Christology in
Hebrews
Christology is the study of Christ, and
this study can never be complete without a thorough study of the epistle of
Hebrews. Hebrews presents Christ through several motifs. Throughout the epistle,
Christ is shown as the creator, sustainer and revealer of and to creation. The
author of the epistle also portrays Christ as human and divine - showing Christ
in his hypostatic union. Therefore, Hebrews portrays Christ as eternally
preexistent - as creator and sustainer of creation, as a suffering sacrifice
and as the priestly king.
Christ
as Preexistent Creator and Sustainer
The
author begins Hebrews 1:1-3b by stating:
God, after
He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions
and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to
us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And
He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word
of His power. [Bold added]
This
section refers to Christ the Son of God and expresses Christ as the preexistent
creator and sustainer of the world, and the revealer to the world in the last
days. The phrase “through whom also He made the world” shows Christ as pre-existing
the creation of the world and time itself. This concept continues in Hebrews
1:10-12 where the author portrays Christ as the one who created time and all of
creation. It states, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Heb 1:10). The phrase, “in
the beginning,” presupposes Christ existed before time was even created. Secondly,
the author continues to express this idea of Christ’s eternality through an inclusio
which begins in verse 1:10 and ends in verse 1:12. Here, Christ is shown to be
the One who “will remain,” and states in Hebrews 1:12b, “But you are the same,
and your years will not come to an end.” In other words, Christ the Son of God did not
have a beginning and was before the beginning and will continue till the end
and even beyond the end, because He is eternal.
Another Christological reality found
in these verses is showing Christ as creator of creation. As mentioned earlier
in verse 10, Christ created both the physical creation or realm, and the
spiritual realm “the heavens” which are the “work of his hands” (Heb
1:10). This concept is an important one
since later Christ is understood by the author as also being a high priest who
serves in tabernacles created not by men, but in a tabernacle that was made by Him
(Heb 8:2; 9:11). Moreover, this idea crosses over to chapter 3 where Christ is
compared to Moses. Both build houses (or houses of worship) and both were
faithful; Moses was faithful as a servant but Christ was faithful as the Son of
God (Heb 3:1-6). In other words, Christ created this spiritual tabernacle, and
Moses’ tabernacle along with the priesthood of Aaron were nothing more than
“copies” or “shadows” of this heavenly tabernacle(Heb 8:5). Finally, this idea of God creating things is
expressed in Hebrews 11:3A which states, “By faith we understand that the
worlds were prepared by the word of God.”
These verses express Christ as not just
the creator, but also as the sustainer or the one who “upholds all things by
the word of his power” (Heb 1:3b). The phrase, “word of his power” can also be
understood as a powerful creative or directive word. As it states in BDAG, ῥῆμα
is a dative that in this context conveys the idea of “Command(ment), order, direction … of God.”[1] Thus,
Christ is continually directing creation, sustaining it until the end of time. Also this passage is conveying the idea that
Christ is Lord over all creation and has power, authority and dominion over it.
This concept is expressed in Hebrews 2:8, showing that everything and all
things are in subjection to Christ.
Christ
as a Suffering Sacrificial Servant
This section expresses Christ’ humanity
while the first section portrayed His divinity. First, we see Christ’s
sacrifice is first alluded too in Hebrews 1:3B which states, “When He had
made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high,” While this section shows Christ as being exalted and
in a position of authority, it is important to notice the phrase, “He had made
purification of sins.” First, Christ
becomes the God-man the incarnation. Hebrews 2:7 states, “You have made him for
a little while lower than the angles; you have crowned him with glory and
honor.” The idea is that he is now able to die for he became flesh. But interestingly,
similar to Hebrews 1:3b Christ still receives the “glory and honor” in the end.
