The Epistle, The 2nd Reading –
2016.12.25
The Light of God
At various times in the past and in
various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in
our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that
he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything
there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his
nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has
destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the
right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title
which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
God has never said to any
angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father
to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-Born into the world,
he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.
(NJB)
Well intentioned and Confused
The
Apostle makes a fundamental error when he writes about the station that Jesus
occupies.
I do
not fault the Apostle for this, not personally, he is a product of his time. He
had even less freedom in his consciousness to uncouple himself from a
hierarchical view of the world than we do today, and we still struggle with
this in our own time.
The
Apostle tell us that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, through whom all of
creation, the entire universe, everything that is, was or will ever be, came to
be.
The
Apostle tells us that Jesus of Nazareth possesses the exact copy of God’s
nature, expressing his faith in the categories of Platonic thinking.
The
Apostle tells us that the universe itself is sustained by the power that
resided in Jesus of Nazareth, and that in this same power the defilement of sin
has been destroyed, which is an odd statement insofar as it is clear to anyone
who observes our world that sin is a constant reality that every human being
struggles with.
The
Apostle tells us that this perfect copy of God, the creator of the universe,
sits at the right of God, the creator of the universe, and is per se the
creator of the universe.
The
Apostle begins to express concern that we, his audience, properly understand
the majesty of Jesus, a majesty above all of the angels, because he, Jesus has
inherited the title, Son of God, a title belonging to no other.
This
begs the questions; are we not all, each and every one of us the children of
God? Is Jesus only the Son of God by inherited title? Will God be the father of
Jesus, or was God always the father of Jesus?
We
must understand that Paul, the Apostle, he was winging it here. He did not know
what he was talking about. But he was trying to say that God, the creator of
the universe dwelt within Jesus of Nazareth in a special way, and as a result
Jesus is a unique being, a being fundamental to God’s sovereignty of the
universe, and whose life was the critical instrument in the resolution of sin
and evil in the world.
The
Apostle’s message gets muddies with his incessant commentary on the hierarchy
of the angelic hosts, the role of sonship, qualities of majesty, position and
station.
It
would have been better for the world if he had spoken plainly.
Jesus
was a child of the creator, he was our brother. In Jesus the conflict of sin
was resolved, by following the example of his life we may resolve it for
ourselves. The entirety of the eternal and infinite God dwelt perfectly within
Jesus, as it dwells perfectly within each of us, whether we know it, believe
it, or not.
The
whole is in the part, undivided, and one.
1st
Sunday of Christmas
