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Hebrews 1-3
The Message
Hebrews 1-3
The Message
1 1-3 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
The Son Is Higher than Angels
3-6 After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you” or “I’m his Father, he’s my Son”? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, “All angels must worship him.”
7 Regarding angels he says,
The messengers are winds,
the servants are tongues of fire.
8-9 But he says to the Son,
You’re God, and on the throne for good;
your rule makes everything right.
You love it when things are right;
you hate it when things are wrong.
That is why God, your God,
poured fragrant oil on your head,
Marking you out as king,
far above your dear companions.
10-12 And again to the Son,
You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations,
then crafted the stars in the sky.
Earth and sky will wear out, but not you;
they become threadbare like an old coat;
You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak,
and lay them away on the shelf.
But you’ll stay the same, year after year;
you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.
13 And did he ever say anything like this to an angel?
Sit alongside me here on my throne
Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.
14 Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?
2 1-4 It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.
The Salvation Pioneer
5-9 God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture,
What is man and woman that you bother with them;
why take a second look their way?
You made them not quite as high as angels,
bright with Eden’s dawn light;
Then you put them in charge
of your entire handcrafted world.
When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.” In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.
10-13 It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,
I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know
about you;
I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.
Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,
Even I live by placing my trust in God.
And yet again,
I’m here with the children God gave me.
14-15 Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.
16-18 It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.
The Centerpiece of All We Believe
3 1-6 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.
6-11 Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! That’s why the Holy Spirit says,
Today, please listen;
don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,”
that time of wilderness testing!
Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
your ancestors refused to let me do it my way;
over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!
I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God;
they refuse to walk down my road.”
Exasperated, I vowed,
“They’ll never get where they’re going,
never be able to sit down and rest.”
12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as God’s still calling it Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.
These words keep ringing in our ears:
Today, please listen;
don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
15-19 For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed.
Hebrews 1-3
New International Version
Hebrews 1-3
New International Version
God’s Final Word: His Son
1 In the past God spoke(A) to our ancestors through the prophets(B) at many times and in various ways,(C) 2 but in these last days(D) he has spoken to us by his Son,(E) whom he appointed heir(F) of all things, and through whom(G) also he made the universe.(H) 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory(I) and the exact representation of his being,(J) sustaining all things(K) by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins,(L) he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.(M) 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.(N)
The Son Superior to Angels
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
Or again,
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn(Q) into the world,(R) he says,
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
8 But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;(U)
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions(V)
by anointing you with the oil(W) of joy.”[e](X)
10 He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.(Y)
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.(Z)
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,(AA)
and your years will never end.”[f](AB)
13 To which of the angels did God ever say,
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits(AF) sent to serve those who will inherit(AG) salvation?(AH)
Warning to Pay Attention
2 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.(AI) 2 For since the message spoken(AJ) through angels(AK) was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,(AL) 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?(AM) This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord,(AN) was confirmed to us by those who heard him.(AO) 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles,(AP) and by gifts of the Holy Spirit(AQ) distributed according to his will.(AR)
Jesus Made Fully Human
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone(AS) has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?(AT)
7 You made them a little[h] lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
8 and put everything under their feet.”[i][j](AU)
In putting everything under them,[k] God left nothing that is not subject to them.[l] Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.[m] 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor(AV) because he suffered death,(AW) so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.(AX)
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists,(AY) should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.(AZ) 11 Both the one who makes people holy(BA) and those who are made holy(BB) are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.[n](BC) 12 He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”[o](BD)
13 And again,
And again he says,
14 Since the children have flesh and blood,(BG) he too shared in their humanity(BH) so that by his death he might break the power(BI) of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil(BJ)— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear(BK) of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.(BL) 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[r](BM) fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful(BN) and faithful high priest(BO) in service to God,(BP) and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.(BQ) 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.(BR)
Jesus Greater Than Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,(BS) who share in the heavenly calling,(BT) fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge(BU) as our apostle and high priest.(BV) 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.(BW) 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,(BX) just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.(BY) 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant(BZ) in all God’s house,”[s](CA) bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son(CB) over God’s house. And we are his house,(CC) if indeed we hold firmly(CD) to our confidence and the hope(CE) in which we glory.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:(CF)
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts(CG)
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.(CH)
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,(CI)
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (CJ)”[t](CK)
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.(CL) 13 But encourage one another daily,(CM) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.(CN) 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold(CO) our original conviction firmly to the very end.(CP) 15 As has just been said:
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?(CR) 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?(CS) 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest(CT) if not to those who disobeyed?(CU) 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.(CV)
Footnotes
- Hebrews 1:5 Psalm 2:7
- Hebrews 1:5 2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chron. 17:13
- Hebrews 1:6 Deut. 32:43 (see Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint)
- Hebrews 1:7 Psalm 104:4
- Hebrews 1:9 Psalm 45:6,7
- Hebrews 1:12 Psalm 102:25-27
- Hebrews 1:13 Psalm 110:1
- Hebrews 2:7 Or them for a little while
- Hebrews 2:8 Psalm 8:4-6
- Hebrews 2:8 Or 7 You made him a little lower than the angels;/ you crowned him with glory and honor/ 8 and put everything under his feet.”
- Hebrews 2:8 Or him
- Hebrews 2:8 Or him
- Hebrews 2:8 Or him
- Hebrews 2:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 12; and in 3:1, 12; 10:19; 13:22.
- Hebrews 2:12 Psalm 22:22
- Hebrews 2:13 Isaiah 8:17
- Hebrews 2:13 Isaiah 8:18
- Hebrews 2:17 Or like his brothers
- Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
- Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
- Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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