Abunerry, Ayella (Kotev, Rabbi)
Introduction
The concept of Christ's superiority
is a central theme in Christian theology. It is a fundamental doctrine for
understanding the nature and work of Jesus Christ. This is because it emphasises Jesus Christ’s
supremacy over all things and everyone. Comprehending the truth in this book
can be difficult unless we study it carefully. Through the Holy Spirit’s
guidance, we have uncovered unique aspects of Christ’s superiority over the
prophets, angels, Moses, the priesthood, and everything else as below.
Christ, the Final Revelation
In earlier times, God communicated
in many ways and forms to different people. Hebrews 1:1a states, “...God spoke
to our ancestors through the prophets.” This was how God revealed His message
to humanity. In verse 1:1b, Hebrews tells us, “He has spoken to us by His Son.”
This signifies the end of any other method or form by which God reveals Himself
to mankind. His Son is the ultimate revelation of His Word, surpassing all
other means of communication. He embodies all revelation, greater than all the
prophets did and the revelations in the Old Testament. So why do I need another
revelation when Christ is the final revelation God has spoken through us? Isn't
that a double standard in our understanding?
The Radiance of God’s glory and the
Exact Imprint of His Nature (Hebrews 1:3)
Nowhere is it stated that someone
bears and radiates the glory of God. Nor is it said that anyone is the exact
imprint of God’s nature except Christ. This description elevates Christ above
all creation. Hebrews presents Christ as emanating God’s glory like the rays of
the sun that fall on all people equally. This uniqueness surpasses that of the
prophets and fulfils God’s ultimate plan of redemption. This is because “Jesus
was not a perfect man who got exalted to deity; Jesus was—and is—a deity who
became the perfect” (Davey, S. (2024, October 10). We don’t need an imperfect
man to make us perfect, do we?
Superiority over the Angels
Although man was created in the
image of God and holds a special position in His plan, angels are made higher
than man (2:9). This grants them a particular prestige aligned with God’s
creation plan. However, the prestige held by the angels does not reduce
Christ's position. To man, angels may seem like superior beings, but the writer
of Hebrews refutes this and affirms Christ’s supremacy over the angels in 1:4,
stating, “Being made so much better than the angels, Jesus Christ surpasses the
angels in many ways, including His title, His worship, His nature, His
eternity, and His destiny” (John MacArthur, 1986). Jesus is king over
everything and over the angels, who are merely servants (Hebrews 1:14).
His Superiority over Moses
Old Testament readers and devotees
recognised the power of Moses over everything. On many occasions, they (Jews)
conflicted with Jesus because of who Moses was to them, although Jesus
explained that He was the New Moses. While Moses was God’s appointee to serve
Him, Jesus is unrivalled by Moses. Hebrews writes that “...just as Moses was
faithful in all God’s house, for Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory
than Moses...” (3:2-3). Jesus is superior to Moses because He has more glory
and is faithful over God’s house as a Son, whereas Moses was a servant (3:5-6).
Jesus is a Better Covenant
The Old Covenant established rules
and commands for the Israelites to observe. However, the substance of the
covenant proved challenging, leading to ongoing resistance from the people.
This disobedience resulted in many deaths and hindered their progress to the
Promised Rest. Jesus took on the burden of the Old Covenant and renewed it with
His blood, allowing many to enter the rest freely through His forgiveness. He
is also a better covenant because He acts as the mediator (8:6, 9:15),
restoring the fallen man’s relationship with God; this highlights the
superiority of Christ over the old covenant. This is not what the Old Covenant
achieved. The Old Covenant was ineffective and, therefore, replaced by the New
Covenant, which is vastly superior in many ways. To complement this, Matt
Heerema said,
“The Old Covenant has been replaced by a New Covenant that is
vastly superior in every way. There is no reason for anyone to try to be under
the Old Covenant! God has made a new covenant with Jew and Gentile alike! One
based on Jesus’s work. Jesus is a better
priest of a better covenant. The old covenant is over forever, never to be
reinstated, because why would you reinstate an ineffective, out-of-date
covenant?”
(Matt Heerema, 2024, March 17).
His Priesthood
Many priests were chosen among men
to act on behalf of men to God (5:1). These priests were not exempt from sin.
They were obliged to offer a sacrifice for their sins, too. They were weak and
could not sympathise with man’s weaknesses. God replaced the earthly system of
priesthood by appointing Christ as the High Priest of all time (5:6). The
Levitical priests sacrificed and offered frequently for the forgiveness of sin.
Still, Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice, once and for all, providing
complete forgiveness (5:9, 7:27, 9:12). He is our direct link to God; He
intercedes and supplicates for all (5:7), something our appointed priests could
not do. Reed Rusniak, rightly, comments on this aspect, saying,
“...this great high priest
experientially empathizes with what his people go through when under temptation
and, because of his victory over sin, is now his people’s perfect
representative. Unlike an earthly high priest who had to offer sacrifices for
his own sins, this great high priest was without any sin…” (Reed Rusniak,
n.d.).
A Superior and a Better Tabernacle
The tabernacle was a movable
structure where God dwelt among His people. Throughout the wilderness, the
people moved with it, representing God’s divine presence among them. Despite
all that, the tabernacle had limited access, which allowed only the priest and
the high priest to enter as prescribed. It required repeated sacrifices and
external rituals. In contrast, Jesus addressed this limited access through His
atonement (9:11-12). His incarnation (John 1:14) embodies the fullness of God’s
presence among His people, and thus His superiority over the Levitical
tabernacle.
A Better and Superior Sacrifice
The Old Testament sacrificial system
did not make perfect those who drew near (10:2). It did not take away sins. In
his blog post, Ted writes, “What tens of thousands of animal sacrifices could
not accomplish, Jesus accomplished forever with his one sacrifice” (Ted
Johnson, 2022, August 11). The Old Testament sacrifices reminded people of
their sins annually because the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sins.
Christ ends this system by offering His body as a sacrifice to sanctify once
and for all. (10:10), perfected those being sanctified.
Finally, to understand the
superiority of Christ as the Hebrews describe, we need to study the Levitical
books. This helps us see why worship during the Levitical era was insufficient.
The Hebrew writer explains the superiority of Christ to the prophets, angels,
Moses, the priests, the Tabernacle, the Mosaic covenant, and the Old Testament
sacrificial system. The writer invites us to move from the inadequate Levitical
system to the sufficiency of Christ, who is our superior in all aspects of
worship and glory. Think, if we had continued the Levitical system, would we
have enough animals to be sacrificed to cleanse us from the daily sins we commit? Insane! Impossible! We would have depleted and made extinct all
domesticated animals. Thank Jesus, the animals are safe because we are saved by
His superiority.
References.
1. Davey, S. (2024, October
10). Jesus: Superior and Sovereign [Sermon]. The Journey
Through the Hebrews Series.
2. Heerema, M. (2024, March
17). A Better Covenant with Better Promises Series, pt. 9:
Hebrews 8 [Sermon]. Stonebrook Sunday AM.
3. Johnson, T. (2022,
August 11). Jesus, the Superior Sacrifice (Hebrews 10). Retrieved
From https://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2022/08/jesus-superior-sacrifice.html)
4.
MacArthur, J. (1986). The Superiority of Christ, Hebrews 1-2
[Bible Study]. Moody
Press.
5. Rusniak, R. (n.d.).
Jesus, Our Great High Priest. Retrieved from
(https://www.academia.edu/126565716/Jesus_Our_Great_High_Priest)
