Jesus – the Seated Son
Introduction:
• Last week we began our journey with the Hebrews, those Jewish converts to Christianity who are coming under increasing pressure to return to their former religion, not yet having suffered to the point of shedding their blood, but it seems it won’t be long. Some are contemplating giving up altogether, some are beginning simply to drift in the Christian life, and so after the introduction, the author gets to work setting them straight.
1. The biggest picture of them all – Psalm 8!
And he does so by telling his readers a story which has the biggest, widest perspective of them all, which encapsulates what the whole show is about, the purpose of creation, why did God bother with it all, and when it went wrong, why didn’t he just wipe it all out.
It’s the story of Psalm 8, which the author quotes at length in chapter 2
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [angels] and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
What do we see here – how do we normally understand this passage – about the past, and in particular, a reflection on creation in general and the creation of humanity and its purpose in the world in particular. The majesty of God seen in the majesty of the universe – a couple of years ago , had some time off in Tasmania, and did as much bushwalking as you can with a 3 year old – Cradle Mountain and Lake St Claire – utterly stunning – well, says the Psalmist, that is all the work of God’s fingers, established by God, displaying his glory; and in this, ask the question, what is the place of humanity? Where do we rate in this dizzyingly glorious universe? And naturally tend to answer, a speck on a dot on a dot, and yet, no! – a little lower than God, crowned with glory and honour At least, that is the ideal state of humanity.
But what if you read it not about the past, but about the future, if you read it not about humanity in general, but about one human being, the human being if you like, humanity in particular, what you might call the Messiah. What happens to the psalm if you read it in that way, as it was commonly read?
Isn’t what happens that it becomes a prophecy, a prophecy about the way God wants things to be, with man in the old language, the son of man (see the footnote), crowned with glory and honour, crowned that is by God and with God’s glory and presumably in God’s presence as he was in the garden, ruling all things as God’s vice-regent, exercising the authority of God on behalf of God.
Do you have a sense of that vision, of that goal, that would be a beautiful thing wouldn’t it. Does your heart skip a beat when you think about it? Can you see the way that it sets all things into a correct perspective, so that the striving of this life, the work we do and the relationships we have, the parenting we struggle with and the achievements we make find their orientation in relation to all things being ordered toward God? Well the author of Hebrews pursues this vision relentlessly, and his basic message is this – it is not just a vision of the future, it is a present reality, and it is a present reality because of the work of God in the giving of his Son.
2. Crowned with Glory and Honour (Heb 1.1–2.9)
a) Heb 1.1–4: Through a Son who is now Seated at the Right Hand of God!
We saw last week that this work came to a cruscendo in Jesus taking a seat. In fact, that’s what ch 1 of Hebrews is about, sitting down – you can see that because 1.13 repeats the same idea, and it is clear that it’s not original, in fact it’s a quote from Ps 110 – “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” Sitting here is not the way you or I might sit, a function of exhaustion, but of power and authority, security and safety, at the right hand of God.
Now, we place the next piece of the puzzle – can you see that one way to describe being crowned with glory and honour and having all things subjected under your feet – the vision of Ps 8 – might be to say that you are seated at the right hand of God until he makes your enemies your footstool – Ps 110, and ch 1 of Hebrews? In other words, what the author is doing here is a tremendous affirmation of faith saying nothing less than that the great big picture of the purpose of creation, has been fulfilled in terms of Ps 110, that is with Jesus seated, reigning at the right hand of God. And that then gives a lead in to the very strange rest of ch 1 which goes on endlessly about angels, because Ps 8 also has a mention of angels, that the man is made a little lower than them, but then crowned with glory and honour.
b) Heb 1.5–14: This Son is Superior to an Angel
i) the fact (vv. 5–6)
So we will go through the references quickly – you see the fact of his superiority to angels asserted in vv 5–6 – read them.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? 6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Quoting Ps 2 and 2 Sam 7, Jesus is called a Son, who according to the third quote, Deut 32.43, is worshipped by the angels – a clear indication of superiority if ever there was one.
ii) the reasons (vv. 7–12)
And why is this – from Ps 104 (v. 7) we know that angels are mere servants – “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” – , but when Ps 45 is applied to the Son (vv. 8–9), he is called God, whose throne is eternal and whose authority is a just one, loving righteousness and hating wickedness – “”Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy”. Or again, quoting Ps 102 (vv. 10–12), the Son is called Lord, the OT term for God, and again the point is his authority of creation as it’s founder and judge – “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
iii) and so the author concludes, v. 13, repeating the allusion to Ps 110 from v. 3.
13 To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
c) Heb 2.1–4: Therefore, Pay Greater Attention!
