LIFE & GAME CHANGER 3 OF 16

THE SON—LOWER THAN THE ANGELS-CROWNED

"But we behold Him Who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man."  HEBREWS 2:9

            The section of the letter in which these words are found follows closely upon that in which the writer had been dealing with the superiority of the Son to angels, and stands in startling contrast to it. He Who by virtue of His nature and oneness with God in absolute sovereignty, is infinitely higher than the angels, is now presented as made lower than the angels. All the values of the section are focused in the words of the text, which, however, neces­sarily needs the context for its interpretation.

            The opening words:

"For not unto the angels did He subject the world to come, whereof we speak,”

Will be understood better if it be rendered:

"Not unto the angels did He subject the economy to come."

            The Greek word oikoumene, rendered "world" in our translations, and by suggestion, "the inhabited earth" in the margin, is, of course, the word from which our word economy is derived. In Luke's account of our Lord's temptation the same word is employed when he tells us that the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the economy. The word at the time was in common use in reference to the whole Roman Empire. Glancing back in this letter to 1:6, we read:

"When He again bringeth in the Firstborn into the world."

Here it is the same word, and might more helpfully be rendered :

"When He again bringeth in the Firstborn into the economy."

The reference there was unquestionably to the second Advent, and the declaration is that then all the angels of God worship Him. In the present section, referring to the same economy, the writer says:

"The economy to come, whereof we speak."

Taking the word then as referring to the Kingdom of God in its perfection, he says that that is not to be subjected to the angels. We remember that this letter was written to Hebrews, and that the will of God had been made known to men in the patriarchal periods through angels. The Hebrew people had come to believe that angels were the special guardians of their national life, and warrant for this view may be found in the sacred Scriptures. The writer of the letter is pointing out that in the new economy, resulting from the final speech of God to men, this will no longer be the case. That economy will be solely under the dominion of the Son.

            It is here that the startling statement of the text occurs, in which he speaks of the Son as having been made lower than the angels, and the reason for that is that He may obtain and exercise this final dominion.

            Once more our version reads:

"We behold Him Who hath been made a little lower than the angels."

Here it is important to understand that the word "little" does not refer to a degree, but to a period of time. We catch its true significance if we render it:

"Made for a little while lower than the angels."

Thus we are brought face to face with the central wonder and majesty of our holy religion. He Who by virtue of His Being and His nature, and His consequent relationship with the absolute Sovereignty of Deity, is higher than the angels, is for a little while made lower than the angels.

            This descent of the Son to a position lower than the angels is dealt with by the writer first by a reference to human nature. The reference opens with the words "One hath somewhat testified," and consists of a quotation from Hebrew psalmody:

"What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownest him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of Thy hands; Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet."

            That quotation is intended to show the dignity of human nature. Having made the quotation, in one brief and pregnant sentence, he declares the failure of humanity:

            "We see not yet all things subjected to him." In that statement the word "him" refers to a man.

            It is important that we halt to consider that revelation of the dignity of man in itself. Whereas the writer does not quote the words, the Psalmist began:

"When I consided Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou bast or­dained, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?"

            In asking these, questions the singer was conscious first of the apparent insignificance of man in the presence of the wonders of the universe, but he was also conscious of something in man which set him on a higher level than anything to be found amid those stupendous wonders. The thought filling his mind was concerned with the mysterious majesty of man. Perhaps singing out of a personal consciousness, he found himself, by comparison, insignificant amid the splendors of the universe, and yet was conscious that God was mindful of him, and visited him.

Still referring to man, he declared that he was made for a little while lower than the angels. Man was seen then as lower in rank than angels, but only for a little while. The Divine thought is that in the Divine purpose for man ultimately, he is to be lifted into a position higher than the angels. Admittedly this is a great conception of human nature. It may be said that one phase of the terrible malady from which humanity suffers is that he thinks of himself more highly than God thinks of him. It is this dignity according to the Divine ideal, which fits man for the exercise of dominion:

"Thou didst set him over the works of Thy hands; Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet."

In order to the ultimate realization of the meaning of his being, man was placed on the level of disciplinary pro­bation.

            As we survey human history, we see two things clearly marked. One is man's failure to realize and exercise com­pletely this power of dominion; and the other is the con­stant movement towards victory in that direction. His dominion has been growingly extended over the earth, over the sea, over the air. As a writer some while ago put it, "Man is learning to master everything except himself." In all the victories won, man is seen as to his potentiality and as to the Divine purpose for him.

            The failure of man is recognized then by the writer of this letter when he says:

"We see not yet all things subjected to him."

The reason of this failure, as the whole of the Biblical literature reveals and emphasizes, is that of man's revolt against the government of God.

            All this leads to the writer's introduction of the word "Jesus," as he declares that while this is true we do not see all things subjected to man:

"We behold Him . . . even Jesus."

Here again two words occur which arrest our attention, both referring to vision, but having variety of suggestion. "We see not," and "we behold." The first is the word which is general and inclusive. The second is a word which suggests intensive observation. Thus he draws attention to this One, at the center of human history, linked with the humanity that has failed, but standing separated from it.

            This One Whom He speaks of as Lord, and now names "Jesus," is declared to be the One made for a little while lower than the angels. That in the first instance means that He has passed the angels, and touched our level.

            If, however, we pause there, we fall short of under­standing the ultimate value of that descent. Therefore, continuing our reading, we find the reason of the descent declared in the words:

"Because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man."

Thus it is clearly revealed that the ultimate purpose of the Incarnation was not that of the revelation of an ideal. The Son was made lower than the angels, descending to the level of human nature, in order that He might die. From death angels are exempt, therefore He passed them by, coming not merely to the level of ideal humanity, but to the level of falling humanity; made lower than the angels that He might taste death.

            In this connection, however, the writer utters something so arresting and moving that were it not the word of in­spired interpretation, we should never have dared to im­agine it. I refer to the terms in which he speaks of this very fact. While declaring that the Son was made lower than the angels because of the suffering of death, and that the intention of the descent was that He should die, he speaks of the whole thing as a coronation, saying that He was

"Crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man."

            The statement is not that He was crowned with glory and honor because He tasted death, but rather that He was crowned with glory and honor in order that He might taste death. The amazing and revealing declaration then is that God conferred upon His eternal Son a crown of glory when He gave Him to death for the ransom of a race.

            Thus, in being made lower than the angels for a little while, He came into identification with man not only in the essential ideal of His nature, but in all the suffering and the sin which resulted from man's failure. It is in this connection that the writer says:

"He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one, For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, In the midst of the congregation will I sing Thy praise."

            This quotation is taken from the Psalm 22, which begins with the cry which was uttered by our Lord on the cross:

"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

            In that psalm Messianic sorrows are set forth, but they are revealed as leading to the declaration of victory where­in the suffering One will declare God's name to His breth­ren, with the result of the song of praise which will ascend to God.

            Thus God's final speech to man through the Son, Who is higher than the angels, has come to him because He descended on to the human level, and passed through the bitterness of death, the ultimate dereliction; in order that He Himself might ascend to His place higher than the angels, making a way by which man who had fallen from his high estate, might regain everything that he had lost by following to that higher estate.

            This is the perpetual message of the New Testament concerning the Son. The music is heard throughout in varying tones, sometimes major and sometimes minor; all merging in the ultimate speech of God, which tells man of His eternal love, and of the way by which man may be redeemed.