Hebrews 1 - Introduction

Christ, who is come to us in these last times from the Father, is infinitely preferred above the angels, both in person and office.

Anno Domini 63.

THE apostle begins this most learned epistle, with proposing the subjects of which he is about to discourse; namely, four important facts on which the authority of the gospel, as a revelation from God, is built; andwhich, if well established, should make unbelievers, whether Jews or Gentiles, renounce their infidelity, and embrace the gospel.
Of these facts, the first is, that the same God, who spake the former revelations to the fathers of the Jewish nation, hath in these last days spoken the gospel to all mankind, Hebrews 1:1.—This the apostle mentioned first of all, to shew the agreement of the gospel with the former revelations. For if there were any real opposition between the Jewish and Christian revelations, the authority of one of them, or of both, would be destroyed. Whereas these revelations agreeing in all things, they mutually explain and support each other. See chap. Hebrews 3:5.—The second fact of which the apostle proposed to discourse is, that the Person by whom God the Father hath spoken the gospel, is his own Son, in the human nature; who is the true effulgence of his glory, and the true and express image of his substance; by whom also he made the worlds, Hebrews 1:2.—Hence it follows, that the great author of thegospel is infinitely superior in nature to the angels, by whose ministry God spake the law; that the revelation which he made to mankind, is moreperfect than the revelation made to the Jews by angels; and that the dispensation founded thereon, is a better and more permanent dispensation than the law.—The third fact is, that the great Author of the gospel, who made all worlds, is heir or Lord and governor of all. And although, as man, he died, yet, being raised from the dead, he had the government of the universe in a peculiar sense conferred upon him in the human nature, Hebrews 1:2.—To the faithful, this is a source of the greatest consolation; because, if the world is governed by their Master, he certainly has power to protect and bless them; and every thing befalling them, will issue in good to them. Besides, being the Judge as well as the ruler of the world, he has authority to acquit them at the judgment, and power to reward them for all the evils that they have suffered on his account.—The fourth fact treated of in this epistle is, that the great Author of the gospel laid down his life a sacrifice for sin, and by that sacrifice made an atonement, of which, when offered, God declared his acceptance, by setting Jesus at his own right hand, Hebrews 1:3.—The gospel, therefore, has a priesthood and sacrifice, infinitely more efficacious than the priesthoodand sacrifices of the law taken together. For, an expiation made by a Person so great in himself, and so dear to God as his own eternal Son, and made by the appointment of the Father, could not but be acceptable to him; consequently it must be a sure foundation for that hope of pardon, by which the gospel encourages sinners to repent and believe.

The authority of the gospel being supported by these four facts, the apostle judged it necessary to establish them on a solid foundation; and for that purpose wrote this learned letter, which he directed to the Hebrews, because, being the keepers of the former revelations, they were the fittest judges, both of the facts themselves, and of the proofs brought from the ancient revelations to support them.
With respect to the first of these facts, namely, that the Jewish and Christian revelations were spoken by the same God, let it be observed, that the apostle did not think it necessary to set forth a separate proof thereof. For as the whole of the epistle was to be employed in shewing, that the doctrines of the gospel, which the Jews considered as contrary to the former revelations, were all taught by Moses and the prophets, it was such a clear proof of the two revelations having proceeded from the same original, that there was no occasion to offer any other.