This concept of Christ as the suffering servant is expressed in greater detail
in Hebrews 2:9,10 where the author states:
But we do see
Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely,
Jesus, because of the suffering of
death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God
He might taste death for
everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all
things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their
salvation through sufferings. [Bold added]
In
other words, Jesus became a man and died and suffered so that he could bring
salvation to sinful humanity, who in the following verses are called the
brothers of Christ (Heb 2:11-14). Furthermore, this passage explains the reason
why Christ is eternally crowned with glory and honor, because of his
sacrificial death and suffering. In verse 14, the epistle clearly states
another expression of Christ’s humanity by explaining the fact that Christ came
in the flesh and in blood, just as we are flesh and blood (Heb 2:14). This suffering and sacrifice resulted in
Christ rendering Satan powerless and enabling those who are his brothers to
overcome the slavery of sin. In the end this whole process of suffering and
sacrifice was so that Christ could die, being a “propitiation for the sins of
people” that He, then overcoming sin, is glorified at the right hand of the
father(Heb 2:17). Finally Christ suffered and was tempted, yet He never sinned
in order that he could become our help in time of our need. The ideas conveyed in
Hebrews up to this point is leading up to Christ as being the perfect and complete
High Priest.
Christ
as the Perfect and Eternal High Priest/King
As shown previously, Christ is the
preexistent eternal creator and sustainer of all things, and He is both
entirely human and entirely God at the same time. He was he who suffered and
was made to sit in a position of honor at the right hand of God, which He did
for the purification of sins. These points are a summary of Christ’s main role as
the perfect High Priest. The author seems to portray Christ as a high priest
through two types: Moses, and Melchizedek.
First, Hebrews shows Christ as a high priest
who is faithful to God and to those who are as Hebrews says his brethren (Heb
2:17, 3:2,6,14;10:23). His faithfulness is the reason why each Christian (the
Brethren) can hold to his confession in Him (Heb. 10:23). Secondly, because of the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ, He is the mediator of the brethren (8:6;9:15;10:12). In other words,
Christ is each Christian’s priest whose complete sacrifice of death allows each
brother who partakes of his confession to:
1.
Be
freed from the fear of death, and the slavery of sin (2:15-17; 9:14; 10:17-22).
2.
Have
Christ’s aid and sympathy for them when they (Christians) are tempted or in
weakness (2:18; 4:15-16). He ministers to the saints in these times of need
(6:10).
3.
Have
a direct ability to enter into the perfect tabernacle(house) of God where
Christ reigns and is High Priest(1:3;2:9;3:1-6;4:14-16).
4.
Possess
a High Priest who intercedes for them (7:25).
5.
Be
able to finally offer praise and thanks, through this high priest(13:15), who equips
each Christian for every good work(13:21).
All
of these are realities that each Christian is able to obtain through and in
Christ because of His death and suffering, resurrection and ascension to the
role of High Priest.
Moreover, the author of Hebrews is
arguing that Christ is a completely perfect high Priest, like Melchizedek. This
is not saying that Christ was Melchizedek but that He was not from the line of
Aaron, but rather Christ is the righteous “King of peace” who was without a
father or mother or genealogy, nor having a beginning or an end (7:2b-3). This
is not to say that Christ did not have a mother as in Mary; but rather, that
Christ is preexistent and has no beginning and He will have no end. In
addition, Jesus was made a High Priest. Hebrews 5:5-6 states:
So also
Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He
who said to Him, “You are my son, today I have begotten you”; just as He
says also in another passage, “You are a Priest forever according
to the Order of Melchizedek.”
Christ was made a high Priest by God the
father. The author reiterates this concept by stating that Christ was appointed
by the oath of God’; as stated, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His
mind You are a Priest forever”(Heb 7:21) In other words, Christ is, from this
point on, eternally the perfect priest of the new and better covenant (Heb
7:23-28). This is proven by the fact
that Christ is holy, innocent, undefiled, and because He is continually
interceding for Christians as their mediator (Heb 7:22-28). He continually does
it because he has overcome the power of death and can now serve as God’s
faithful Son over God’s house.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Christ is the perfect High
priest because He is a part of a complete covenant that can save; because
unlike the priests of old, who had to perform a sacrifice to cleanse themselves
of sin, Christ was holy and pure did not need a sacrifice for Himself. Rather, He
was the sacrifice (Heb 9:11-15). In the end it is Christ’s death and ascension
to High Priest that enables believers “through his own blood” to be able to
enter “the holy place once and for all having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb
9:12). As the author of Hebrews states, “let us draw near with a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” because we have a faithful
High priest (Heb 10:22). In the end
this eternal suffering faithful son of God, Jesus Christ, is the perfect High
Priest who mediates and intercedes for the sins of the brethren. He is indeed “the
great Shepherd of the sheep” (Heb 7:25; 13:12), who is there in their time of
need and weakness (2:18; 4:15-16;6:10).
[1]
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed.;
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 905.
