Hebrews 1
About Hebrews
Hebrews is a sermon, written down and sent. The writer calls it a word of exhortation (13:22), the name for a synagogue sermon, and never signs it. Paul, Barnabas, Apollos and Priscilla have all been suggested, and the honest answer is that nobody knows. What we do know is that the writer knew the Old Testament deeply, wrote polished Greek, and was close enough to the readers to say “I will come with him to see you.”
The letter does not name its readers or their city. They were Christians deeply formed by Israel’s Scriptures, and many think they had a Jewish background. They had not heard Jesus themselves; the gospel came to them from people who had (2:3). They had already suffered for following Him: public insults, prison, property taken (10:32 to 34). Now they were tired and in danger of drifting from what they had confessed. Not curiosity. Exhaustion.
That is why Moses and angels keep coming up. Going back did not feel like leaving God. It felt like returning to what God had already given: the Law that came through angels, Moses, the priests, the sacrifices, the temple. So the writer does not knock any of it down. Jesus is greater than the prophets, greater than the angels, greater than Moses, a better priest offering a better sacrifice under a better covenant. Understand that one word, better, and you have the spine of the letter.
It moves in three parts. Chapters 1 to 4: God has spoken in His Son, who is greater than the angels and greater than Moses; do not drift, do not harden your heart, and enter His rest. Chapters 5 to 10: Jesus as high priest in the line of Melchizedek, offering one sacrifice once for all. Chapters 11 to 13: faith, endurance and ordinary life, the long roll call of people who trusted God, then how to keep running.
Five warnings are threaded through it (2:1 to 4; 3:7 to 4:13; 5:11 to 6:12; 10:26 to 39; 12:14 to 29). They are sharp. They are also written to people the writer plainly loves.
Before you read Hebrews 1
Hebrews opens with no greeting and no name. It goes straight to the point: God has spoken many times, and His last and fullest word is His Son. The rest of the chapter strings together Old Testament passages to show the Son is greater than the angels.
The Supremacy of the Son
On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs. 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”?
And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says:
“Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
Now about the angels He says:
“He makes His angels winds,
His servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever,
and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
And:
“In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
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.”
Yet to which of the angels did God ever say:
“Sit at My right hand
until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?
Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?