07 CHAPTER I

CHRIST: SON AND HEIR The opening sentence of the Epistle to the Hebrews contains four titles descriptive of Christ’s divine relations. "Son" and "Heir," the first couplet in this four-fold group, explain the primal, personal relations between Christ and the Father. The second couplet, consisting of "Effulgence" and "Image," is parenthetical and corollary to the first couplet, and marks by analogy the manifested relations between the Son and the Father. CHRIST: THE SON "God hath spoken unto us in his Son." More meaningful words than these have never been written. No more guesses, no more riddles, no more straining the ears to catch uncertain sounds. The silence is broken. God speaks. He speaks in his Son. So significant is this speaking in his Son that the Son himself is elsewhere given the name Word, and in this term we may look for the meaning of his mission. Whence? Whither? How? Why? To the deepest ponderings of the human soul the answer is found in Jesus Christ. If we inquire about the world’s beginnings and its continuance — and this is a question which little children and grown up men ask with equal interest — we are told that through him the worlds were made, and that all things are upheld by the word of his power. If the question is raised with regard to the final purpose of creation, and the consummation toward which all things are moving, we are reminded that for him all things were made, and that he is the appointed Heir of all things. If we look for the self-revelation of God in the history of his chosen people, the discovery is made that this history and this revelation are but the preparation for the appearance of the Son. If we think of the atonement which makes access to God possible for us, we are directed to him who when he had suffered for our sins sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The Book of Hebrews deals with these eternal verities in a way which shows Christ to be the one and only answer to the mightiest questions which concern mankind. • In fact the opening sentence of the book gathers up all these subjects in one sublime period which indicates that Christ is the key to every problem in these vast regions, and that his place and worth in religion are incommensurable with the place and worth of any other being, human or angelic. And not only this, but his person is made the ground and guarantee of the truth and value of Christianity. Indeed to him are due all its majesty, permanence, and power. The Dual Sonship. The book of Hebrews may be regarded as an exposition of the ancient book of Leviticus. As such it offers us an interpretation of Christ which shows him at once the Archetype and the Antitype of the Hebrew religion. This religion was formulated after “the pattern that was showed in the mount." Christ himself may be thought of as this pattern. As such he was the Archetype, holding latent in himself, as the acorn holds the future oak, the whole Levitical system with its sacrificial ritual, which is the "copy and shadow of the heavenly things." (Hebrews 8:5). On the other hand, the system with all that it signified, pointed to him as Antitype and found in him its complete fulfillment. As Archetype he was the involvement of the Hebrew religion. As Antitype he was its evolvement. In his sonship these are united — the one with the idea of God, the other with the idea of man. As Archetype he had a divine and super-historical being; as Antitype he had a human and historical being. This double sonship, therefore, expresses a two-fold relation: On the divine side, the unity of the Son with the Father; on the human side, the unity of the Son with man. The first relation represents the mode by which God finds access to man; the second by which man finds access to God. The Father approaches man through the Son’s divinity, while man approaches God through the Son’s humanity.

