Pastor Scott
Jonas
Hebrews 1
Jesus >
Angels
8/5/18
We just finished the book of Genesis
where we met our creator. We also got to
see the beginning of his plans for salvation.
He chose Abraham, Isaac and Joseph as the representatives of a
covenant. The Lord will be their God and
the God of their decedents. Before
Genesis, we were in the Gospel of John, where Jesus presents a new covenant
which is given through his body and blood on the cross for you. Two covenants: One in Genesis for the Jews and one in John
for everyone.
Today we begin a study of
Hebrews. The author is unknown but the
purpose is not. Hebrews is written in
eloquent greek to a Jewish audience. Its
purpose is to prove that Jesus is greater.
He is greater than all of the great things in the Old Testament. Jesus is better than the first covenant. He is more worthy than the Heroes of Genesis:
Abraham, Melchizedek, and Joseph. Jesus
is higher than Mankind, Priests and even Angels. Jesus is more important than Doctrine, The
Holy of Holies and even the Law. The
book of Hebrews takes all of the things that Jews teach are valuable and show
that those things point up to Jesus.
In chapter one of Hebrews, the first
point is that Jesus is greater than Angels.
To understand what this means let me tell you a little bit about how
first century Jews valued Angels. It
might surprise you. The original hearers
of this book saw God as distant, transcendent.
Angels were intermediaries between God and mankind. They came to believe that God spoke to man
through Angels and angels carried the prayers of mankind into the presence of
the Lord. We read in Exodus that the Ten
commandments were given directly from God to Moses. But in New Testament times, Jews believed
that God gave the law first to Angels who then passed it on to Moses, direct
communication between man and God was unthinkable.
First Century Jews believed that God
lived surrounded by angelic hosts.
Sometimes Angels could be an Army but in greek and Hebrew the word Angel
simply means “messenger.” Angels were
the means through which God brought his word and his will to earth. Jews believed they were made of an ethereal
fiery substance. Some of them who were
near the throne of God overheard God’s plans.
Other Angels were believed to be part of God’s consulting body, like
advisors to a president. God would run things by them. In fact, when it says in Genesis “Let us make
man” many Jews believed that was the one God speaking with Angels. The Angels protested the making of man and
woman. They were jealous of another
created being who God loved. Therefore
they attacked Moses on his way up to Mount Sinai.
The first century Jews were elaborate
in their angelic inventions. They gave
names to Angels like Raphael, Uriel, Phanuel, Gabriel. There were 200 Angels who controlled the
movement of stars. There was an Angel
who controlled time. There was an Angel
over the Sea. There were Angels of the
frost, rain, snow, hail, thunder and lighting.
There were destroying Angels like Satan and protecting Angels. Every nation had it’s guardian Angel as did
every individual. So many were the
Angels that the Rabbis could even say, “Every blade of Grass has it’s angel.” It was almost as if the Jews created their
own system that resembled Greek gods and magical creatures.
Almost all of these beliefs are not
found in the old testament. They’ve been
added by rabbis through centuries of speculation. You can see how this bad theology created a
false belief that Angels were a necessary intermediary between the Father and
his children. We do need a go between
but it is not Angels. It is Jesus
Christ.
Hebrews 1:1 says, In Old days God
spoke directly to the Prophets. Now, God
speaks through his son. Jesus is the
radiance of the glory of God. Angels are
created limited beings. But Jesus is the
exact imprint of the Father’s nature.
His relation to the Father is like the relationship between a King’s
stamp and the seal impression on a royal decree. Angels don’t move stars, Jesus upholds the
universe by his power. Angels can’t
absolve you of your sins only Jesus can.
Angels don’t sit next to the Father only the Son is at the right hand of
the throne.
Angels serve a purpose. They are messengers. In the scheme of things, Angels are the
mailmen of God. Everyone gets excited
when you receive an important package from Grandma. But what is most valuable. The mailman?
The package? Or Grandma? Grandma who has known you since you were born
and loved you your whole life. Grandma
should be the more valuable than any gift that fits in a box. Grandma should be worth more to you than the
messenger who bring you that box. In the
same way Jesus should be more precious to you than the messengers between you
and him. That includes me. And more precious than any gift he has given
you.
When you hear the mixed up theology
of first century Christians, it makes you wonder what is our personal bad
theology? To look at that we only have
to look at what made Angelology so fascinating.
It was mysterious. It was anecdotal. And it was supernatural.
Those are attributes that catch our
hearts and imagination today. You still
have stories about angels that grip people.
I read a book by Eric Metaxes called “Miracles.” In it were some Angel stories. One was about a Christian man who was
worshipping in a cathedral on the East coast.
Out of nowhere, he saw a fifty-foot Angel in the sanctuary. The Angel was so colorful that it was like He
was in high definition and everything else was black and white.
Another example, I was listening to a
broadcast in which a woman detailed her horrific car accident near Jeff
City. It was so bad that the fire
department could not get her out with the Jaws of Life. While she was waiting for the authorities to
figure something out, a catholic priest came by and asked if she wanted to be
prayed over. She did. It took so long to get her out of the car
that many people were around the accident taking pictures. As she was recuperating in the hospital she
and others reported that they witnessed the priest caring for her but none of
the pictures on the scene showed him.
Quickly, people believed that he was an Angel. It makes a great story.
Months later, a priest who was not
from the area figured out that he was the mysterious priest. He was not an Angel but a flesh and blood
servant of Christ. A messenger of the
Gospel. He just happened to be
substituting for a local priest who had a ministry at the Jeff City prison. He stopped when he saw the awful accident and
got out and helped as he could. After he
prayed with the woman and she was sent to the ER he went on his way.
When the priest heard about the
commotion his mysterious act caused he went back to Jeff City and visited the
woman. He introduced himself and she
began to cry. He was afraid that he had
spoiled her experience. Maybe she
believed that he was an Angel and it meant God was looking out for her. When she stopped crying he apologized. She said, “I’m not disappointed that you
aren’t an angel. I never thought you
were. I am so grateful to the Lord that
he had you and others on that road that
day. You all prayed for me when I needed
God the most.
Our faith doesn’t need Angel
stories. Jesus is greater than Angel
stories. He lived, died and rose for
you. He cares about every detail of your
life. You can speak to him directly if
you are in mortal danger or looking for a parking space. Jesus is greater than all of our
superstitions. Jesus is greater than all
of the magic this world has to offer.
Jesus is greater. Jesus is
greater.