The Son is crowned with glory and honour, seated at the right hand of God, this one who for a little while was lower than the angels, strung up on a cross, but is is now far superior to them, seated at the right had of the Father – whatever you think of the world, however your life is going, whatever are the problems that you face, Jesus, God’s Son rules. And so, the author draws his conclusion, and it is a good one – read 2.1–4:
1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Notice the warning – pay greater attention – if this is true, if it’s not just some nice theories to satisfy our spiritual curiosity, but it really is true, the truest of all things, that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, then we must pay great attention. But that’s not quite right – when things are tough, and the challenges are great, and it’s not easy to be a Christian, as it wasn’t for those original readers, and as it isn’t for us today, then we need to pay greater attention.
• and notice the reason – the author makes his first point of contrast with the Judaism to which they were being tempted to return, and this is where the angel stuff starts to make sense. You see, the claim of some defenders of Judaism at the time was that it was given by the hand of God through the mediation of angels, and therefore is pure and uncorrupted. That’s what was happening at Mt Sinai, they said. But our author trumps that. God has spoken not merely through the prophets, not even merely through the angels, but through a Son, and so can you see his logic – if the message spoken through angels was binding, and consequences followed if people ignored it, then precisely because the Son is far superior to the angels, how much more will what God has said through his Son be binding, and consequences follow if people ignore it, a message backed with the power of God himself, signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And then, in what I think is the greatest understatement of the Bible, after rehearsing Ps 8, and the great vision for humanity as having all things under their control, the author says in 2.8 ‘Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.’ That is for sure – we can’t control our economies, our finance systems, we can’t control wars and terrorists, we can’t control climate change and sea levels, in fact we can’t even control ourselves – ruled by our appetites and grievances, led by our foolishness and ignorance, you bet your bottom dollar we don’t see everything in subjection to humanity. What was God talking about in Ps 8 – is it just a pipe dream, a fantasy wish of a well ordered world. The author doesn’t pretend that everything’s hunky dorey – but nor does he pretend that what Jesus has accomplished doesn’t matter – notice how the author goes on, v.9: ‘But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor.’ Or as he put it in v. 3 – seated at the right hand of the Father.
• we see Jesus, we see the hope of the world, the one who was born a tiny baby yes, the one who died yes, but more than that, wonderful as those things are, Jesus the one who is raised from the dead, seated at the right hand of God.
Conclusion: Drifting
• so the question I want to leave you with tonight is this – how will you pay greater attention to what you have heard, pay greater attention to Jesus. How will your life be manifestly different because Jesus is the resurrected, ascended living Lord, the leader of the world. Don’t think of the small things – what job you do and where you live and all that sort of thing – think of the really big things, what sort of person you are, how compassionate your character is, whether you are growing hotter or colder as a Christian. As I have been reflecting over this Christmas break, 3 things have come to mind that I want to grow in
• the first is this – were I to really grasp with greater attention the reality that Jesus is now crowned with glory and honour, I think I would be a more joyful person. Sometimes I wonder whether getting older is simply about the accumulation of more and more responsibilities – marriage, kids, house, job, friends, committees, ministries, and son and so on. And some do OK and some to less than OK – and all that responsibility can weigh you down. But I see Jesus – he has borne the ultimate responsibility, borne it to hell and back, and so the bottom line is that I am free. The future is secure, in him, I know how my life turns out. Every now and then see a time travel movie, and the point is that the future is what you make it – but that’s not true – the future is what he has made it, and he is crowned with glory and honour, and the future belongs to him, and therefore to all who are his. And that puts all those joy dampening weights and responsibilities and clashes ad disappointments in their right perspective.
• but second, I think that if I were to really grasp with greater attention the reality that Jesus is now crowned with glory and honour, I would be a more prayerful person. This actually underlies the first one, doesn’t it. The way we can rejoice in the Lord is to make our requests known to God in prayer – with Jesus at the right hand of the father, the throne of God is a throne of grace, which we can approach with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.
• and finally, in paying greater attention to Jesus, I am hoping and praying that I will become increasingly passionate about seeing people around me who don’t know Christ saved. For Jesus sake, and for their sake, people who are not Christian need to come to Christ – he is their only hope, he is their true Lord, and I am hoping that as individuals and as a church, we can burn with a spiritual zeal this year for the salvation of souls for the glory of Jesus.
Where in your life are you feeing the gap, the gap between what you know is true and how you actually live? The gap between the fact that Jesus has been crowned with glory and honour, and the different ways you make decisions and feed habits and let slide sins that all belong to the former days? It might be a area of service at church or in your community that you know you are gifted for but just not sure that you want to make the commitment, it seems like a lot of effort? Or perhaps it is a habitual sin that you are resisting being purified from? Or maybe it’s a relationship that is out of kilter, and the time has come for you to do something about it? Maybe you need to pray that most dangerous of prayers – ‘Lord, show me how you want me to grow; whatever it takes, make me your fully devoted child’. Wherever the challenge lies for you, see Jesus, see that the future is secure, it lies in the safe hands of Jesus, and so giving your utmost for his highest makes all the sense in the world.
• let’s pray.
Leave a comment