The One and Only

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Hebrews 1 (click the link)


KEY VERSE:
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3, NIV)


SETTING THE STAGE:
This book of Hebrews seems somewhat strange and intimidating to many people. The author speaks at length about such subjects as the tabernacle, the Day of Atonement, the high priesthood, and someone named Melchizedek. There are many questions surrounding who wrote this letter, as well as uncertainties regarding to whom it was written. Likewise, much discussion has taken place concerning the timeframe in which this epistle was written.

Despite all these questions, the book of Hebrews is a marvelous letter that highlights the glorious uniqueness of Jesus. With the number of references to the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish traditions, it is most likely that the letter was written to Jewish Christians. The author seems to be writing to people who came to faith in Jesus and even stood firm through persecution, but are now, for various reasons drifting away from the living God. Somehow, over the years, their view of Christ had not grown and neither had their dependence on him alone. They were attempting to add other things to their faith in Christ and the author is concerned that they are in danger of making Christ secondary to their faith or in turning from Christ altogether.

The author's response to this situation is to point them back to Jesus, to help to see more clearly the greatness of his person and work, and so to feed their faith in him. The letter’s wonderful description of Christ has led scholars to sometimes call it the fifth gospel.


REFLECTIONS:
Wasting no time, the author of this letter immediately highlights the glorious and unique qualities of God's one and only Son. The Son is the "radiance of God's glory"; he is the "exact representation" of God's very own being. Jesus is the one and only unique Son who perfectly reflects God's inner being. Look at him, and it's like looking in a mirror at God himself. God's character is exactly reproduced in his Son, Jesus.

I love the translations of verse 3 found in the Contemporary English and Amplified Bibles:

God’s Son has all the brightness of God’s own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together. After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 CEV) 

He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3 AMP)

The word used for "exact representation" here is the Greek word character, the origin of our apparently identical English word. This phrase "exact representation" stands out to me, so I did a little digging to try to discover the deeper meaning of this word. One of my favorite authors, NT Wright, describes the meaning of the Greek word character in such a way that truly highlights the uniqueness of Jesus.

At the bottom of it all, he says, lies the idea of engraving, or of stamping softer hot metal with a pattern which the metal will then continue to bear. Though the ancient world didn't have printing presses, it had early equivalents that were used, particularly, for making coins. The Emperor would employ an engraver who carved the royal portrait and any suitable words or abbreviations, on a stamp, or die, made of hard metal. The engraver then used the stamp to make a coin, so that the coin gave the exact impression, or expression, of what was on the stamp.

The word character in ancient Greek was widely used to mean just that: the accurate impression left by the stamp on the coin. From there it came to mean both the individual letters that can be produced by this method (hence the "characters" of a language) and , in a broader sense, the "character" of a person or thing: the sort of person, the "type" if you like.

And this is what our writer is saying about Jesus. It is as though the exact imprint of the Father's very nature and glory has been precisely reproduced in the soft metal of the Son's human nature. Now it is there for all the world to see.

With this idea, the author of Hebrews invites us to look at the whole sweep of biblical history and to see it coming to a climax in the person of Jesus. Look back at the great prophets: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and then of course to the writing prophets like David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest.

This opening sentence isn't just a rhetorical flourish. It tells us clearly how the argument of the whole letter is run. Again and again we start with a passage from the Old Testament, and the writer shows us how it points forward to something yet to come. And, again and again the "something" is it points forward to turns out to be Jesus—Jesus, God's unique Son, the One who has dealt with sins fully and finally, the One who now rules at God's right hand, the One to whom even angels bow in submission.

I also think it's important that we should notice that the passages quoted in verse 5 are two of the Old Testament passages the early Christians used most frequently when they were highlighting the ways Jesus uniquely fulfilled the promises of God. Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7 both speak of the Messiah, the ultimate son of David, as God's own special Son. Like all the early Christians, the writer of this letter begins his thinking with the belief that Jesus was and is the Messiah, Israel's true King. Everything else follows from that.

So, though we don't know who the author of this letter was, we know something even more important about him. Right from the start, he has his eyes fixed on Jesus. And at the end of his letter, when he draws everything together, he urges us to have our eyes fixed on Jesus, too: 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (12:2) 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (13:8)

PRAYER:

Today, may God strengthen us to fix our full faith and trust—our complete and wholehearted confidence—in his one and only unique Son. May he grant to us the revelation to grow in our understanding of the power, authority, and glory of Jesus, the one who perfectly represents our loving Father.

WHO AM I?

My name is Tres Sansom, and I have the most remarkable in-laws imaginable. (And I'm not saying that to suck up or brown nose.) Kate's parents and siblings—John and Kim, Alex, Matt, and Janna—are coming to visit over the Easter holiday, and I can't wait! I know it sounds sappy, but I could not have dreamed of a better family to inherit by marriage. They have filled my life with loads of laughter and adventure. I thank God for the crazy cocktail that is the Libby Crew.