Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:1-9
It probably never was just another day at work for Moses, who likely caught a glimpse of the pillar of fire and cloud that formed and settled over the Tent of Meeting as he entered to talk with God. It would make sense for Isaiah to vividly recall every detail of the scene in the heavenly temple, filled with God’s robes and glory, shaking from the angelic choir singing the Lord’s praise during his commissioning. Away from the Promised Land in Babylon, Ezekiel saw the figure of a man who looked like glowing metal, radiating shimmering, rainbowy brilliance, seated on a sapphire throne floating high above a platform clear as ice that can go anywhere because of four awesome, omnidirectional wheels. Daniel saw a stone topple a statue representing the nations of the world and grow into the mightiest mountain. The prophets saw, heard, and dreamed incredible things from God, told people, and wrote it down so others would know God in those ways too.
What’s it like to have these images of God in your mind and then meet the one all these prophecies and visions are about? Confusing. Right? It’s got to be confusing, disappointing even, to grow up hearing such depictions of the coming mighty Messiah and then meet the man and be taller than him. Understandably, many people had the glowing metal and sapphire throne side of God’s glory in the Messiah in mind exclusively, so it was likely a shock when God the Messiah arrived crying, screaming, and very confused about everything in his new environment and needing to be cared for by parents who were just as bewildered, but also happy and scared and excited and tired and worried and a mess because they, like all new parents, had no idea how to be.
The stable and throne of majesty aren’t the same, and at first appraisal, that’s off-putting. Upon further thought and with the benefit of living now, the normal, humble life of Jesus from birth onward communicates a glory and majesty far more breathtaking and awe-inspiring than anything any prophet ever saw in a vision because it was the life of Immanuel, God having come to live with people. That is true glory. Anything Jesus said and did is God himself communicating in the most personal way with his people directly because it wasn’t words from a prophet in a sermon or scroll, but from God himself, a man with vocal inflection, expression, and gestures. What is more glorious than the almighty and most majestic being who makes the universe look small choosing to become as accessible as possible to us to save us? That beats Sinai’s thunder and fire by a long shot.
The writer of Hebrews knew that, and God used that person to help convince others of the same truth that Jesus is God’s glorious Son who is the savior of the world, and no time is wasted in getting that point across, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) God became one of us to remove barriers, to be accessible. Jesus spoke in a very accessible way by teaching about God’s kingdom with relatable illustrations of seeds, birds, families, and rocks and stuff. In doing so, he and his Father were glorified when people believed and entered the kingdom which belongs to him entirely as God’s eternal, divine Son who is the very radiance of his glory, the exact display of God’s full self as the human man and substitute who died to save.
It’s that mystery, the infinite contained in a body for the benefit of the guilty, that makes everything Jesus does as the Lord Most High so glorious because it shows us Almighty God’s tender and loving heart. Jesus spits in the ground, making mud to restore sight – the Creator using aspects of creation to communicate care and love to the crown of creation – weeping at the graveside of his friend and in so doing dignifying to the divine level grief, praying for the world’s forgiveness while on the cross and having the presence of mind to make sure his mom’s earthly needs were met. This is the glory of God. This is who God is. This is what the writer says, “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) In the unassuming, in the everyday, God’s loving, steadfast, faithful kindness was being shown to people. The God who sent Moses through the sea, whose praise shakes his temple, who sits in majesty surrounded by a mighty entourage, showed this glory to the exact level by dining in the homes of cast-out tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees alike with grace and good manners and by sitting with a woman at a well and talking to her when no one else would, or by taking a bunch of cheaters, liars, doubters, betrayers, boasters, and fools in general into his inner circle to show them love and equip them for his work of speaking his message of peace and salvation through free forgiveness.
Jesus, the exact representation and display of the divine being in which all things exist and by whom all things keep on existing, was nailed to a cross to destroy sin and give us life, to purify us. Paul said, “He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14) Jesus, the Word made flesh, is God’s glory by purifying us of sin to bring us to glory. This is why Jesus is praised by every voice of every place of every age: people, human, and God. The Father says of him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father” (Hebrews 1:5) and, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” (Hebrews 1:6) Nothing is superior to Jesus because he is eternal, almighty and God because he showed unmatched dedication to the Father’s will, bringing him glory, and unmatched love to us in bringing us to glory as God’s redeemed and purified children. Jesus, the Son’s glory, is you being saved.
The writer says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. 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.” (Hebrews 1:9-10) Because Jesus so loved us and accomplished God’s will for us, I can say that I’m God’s child who will see God in his kingdom. To God be the glory because he gave his Son for us to show us and save us by his love. Amen.