In his interview with Jesus, Nathanael addressed him as Son of God, whereupon Jesus immediately speaks of himself as the Son of man, saying, " Ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Manifestly he meant to impress the disciples that this title of Son of man bore close relation to the one which had just been applied to him by Nathanael. Son of God: Son of man. These two appellatives complement each other. They set forth his divine and human relations, showing him to be the equivalent intermediary between God and man. Were he man and not God, we should be guilty of idolatry to worship and trust him at all; were he God and not man, we should approach him with fear and dread, if indeed it would be possible to approach him at all. This sonship is not simply a figure of speech or a verbal convenience. It is a reality. It is utterly dissimilar to anything else in the universe, and denotes a rank which qualifies for functions unique and preeminent. By it his office and position in the whole universe and in humanity are determined, and by it likewise are settled the sufficiency and permanence of his religion. Back of the Beginning. Christ’s divine sonship did not begin with his earthly existence, but preceded and determined it. The author of Genesis and the author of the Fourth Gospel start with the same words, "In the beginning." The beginning of which John speaks cannot be other than that which Moses makes the starting point of his narrative, but while they start at the same point the two writers separate from each other immediately and go in opposite directions. Commencing with the fact of creation Moses descends until he reaches the point of man’s appearance on the scene. Starting at the same point John moves upward in the reverse direction, ascending into eternity. He goes farther hack in order to reach farther forward. Rising into the heights eternal he finds him who was both the agent of the first creation, and shall also be the agent of the second creation, the redemption of mankind. As the prologue of John’s Gospel is in rapport with the first chapter of Hebrews, attention may be given here to that luminous opening of the only biography ever written whose beginning antedates the beginning of creation: John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Rising into eternity the author finds the object of his quest, and this object is made the subject of the narrative which he is about to relate. John 1:2. "The same was in the beginning with God." Now the author descends to take his place with the eternal Word at the beginning of the creation. John 1:3. "All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made." Here the Word is discovered to be in action, cooperating in the work of creation. John 1:4. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." The veil is thrown aside, and there is made clear the relation which from the beginning has existed between the Word and humanity clear down to the time when he came to be a member of the race. The Eternal Towardness. "And the Word was with God." The word of special meaning in this sentence is the preposition with (Gr. pros), whose meaning is different from our with, in that it implies movement or approach, usually toward a person. Obviously this preposition was chosen to indicate the direction, the tendency, or moral movement of the being called the Word. The sentence is not strictly grammatical, since a preposition of motion (toward) is used with the verb of rest (was). Apparently a strain is put upon language to make clear what is meant to be expressed, that the unchanging attitude of the Word in relation to the Father was a state of perpetual and harmonious activity. Compare the eighteenth verse which says: "The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father," where we find not "in the bosom " but "into" (Gr. eis). The use of these prepositions indicate movement in the God-head, as well as rest. And the movement is on the part of the Word, the Son. The phrase "with God" permits us not for one moment to think of the Word as merely approaching God or unequally associated with God — a sort of quasi-divinity, for the Word was God. He does not represent a condition intermediate between God and created beings, since he is altogether different from the most perfect of men or the most exalted of angels. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God-head bodily." This term Word seems to go back to the narration in Genesis, the first chapter, where the creative fiat, “and God said," is repeated eight times. "All these sayings of God John gathers as if into a single, living ’Word,’ endowed with intelligence and activity, from which emanates each one of these particular ones. At the foundation of all those spoken divine words, he discovers the divine speaking ’ Word.’ But while those resound in time, this exists above and beyond time." (Godet). Hence we read, " The Word was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that was made." The work of creation was the first stage in the divine revelation, and this revelation in common with all others was made through the Word who was in active cooperation with the Father. "We believe that we hear in this an echo of that plural in Genesis which indicates intimate communion: ’Let us make man in our own image.’" (Godet). In this connection Goethe, in his Faust, offers a genuinely illuminative contribution in the following lines: "’Tis written; ’In the beginning was the Word,’ Here am I balked: who now can help afford? The Word? — impossible so high to rate it; And otherwise must I translate it, If by the Spirit I am truly taught. Then thus: ’In the beginning was the Thought/ This first line let me weigh completely, Lest my impatient pen proceed too fleetly.
Is it the Thought which works, creates, indeed?
’In the beginning was the Power,’ I read.
Yet, as I write, a warning is suggested
That I the sense may not have fairly tested.
The Spirit aids me; now I see the light!
