Daily Devotions from the URC

Hebrews 1: 1 – 4

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,  whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Reflection

The letter to the Hebrews is a one-off surprise book of Scripture.  

No introduction, no greetings, no information about who is writing it or why it’s being written?  Not really a letter at all, really?  Just ‘bang’ straight into the text, the argument, the message. 
 
And what a message!  It’s almost as if the writer hasn’t got the time or patience for such niceties and just wants to jolly well get on with telling the reader about the main and sole topic of the letter i.e. Jesus?

The book is effectively a bridge between the apparently very different Covenants recorded in the Old and New Testaments, with that same Jesus portrayed as the new, better and perfect Covenant … and then excitedly, though methodically and logically, telling us how God’s Covenant is fulfilled in Jesus.  

The one who is the ‘very imprint of God’s very being’ is portrayed as the  absolute supreme person in all the holy writings that make up our Scriptures:  Greater than Moses and the other Prophets, superior to Angels, higher than any High Priest … and how the death on the cross was a greater-that-ever-before and a once-and-unrepeatable Sacrifice.  

Welcome to the breathless excitement of the Letter to the Hebrews!

Prayer

As we start our journey into the writer’s understanding of your Son, Jesus the Christ, may our hearts and minds be opened to the mystery, wonder and glory of you as Creator and Covenant-setter, Saviour and ever-present Comforter.  Amen