With respect to the second fact, on which the authority of the gospel, as a revelation from God, is built, namely, that Jesus, by whom it was spoken, is the only-begotten Son of God, the apostle instead of proposing the direct proofs whereby that fact is ascertained, judged it more proper to answer the objections advanced by the Jewish doctors for disproving it. And the rather, because the particulars of which the direct proof consisted, had all been exhibited in the most public manner in Judea where the Hebrews dwelt, and were well known to them, Acts 10:36 namely, that God the Father himself, in the hearing of many witnesses, had declared Jesus of Nazareth his Son, by a voice from heaven at his baptism; and by a like voice at his transfiguration; and by a third voice in the hearing of the multitude assembled in the temple: also, that Jesus had proved himself the Son of God, by many miracles performed in the most public manner during the course of his ministry, and had often appealed to these miracles, as undeniable proofs of his claim: above all, that his resurrection from the dead, after the rulers had put him to death as a blasphemer, for calling himself Christ the Son of the blessed, demonstrated him to be the Son of God. Farther, these proofs had often been appealed to by the apostles, Acts 10:38. And to their appeals God himself continually bare witness, by signs, and miracles, and distributions of the Holy Ghost. The Hebrews, therefore, being well acquainted with the direct evidence on which our Lord's claim to be the Son of God rested, when the apostle affirmed, that in these last days God had spoken by his Son, he in effect told them that he had spoken by Jesus of Nazareth, and at the same time called to their remembrance all the proofs by which Jesus of Nazareth's claim to the dignity of God's own and only begotten Son was established. Nor was it necessary to enter into that matter more particularly, for the sake of others who might read this epistle: as these proofs were soon to be published to all, in the evangelical histories. In short, if the Hebrews in Judea were not convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the only begotten Son of God, it was not owing to their ignorance of the proofs by which his claim to that infinite dignity was established, but to the objections urged against it, which had much more influence to make their obdurate hearts and rebellious minds reject Jesus, than the multiplied miraculous attestations above described, had to make them acknowledge him as the Son of God.

Of these objections, the most weighty arosefrom the lofty descriptions, given in the scriptures, of the nature and dignity of the Son of God. For by these the Hebrews were led to conclude, that the Son of God could not possibly be a man; far less could he be born of a woman, or die. This, with other conclusions of a like nature, being extremely plausible in themselves, and strongly urged by the doctors, the apostle rightlyjudged that he would more effectually convince the unbelieving Hebrews, by confuting these arguments and objections, than by repeating the direct proofs above mentioned, with which they were perfectly well acquainted already. Accordingly, this is what he does in the second chapter. Only, as these objections were all founded on the accounts given in the Jewish scriptures, of the nature and dignity of the Son, the apostle with admirable address, before he attempted to confute them, introduced in this first chapter, (Hebrews 1:5.) the principal passages of the Jewish Scriptures, which the doctors and people applied to the Son of God. For, by thus displaying his transcendant greatness, he gave the objections of the Jews their full force. At the same time, by applying these passages to Jesus of Nazareth the great Author of the gospel, he not only affirmed him to be the Son of God, but raised his dignity and authority to the higher pitch. See chap. Hebrews 2:1.

His account of the dignity of the Son, the apostle begins with telling us that he is infinitelysuperior to the highest angels, because no where is it recorded in scripture, that God said to any of the angels, as he said to his Son, My son thou art; to-day I have begotten thee, Hebrews 1:5.—Instead of speaking to them in that manner, when he brought his only-begotten Son a second time into our world, in the human nature, by raising him from the dead, he ordered all the angels to worship him, Hebrews 1:6.—So that although he took our nature upon him, and still appears in that nature in the highest heavens, he notwithstanding is infinitely superior in both his natures, even his human as well as his divine, to the highest angels.—Farther, the apostle observes, that the greatest thing said of angels in the scriptures is, that they are spirits, and God's ministers, Hebrews 1:7.—Whereas by saying to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, he hath declared the supreme Godhead of the Son, and his co-equality with himself, Hebrews 1:8.—Also, by saying, Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness, therefore—God hath anointed thee; he hath declared the Son worthy of all dominion, Hebrews 1:9.—And, by saying to him, Thou, Lord, in the beginning foundedst the earth, and the works of thy hands are the heavens, Hebrews 1:10 the Psalmist has taught us, that the dominion of the Son springs, not only primarily from his supreme and eternal Godhead, but secondarily from his being the Creator of the universe.—And, by adding in the same passage, They shall perish, but thou dost remain, and they all as a garment shall grow old, he has ascribed to the Son eternal existence, and the divine attribute of immutability, Hebrews 1:11.—Moreover,

God having never said to any of the angels, Sit thou at my right-hand, &c. it is evident, that none of the angels ever received from God any proper dominion over the world, Hebrews 1:13.—What interference any of them have in human affairs, is merely that of servants, who, under the government of the Son, minister for the benefit of them who shall be heirs of salvation, Hebrews 1:14.