’In the beginning was the Act,’ I write." The Descent into Humanity. This eternal, personal, creative Word is called Son of God, whom the disciples recognized in the man Jesus and whom they called the Christ. In a most luminous way the story of his entrance into humanity is told in Php 2:6-8 : "Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross." His descent into humanity is here marked by two steps: First: He emptied himself, (1) by giving up "the form of God" to take "the form of a servant," (2) by surrendering his "equality with God " to be " made in the likeness of men." Second: He humbled himself, (1) by "being found in fashion as a man," (2) by "becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross." Throughout this experience of humiliation his sonship was repeatedly attested by his Father so that while he moved among men his conscious fellowship with the Father was unbroken: First, his sonship was shown and declared in his incarnation —" When he bringeth in the Firstborn into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." Compare Luke 2:14 : "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased." Second, at his baptism—"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17). Third, at his transfiguration —" While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Matthew 17:5). Fourth, at the temple at Jerusalem just before his death —" Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." (John 12:27-28). Fifth, by his resurrection — "Who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:4). Sixth, and after his ascension his renewed relation with the Father was manifested in the gift of the Holy Spirit —" This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear." (Acts 2:32-33). The Incarnation Interpreted. In addition to these supernatural attestations of his divinity there was such a steady raying-forth of his divine character that men were constrained to say, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him; " while those who received him at his full estimate of himself could even go farther and say, " The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth." The Word dwelt among men. In this connection dwell means to live in a tent, and contains a probable allusion to the tabernacle in the wilderness which was the temporary dwelling place of Jehovah while he himself was "a pilgrim among his pilgrim people," and which was made glorious by the indwelling of the divine presence. So the disciples beheld the divine glory in the Son of man, and recognized him as the eternal Word, the only begotten Son of God. "And so the Word had breath, and wrought
With human hands the creed of creeds
In loveliness of perfect deeds,
More strong than all poetic thought;
Which he may read that binds the sheaf,
Or builds the house, or digs the grave,
And those wild eyes that watch the wave
In roarings round the coral reef." Through the centuries God had been speaking to men in various ways as they were able to bear it. At last he speaks to them in the life of his Son. "God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds." (Hebrews 1:1-2). Only in Christ can we understand God —"Neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27). And it is only through him that we come to the Father —" Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). Faith Flowering into Experience. In Browning’s "The Ring and the Book" Pompilia says, "Now I see how God is likest God in being born," thus echoing the opening words of John’s first epistle, " That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life." (1 John 1:1). In his Gospel where John writes as a historian he starts with the fact of the Word, saying, "In the beginning was the Word," and describes later the ineffable joy which he land other witnesses experienced in beholding the grace and glory of the Word. Here, however, in his epistle the reverse change is observed, where, in writing as an eye witness, he relates first his own experience and from this passes forward to the fact itself. What he accepts on faith he finds to be true in fact, his experience verifying his hypothesis. And so he ends in this instance where he began his Gospel, with the conviction that the Word is the life and the light, the Son of God, and declares in triumph that "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." This is true Christian experience. In the verse quoted above there is observed a difference between the words see and behold. The word see (Gr. horao) implies the idea of knowledge acquired by investigation, while around the word behold (Gr. theaomai) attaches the conception of satisfaction in contemplating, a sort of restful seeing. Examination results in exultation. Honest investigation ends in adoration. "They came wondering; they returned worshipping." A story is told of a blind girl who spent much time in reading the Bible, who, when her finger tips became callous from long use, closely pared them to make them more sensitive. This, however, only had the effect of rendering them harder and more callous, so that finally she could not make out at all the raised characters on the page. At last after bitter weeping she kissed her Bible an affectionate farewell. To her intense joy that kiss revealed to her the fact that she could distinguish the raised words with the touch of her lips. From that time she learned to read by pressing her lips along the page, and so she kissed her way through the precious Book. Though blind, though having lost her skill in reading with her finger tips, there was left for her a way to read her Bible. Seeing, beholding, handling. These are some of the various ways of receiving the Word, of experiencing Christ; and however dull, maimed, and shut in may be the hearts of men, God through his Son speaks to them that they may hear, see, respond, and live. Sharing His Sonship. The primary and