A Little Lower Than Angels

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I hope everyone has had a fine day today and again, I thank you for your continued prayers. We’re going through our Trinitarian Commentary still and we’re in the book of Hebrews and so far, we’ve touched on every verse in the book. What can I say? This is a book that is heavily bathed in who Jesus is. Tonight, we’re going to be looking at Hebrews 2:5-9:

5It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
7You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and put everything under his feet.”In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

The Hebrews writer continues the path he has been going down to tell his readers about the supremacy of Christ. The world to come has not been made subject to angels, but it has been made subject to the Son. Thus, the Son is greater than the angels and again, we dare not ignore him.

The writer does grant that for a season, Jesus did take on a lower position, but he has been exalted. The reference is to Psalm 8. Originally spoken of about humanity, the writer in his inspired commentary sees it ultimately being about the one who is the ultimate Son of Man, Jesus Christ, and how he was made a subject.

Note especially however that everything has been put under him. That means that there is not anything that is not under him. Now Paul when he wrote on a similar theme in 1 Cor. 15:24-28 pointed out that this obviously does not include God himself, but this does place Jesus within the Godhead as being the one that all creation submits to.

The writer realizes that this is not a complete reality at this point however in that not everything has been placed under him. Paul sees this as reaching full fruition when the resurrection of the dead takes place and we can reasonably conclude that since the Bible speaks with one voice ultimately, that the Hebrews writer likely has the same time in mind.

However, he does say that Jesus is now crowned with glory and honor. This is also the first time in the book that the name of Jesus is used. Why is Jesus crowned? Because he suffered death. Jesus took submission all the way to the limit by paying the ultimate price he did not have to pay, the price that was the most contrary to his nature.

The Hebrews writer sees no contradiction between this and anything he said in the first chapter. Neither should we.

We shall continue tomorrow.

 

Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!