Slices
Prepare
In prayer, be honest with God about your doubts.
Bible passage
The Son superior to angels
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.’
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
‘He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.’
8 But about the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre 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.’
10 He also says,
‘In the beginning, 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.’
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’?
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Explore
In the West, where secularism and atheism are so confident, it’s easy for Christians not to be. We doubt. Is the Bible really God’s reliable word? Should we change our views to fit better with what most think? Is Jesus really coming again to judge the living and the dead? We’re confused.
It seems there was some confusion amongst the readers of Hebrews too. Their questions were different, but the answer is the same. Who was Jesus? Was he one of God’s creatures? An extra special angel maybe? The answer: no! In seven Old Testament quotes, the writer puts their worldview right. No angel has a status anywhere near that of Jesus. Jesus’ relationship to God is in essence that of Father and Son (v 5). In fact, the angels are to worship the Son (v 6). Yes, the angels are impressive (v 7), but the Son is God and King for ever (v 8)! He made the universe (v 10; see v 2), and he’ll end the universe (v 12). As his servants, angels stand before God. The Son sits at the Father’s right hand – with his feet up (v 13)! Maybe we don’t bring Jesus down to the level of an angel. But how might our culture influence how we see him? As a prophet of just another philosophy of life? One option among many?
Respond
Let’s get our worldview right: Jesus is God and King. One day he will be all in all (v 13).
Deeper Bible study
‘In everything he might have the supremacy.’1 Remind yourself that however important other people or things may look, Jesus is supreme.
We are now firmly in a time and place other than our own. This collection of Old Testament quotes is designed to demonstrate that Jesus is superior to angels, obviously an issue for the early community to whom this was addressed. Some Jewish scholars taught that at Sinai the Law was mediated through angels, an idea which appears elsewhere in the Bible.2 In some situations it seems to have led to a tendency to worship angels.3 While this is not an issue that troubles us today, we live with many challenges to the supremacy of Jesus and can find encouragement here to confront them. These passages introduce us to the idea of an eternal and victorious King.
We can easily acknowledge the truth at a theoretical level. The challenges come when we, like the first readers, have to work out what it means in practice. What does the universal supremacy of Jesus mean in our world? How does it play in a multi-faith culture dominated by pleas for tolerance and suggestions of hate crime? How does it stack up against the attractions of a consumer-oriented and entertainment-saturated society? How do we help our peers for whom Jesus is totally irrelevant to reconsider? Giving some thought to a sound presentation of the Christian faith will help, but a lot will lie in the strength of our own convictions, the depth of our relationship with Christ and the way in which our lifestyles demonstrate the conviction that Jesus has the first place. Perhaps this is a challenge to refocus our lives. The Son we meet here is worthy of our wholehearted worship and our unflinching commitment. That may well be costly in terms of our own personal sacrifice and the opposition we will face from others. In that we are in exactly the same position as the first readers.
Review your plans for this week. How will you show the supremacy of Jesus?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Leviticus 10–12; Psalm 20
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that as the south west team meet today under the leadership of team leader Margaret Lilley they will hear God speaking to them as they look to future strategy.