fundamental relation of God to man is that of creator and governor. The only essential sonship was that of Christ’s deity, but by its union with his deity humanity became participant in the filial relation. Christ is the only person who is by nature the Son of God. The only other sons of God are those who receive Christ, and by adoption become partakers in his sonship. "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13). And again: "But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4:4-6). To illustrate the value and significance of Christ’s sonship as it relates to our acceptance and sonship, the following narrative of experience is cited from Principal Fairbairn’s "The Place of Christ in Modern Theology ": "Sonship can be realized only when fatherhood is known, and fatherhood can be known only where it is seen with all its qualities in fullest exercise. The act of physical generation constitutes only a nominal or legal paternity; duties of another and higher order must be fulfilled if a man is to be a father indeed. Nor is it enough to feed and clothe the child — the state can do that; or to educate him — the school can do that. The child must, as it were, daily live in the father’s soul, be warmed by its generous heat, quickened by its larger life, moved and expanded by its wiser love. And if God’s fatherhood is to be a reality to man, he must see it as it is, know it by experience, by handling it and being handled by it. But the only way in which it can thus come to him is in the form of humanity. He must see a real Son whose knowledge of the Father is inner, and not, like his own, outer only. He must learn what the Father is from one who has lived in his bosom. Even in so high a region personal experience may illustrate a truth. One of the things time has made most obvious to me is this: that of all the human persons that have contributed to the shaping of character, which is destiny, the mightiest was that of an obscure man who died years before I was born. But his daughter was my mother; and the daughter so loved and revered the father, so remembered his sayings, so understood his mind, so believed the faith that ruled and guided him, that she had no higher thought for her son than to make him such a man as her father had been. And so, invisible as he was, he became the real parent of the spirit and the character of the man who writes this book. And if God is to become the real Father of man, and man the real son of God, then all the energies and loves and ideals of the unseen paternity must be incarnated and organized in a visible sonship, that they may become creative of a mankind which shall realize the ideal. It is through the one God-man that the many become men of God." Five times by John (John 1:14; John 1:18; John 3:16; John 3:18; 1 John 4:9) the term " only begotten" (Gr. monogenes ) is used with reference to Christ. The same word is employed by Luke three times, but in each instance is translated only instead of only begotten. Notice the connections in which it is thus rendered: (1) Approaching the village of Nain Jesus halts a funeral procession and restores to life the one dead upon the bier, who was "The only (monogenes) son of his mother." (Luke 7:11-15). (2) Falling at Jesus’ feet Jairus "besought him to come into his house; for he had one only (monogenet) daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying." (Luke 8:40-42). (3) Descending from the mount of transfiguration he was met by a man who said, "I beseech thee to look upon my son; for he is mine only (monogenes) child." (Luke 9:37-43). Nowhere else is the word found in the gospel. There is something suggestive and pathetic in the use of this word in these three places. In the first the widow’s only son was dead. Upon his bier God’s only Son lays his hand, speaks, and the dead lives. In the second Jairus’ only begotten daughter is dead. Into his house God’s only begotten goes, even into the inner chamber, and taking the dead child by the hand, in endearing terms he calls her back to life and delivers her to her parents. Descending from the mountain where, enfolded within the heavenly glory, he had heard the word, "This is my beloved Son," he is met by a sorrowing man who comes with well-nigh the same words on his lips as had been uttered on the mount, saying, "My son, my only child;" and immediately Jesus rebukes the evil spirit, heals the boy, and gives him back to his father. God’s only begotten Son, the Lord of life and power, " touched with the feeling of our infirmities," comes to the widow, the ruler and the father of the demon-enthralled boy, to liberate and restore their children. Fatherhood is essentially the same whether human or divine, and sonship is essentially the same whether human or divine, and so when Christ, the Father’s only begotten Son, comes to these parents each of whom is bereaved for an only begotten child, there is revealed in a very real and touching manner the character of the divine approach to humanity’s utterest need, and we witness anew the value and efficiency of Christ’s unique and preeminent position as the only begotten Son of God, and are impelled to the conclusion that the fact of his sonship is the center and ground of all security and hope. CHRIST: THE HEIR The inevitable corollary of Christ’s sonship is that he is the "appointed heir of all things." (Hebrews 1:2). "For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17). Not only is he the archetype, the author and the agent of creation but its end as well. Pressing His Crown Rights. This first chapter of Hebrews carries us back to the second Psalm which is freely quoted. "I will tell of the decree: The Lord said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." (Psalms 8:1-9). As Son and Heir Christ is making all things contribute toward that consummation when "every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth, and