Hebrews 1:4-14 Being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.… I. THE SENSE IN WHICH WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIVINE AFFIRMATION. "I have begotten Thee." Says Meyer: "I think that neither His eternal generation alone, as He is God, nor His temporary generation, as He is man, is here meant, but both. I have begotten Thee from eternity, in respect of Thy Divinity, and in time, as set forth by the term 'this day.' I have, by the overshadowing of My Spirit, begotten Thee of the Virgin Mary, according to Thy humanity, so as it may appear to all the world that Thou art both God and man, and so My most noble Son and the Prince of heaven; this being made evident sundry ways, but especially by Thy rising again from death to life." That is, the resurrection was the day in which God made manifest that He had begotten the Lord Jesus as His Son; not that He was that particular day begotten, but the fact was then made patent, and proclaimed as the grand evidence of that article of faith which teaches us to say, "I believe in the resurrection of the dead." Thus the act of our Lord's resurrection presents the proof alike of His natural and eternal Sonship, being both divinely begotten. It sheds an equal lustre upon His eternal Deity and glorified humanity; and while the power which effected His resurrection exhibits Him as truly God, His condescension to the flesh, and death which preceded it, discovers Him as really Man; for who but man could die? and who but God could rise again? Death was the peculiar, and for aught I know, the exclusive sentence which was passed on man; life which could triumph over death, which is God's ordinance, is the sole prerogative of God. II. WHY WE THINK THE TERM "THIS DAY" EXCLUSIVELY DISTINGUISHES THE DAY OF HIS RESURRECTION, 1. Our first reason is, the position which the words occupy in the second Psalm, and the seventh verse, from which they are quoted. It is after "the heathen had raged, and the people had imagined a vain thing," namely, that they could annihilate the pretensions of Jesus by His death; it is after the conspiring of the kings of the earth and their rulers that the decree is uttered, "Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee." That is, the resurrection which succeeded the crucifixion manifested in the most signal manner, that notwithstanding the enmity, apparent success, and short-lived triumph of the Jews, "Truly," after all, as the centurion confessed, "this man was the Son of God." 2. Our second reason for considering this day the resurrection, is because the assembled apostles so applied the Psalm in the fourth chapter of Acts, the twenty-fifth and following verses, where, having pointed out the accomplishment of the former verses of the second Psalm, in the conspiracy of the rulers and people against Christ, it is added in the thirty-third verse, "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection." 3. A third reason we find in the Epistle to the Romans, the first chapter and the fourth verse, where St. Paul draws the distinction between Christ's "being made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, but declared (not made) to be the Son of God, according to the Spirit of holiness, by His resurrection from the dead." The word " declared," in this place, is of the same force as the Hebrew word which is translated "begotten," and which also means "exhibited, or manifested"; or as Paul saith "declared." "Thou art My Son; this day have I declared Thee" — that is, this day of Thy resurrection, I have owned Thee, manifested Thee, as the Son of God. 4. If there be any remaining doubt as to the application of this passage, I refer you fourthly, to the thirteenth chapter of Acts, and the thirty-third verse, where, after speaking of the promises of God made to the fathers, Paul adds, "God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm — Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee"; that is, the raising up of Jesus was the evidence of His Sonship, and His Sonship is the pledge for the fulfilment of the promises. 5. Once more: in the fifth chapter of Hebrews, and the fifth verse, where it is asserted that Aaron, the first high priest under the legal dispensation, and Christ the first High Priest of the gospel, took not this office upon Himself till He was called, the calling of Christ is referred to the same event and in the same terms as in the text are employed to prove the superiority of His nature over that of the angels. Then the day of His resurrection was the day of His ordination to the high priesthood. III. WHAT WAS THE OFFICE AND COMMISSION CONFERRED UPON THE LORD JESUS BY THE DIVINE TESTIMONY? " Thou art My Son." Angels needed not this attestation. They had often heard the grand acknowledgment in heaven. The eternal Sonship of the Christ was no secret there. But as Jesus said of the answer which mysteriously reached Him from the clouds at the raising of Lazarus, so might He have said of the testimony which accompanied His own resurrection — "Because of the people who stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me"; that is, God condescended visibly and audibly to acknowledge His Son on earth, that man might believe that He was sent from heaven. 1. The title of the Son of God imports dignity. Hence the apostle's argument in the text" Unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son?" 2. The title of the Son of God imports office. It implies, in connection with His other title, "the Son of man" — which is applied to Christ about eighty times by the evangelists — a mediatorial office; that the Son of man, equally as the Son of God, is the connecting link between God and man, both natures being reconciled by His office as the two are united in His person. 3. Again: as the Son of God, Christ is our Prince and Judge. Henceforth, said He, "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son"; and Peter adds, "He is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins." This is His present office; His sovereignty is now wholly exercised in grace. It now deals in love, mercy, and forbearance. Now He pleads at the throne — hereafter He will sentence from the throne. 4. Once more: as the Son of God, Christ is "the Firstborn among many brethren." The term "firstborn" does not necessarily infer that the person to whom the epithet is applied is a creature; it often imports no more than excellency, or supremacy, or peculiar favour. Thus Job speaks of "the firstborn of death" — that is, the chief strength of death; so Christ is called in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians, and the fifteenth verse, "the Firstborn of every creature," "the Firstborn from the dead" — that is, the chief and supreme of all the creatures, as the Rabbins themselves spoke of Jehovah as " the Firstborn of the creation," or at the bead of the universe. It is also a term of endearment and special favour. Thus the Lord said in the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah, and the ninth verse — "Ephraim is My firstborn"; in other words, that His people were very dear to Him. In all these senses Christ is to us the Firstborn of God. He is our Strength and Excellency, our "Firstfruits from the dead"; and "because He lives, we shall live also"; for we are said to be " begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." And further, "He is Head over all things to His Church"; and as there is a name given unto Him which is above every name, so that name is ours. Christ's people are called Christians. "I will write upon you," said He, "My new name"; and that is "the everlasting name which shall not be cut off." (J. B. Owen, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. |
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