Jesus as Kurios

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are continuing our Trinitarian commentary.  I also thank you for your prayers as it seems the light is breaking through in some ways now. This has been a learning and growing experience for me and I am a better man for it. Enough about me however. Tonight, we are continuing on our Trinitarian commentary in the book of Hebrews. I said last night that saying “Jesus is God” is not the pinnacle the Hebrews writer reaches in that first chapter. Let’s go to that pinnacle in verses 10-12:

10He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You 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.”

How is this greater? God implies the concept of being deity, but remember that the Jews would have known about a Greek pantheon with several deities so being one in the class of deity, while impressive, would not be the end-all.

When we come to this passage, we reach something that includes deity in it, but is a more exclusive way of putting it. The word in this case is Kurios. In the previous verse, the word was Theos which was a normal word used for God. However, Kurios implies sovereignty with it as well. To be Kurios is not just to be deity, but rather to be a sovereign deity. When the Greek Septuagint translated the Hebrew into the Greek, they would translate YHWH into Kurios, showing just how highly the word is used.

Where does the quote come from? It comes from Psalm 102. I invite the reader to go to the Psalm and read it for himself. This is a Psalm about creation and praising YHWH for it. What the writer is saying is that this applies to Jesus.

Now in earlier verses, we could have said that kingship applies to Jesus without making him deity. In a sense, that is correct, although the wider context suggests otherwise. However, in this passage, we do not have kingship but the state of being the creator.

Note as well that the creation is described as the work of his hands. A study of the texts in the Old Testament reveals that whenever the term is used, it does refer to something that the person was directly involved in. In saying that creation is the work of the hands of Jesus, it is saying that Jesus was directly involved in creation. In saying that he is kurios, it is saying that he is the sovereign over the creation. If Jesus is the sovereign over the creation, then he is God.

Thus, we find that the Hebrews writer has been building on a pinnacle. Now he has reached his grand creation. Jesus is more than an angel. He is more than a king. He is more than just a god. He is the sovereign Lord of all that is. Indeed, let not just all God’s angels worship him, but all creation as well.

 

 

Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!