when every tongue shall confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father." This end has not been reached yet, but he is pressing toward it. In the eighth verse of the Psalm quoted above there is a shade of difference in the meaning of the words inheritance and possession. Inheritance is property to which one has a born right or legal title. Possession is property that one has seized and actually holds. Thus the world belongs to Christ by eternal right as his inheritance. It shall be his also by conquest and actual possession. Here then is the meaning of Christ’s present activity. Here is his program for this present age. Here is the significance of the missionary enterprise which is Christ in action, pressing his crown-rights, coming into possession of his lawful inheritance. Joint-Heirs with Him. To the suffering, persecuted Hebrew Christians to whom this Epistle was addressed it seemed that Israel was about to be dispossessed forever of his inheritance under the deprivation and oppression of his enemies, but such was not to be the case with Christ " whose throne is forever and ever" and whose "years shall not fail," for unto him the Father has said, " sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies the foot stool of thy feet." (Hebrews 1:13.) In this consummating victory these troubled saints and all other believers with them are to be partakers, for are they not heirs of salvation to whom the very angels are sent to be ministering spirits? Elsewhere the thought is presented even more strongly. "For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him." (Romans 8:15-17.) As we become sons through his sonship, so we become joint-heirs with him, partaking share and share alike with him, both in his suffering and in his glory. What greater comfort and encouragement can be offered than are here to be found? Christ’s final and full inheritance is certain, and we are joint-heirs with him. In many ways we may be poor and needy now, but we are children of the King and fellow heirs with his Son. Writing to some of these same discouraged, scattered people Simon Peter says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:8; 1 Peter 1:4.) With what fruitful words is the nature of these heavenly possessions characterized — incorruptible, undefiled, unfading. No grave is ever dug on this estate, for it is beyond the reach of death. It is undefiled, since it is beyond the taint of sin. No contamination will ever stain its purity or mar its beauty. It is an inheritance that fadeth not away — literally "amaranthine." The blight of change is not seen there. The leaf is never seared. "Time does not breathe on its fadeless bloom." And what makes assurance jubilantly sure is that he who prepares and reserves the inheritance also prepares and preserves the heirs. The Forward Bearing Command. Here must be noticed another thing about the Heir. "He upholds all things by the word of his power." (Hebrews 1:3). The word not only means to bear up so as to keep from falling, but also to carry forward. A free translation would be: He bears up and carries forward all things by his omnipotent command. With this agrees Colossians 1:17 which says: "And he is before all things and in him all things consist." In the first pages of this chapter it was found that Christ was the author and active agent in creation. Here he is seen to be the executive head of the universe. It is he who carries forward all things. It is he who makes "all things work " ; it is he who makes " all things work together "; it is he who makes " all things work together for good "; it is he who makes " all things work together for good to them that are called according to his purpose " — that is, to them who are the sharers of his sonship and joint-heirs with him of the glorious inheritance. So does he care for and preserve the individuals who are joint-heirs with him. And also he will protect and perfect all his plans and all his people. He upholds and carries forward! With taper in hand and closely following the guide, one comes upon many things that will arouse the interest, stir the emotions, and quicken the faith, while groping through the catacombs around Rome where the early Christians buried their dead, and where in later years, they sought refuge from the burning stake, the boiling oil, and the raging wild beasts of the arena. One special object of wonder is a symbol carved rudely upon some of the tombs or found engraven on some of the seals and rings picked up in these dark regions of the dead. The symbol is that of a lamb standing on the back of a fish. What may it mean? Interpret it and there is a charm about its suggestiveness and beauty. A common symbol for Christ among the Christians of that day was a fish. And the reason for this was that the letters of the Greek word for fish, when arranged as an acrostic, are the first letters of each of the names of Christ in Greek — Jesus, Christ, God’s Son, Saviour. Thus the Greek word for fish (ichthws) became a sort of password among the saints, and thus too, as an ancient writer tells us, the name of Christ was mystically designated by the symbol of a fish. And what means the lamb? That, of course, is the common scriptural name for a believer. Now the interpretation seems clear. The lamb standing on the fish: That means that the weak believer is held up and carried forward by Christ. It was not because they were so strong and brave in themselves that those early Christians were mightier than the fagot, or the grip of the angry lions, or the oppressive darkness of those underground catacombs, but it was because they were borne up and borne forward by Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the Heir of all things. They endured as seeing him who is invisible, and their souls were luminous with the light which they had beheld shining forth from their Lord.