in Christ was faltering may have come to regard him merely as a good man, a captivating teacher or an impressive leader. He was all that, but much more. He is the Son of God. The theme of Sonship is a recurrent one in this letter. We are here reminded of the message of the Son (2). Later passages discuss the superiority of the Son, his reign, mission, achievement, obedience, nature and perfection.5 One interpreter of the letter’s teaching entitles his commentary Sonship and Salvation.6 It is an excellent reminder of this epistle’s leading ideas. Because these two ideas are inseparably united, apostasy is so serious and disastrous. Without the work of the Son there is no salvation. Those who deliberately and persistently spurn the Son of God (10:29) are inevitably exposed to spiritual atrophy. How can they possibly be brought to repentance when there is no salvation outside Christ (John 14:6)? They have refused to walk in the only way ordained by God. They have opposed the truth revealed by God. They have despised the life approved by God. How can we hope to be saved if we reject the Saviour?

3. Jesus is God’s appointed heir

Christ was appointed heir of all things (2). Possibly this idea of the inheritance of Christ is drawn from Psalm 2:8, later to be used in the unfolding argument: ‘I will make the nations your heritage.’ But surely by describing Christ as ‘heir of all things’, the author intends to convey to us the idea that the Lord Jesus will inherit not only this earth but the entire universe. The Son obviously comes into a rich inheritance. Moreover, in other contexts the New Testament says that believers share this inheritance (Rom. 8:17). The seventeenth-century commentator John Trapp says, ‘Be married to this heir and have all.’

4. Jesus is God’s creative agent

The author takes his readers directly from Christ’s destiny in the future to his role in the beginning of creation. He is at pains to emphasize that the Lord we have trusted was no mere Galilean preacher. He shared actively in the creative work of Almighty God. It is all closely linked with the idea of inheritance; in other words, ‘what the Son was to possess he had been instrumental in making’ (Moffatt). Surely a Christ whose hands had shaped the universe and summoned the galaxy of stars into being could hold these Jewish Christians in days of testing and guide their steps through times of adversity. If the chaos before creation (Gen. 1:2) could be overcome, surely he could control their destiny and provide their immediate needs.

5. Jesus is God’s personified glory

For the Hebrew people God’s glory (3) was a visible and outward expression of the majestic presence of God. When the law was given at Sinai ‘the glory of the Lord’ settled on the mountain. Likewise, the glory of God became manifest at ‘the tent of meeting’; it was a visible sign to God’s people of his continuing presence.7 Later, when the ark of the covenant was captured, the Hebrew people lamented, ‘The glory has departed’ (1 Sam. 4:21–22). Now, says the author of this letter, in these last days this same glory has been seen in the person of Christ who is the reflection or ‘radiance’ (niv) of God’s glory. The word used (apaugasma) can mean either ‘radiation out from’ or ‘reflection back’. These early Christians knew only too well that their non-Christian Jewish neighbours refused to acknowledge the deity of Christ. Wistfully, they recalled the great moments of their history when God’s glory had been manifest. Some may even have thought with pride about the Jerusalem temple, doomed to destruction in ad 70; surely the glory of God was manifest there in its ceaseless ritual and sacrificial cultus! But the author of this letter reminds his readers that nowhere has the glory of God been more perfectly manifest than in the person of God’s Son. In Christ all the majesty of God’s splendour is fully revealed.

6. Jesus is God’s perfect revelation

How can this writer impress upon his readers the message of Christ’s person? He insists that Jesus bears the very stamp of God’s nature. All the attributes of God become visible in him. The word imprint (3) vividly presents the picture of an image or superscription on a coin or medal. It exactly and perfectly matches the picture on the die. The verbal form of the word used here (charaktēr) means ‘to engrave’. In other words, if we want to see God we must look to Christ. How could the first-century Jews, who were opposing these Jewish Christians, hope to know God if they were turning their backs upon Christ in whom God is perfectly revealed? The terms used in this great introductory passage of the letter clearly expound the unity of Christ’s nature with the Father and yet maintain the distinction of his person. The word translated being (hypostasis) here describes the very essence and nature of God. As Hughes points out, ‘the radiant light of God’s glory’ suggests ‘the oneness of the Son with the Father’, while ‘the perfect copy of his nature’ maintains ‘the distinctness of the Son from the Father’, though, as this commentator observes, ‘oneness and distinctiveness are implied in each’.

7. Jesus is God’s cosmic sustainer

This letter’s introductory exposition of the superiority and adequacy of Christ moves on to its dramatic climax as mention is made of Christ’s present work in the universe. He keeps the planets in orbit by his authoritative and effective word of power. It is the author’s compelling way of emphasizing Christ’s equality with God. Every Jew passionately believed that Almighty God kept the entire universe in the hollow of his hand (Isa. 40:12–26). He is not only creator but sustainer. Quite deliberately this is described as part of Christ’s present role. The word of authority which has been proclaimed by the Lord as prophet is the same word which holds the universe in order (Col. 1:17). It is important for the writer to emphasize that Christ’s word is powerful and able to do what he determines. He speaks in the universe and what he commands is done. He has spoken in their hearts and what he demands can most certainly be accomplished whatever opposition and persecution they may encounter. In the strong hands of such a Christ they are eternally secure.

Possibly our vision of Christ is limited. We are in danger of confining him to our restricted experience or limited knowledge. We need a vision of Christ with these immense cosmic dimensions, a Christ who transcends all our noblest thoughts about him and all our best experience of him. These first-century readers would be less likely to turn from him in adversity if they had looked to him in adoration. The opening sentences of the letter are designed to bring them and us to our knees; only then can we hope to stand firmly on our feet.

8. Jesus is God’s unique sacrifice

In presenting this impressive opening exposition of God’s Son, the author rightly emphasizes Christ’s work in redemption as well as creation. This is to become a central theme in his later exposition. At this point our attention is turned from who Christ is to what he did. Philip Hughes reminds us that there is a contrast here which ought not to be missed. Jesus is ceaselessly ‘the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature’ (jb). He continuously upholds ‘all things by his powerful word’. But when he gave himself up on the cross Jesus shed his blood once for all at a single point in time. No repetition of this saving act will ever be necessary, nor can anything we do serve to procure our own salvation. Christ is God’s unrepeatable sacrificial provision for the greatest problem of humanity – sin. Our author explains that Christ’s saving death on that first Good Friday was a finishe...