The Book of Hebrews contains a lot of information in an area to which we need to give a little thought. This article will address the Christology of the Book of Hebrews, the Christology of the apostle Paul in Hebrews. When you think of the word Christology, you think of theology—theos is God; logos is wisdom and knowledge. Hence, theology is the knowledge of God. We use that to talk about the nature of God and the work of God. Christology is the nature of Christ and the work of Christ.
Hebrews is the treatise on Christology given to us by the apostle Paul, and it is unique; it is different from the others. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we have what you could call a Christology by narration. These books of the Bible tell the story of what Jesus did. Oh, yes, they tell you things that He said as well, but it is a little different from John. So, you have a Christology that builds their case for the work and nature of Christ by telling you what He did.
John shifts the emphasis quite a bit toward what Jesus said, so we would call that a Christology by quotation. He builds his case for the Christology of the nature and work of Jesus Christ by telling us so many, many things that Jesus said about His own ministry, about His own relationship with His heavenly Father and with us here upon this earth. This provides a different kind of Christology.
In Hebrews, we have a Christology by comparison. Paul sets up ten comparisons for us to examine, but there is a reason for this. The apostle Paul was by far, as we recognize, the best educated of the apostles. He was trained in the rabbinical schools. You might say that he went to the Harvard of his time and place, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. He was very, very well versed in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the faith. He knew it much better than did any of the other apostles.
Special Class
Not only that, he had a two-year special class in Arabia. When he was on his way to Damascus, the Lord confronted him and told him to do what He said. Now, let me explain again. The apostle Paul was much more educated than any of the other apostles. He had the training of the Rabbis; he sat at the feet of Gamaliel; in addition to that, he was trained by Jesus Himself in that two years in the desert in Arabia.
As he was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus, he was confronted by the Lord and told that he must do what he was told to do by the Lord. You remember that story. He went to Damascus and began to preach about Jesus Christ, and the people rose up against him, so he went from there into the desert of Arabia and remained there two years. During that period of time, we are told, “Jesus communed with him and established him in the faith, bestowing upon him a rich measure of wisdom and grace.” The Acts of the Apostles, 126.
We might think, at first glance, that the other apostles had an advantage over Paul in that they traveled with Jesus for three and a half years and learned so much from Him directly, but the apostle Paul was not left out. Jesus privately communed with him, because he was a very special person. With all of his training, with all of his understanding, with all of his background, the Lord knew that he could do a mighty work once he got his mind straightened out and was established in the faith.
Points of Evidence
There are certain things that we quickly discover when we start looking for evidence that the apostle Paul understood things better than the other apostles did.
- He understood about taking the message to the Gentiles. He went to great lengths to try to explain that to others in Romans 10 and 11, where he talked about how there is a cutting of an olive tree and a grafting in of the branch of the Gentiles, and he enlarges on that.
- He understood the distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law. You may not have ever given this any thought, but through my Bible study, I once prepared a paper on the subject. I discovered, as I analyzed all of the uses of the words law, laws, commandment, and commandments in the New Testament, something that I had not realized before.
If the writings of the apostle Paul were removed from the New Testament, we would have no way of knowing that the ceremonial law had passed away. We would still be sacrificing lambs. He was the only one who dealt with that subject; the others acted like they never heard of it. None of the other Bible writers make any mention of that whatsoever. We are indebted to the apostle Paul for our understanding about the distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law. If you compare Romans 7 and Hebrews 7 and also Colossians 2 and Ephesians 2, you will find very clearly how he laid out the two laws in comparison one with another.
The apostle Paul knew about the message to the Gentiles that the others only faintly understood. He knew about the distinction between the moral law and the ceremonial law that the others never mentioned; if they understood it, they never told us so. And he knew something else that was very, very significant, and it was a burden on his heart.
Paul knew that the typical ceremonies—the lambs and all of that, the beautiful temple, and all of those things that went on in the temple—must soon altogether cease. “He [Paul] knew that the typical ceremonies must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass, and the light of the gospel was shedding its glory upon the Jewish religion, giving a new significance to its ancient rites.” Sketches From the Life of Paul, 65.
You and I hear that and say, “So what?” Well, put yourself in the place of the Hebrew, the Jew who accepted Jesus Christ. There was nothing in this world so dear to him as the temple. Their temple was a marvelous building, even by modern standards. The ceremonies there were magnificent, and everything there was majestic, beautiful, and charming in every way. It was the very center of the culture of the Hebrew nation. Paul knew that that was going to be done away, and then what would happen to the faith of the Hebrew Christian?
He had to do something about that. He had to do something about that to prepare them for the awful day when the temple would be destroyed, and they would look for priests, and there would be none. They would look for sacrifices, and there would be no sacrifices. They would look for the very heart of their nation’s culture, and it would not be there. It would be gone, destroyed.
Paul had to do something about that, and in order to do that, he wrote the Book of Hebrews. We are going to look at the beginning of the Book of Hebrews, but let us introduce it with a few lines from The Desire of Ages, 36, where Ellen White addresses the temple and its ceremonies. “The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.”
Paul knew that, and he had to do something about it for the benefit of those Hebrews, not Gentiles, who were deep in their love for the culture and the traditions of Israel. He had to do something about that to help them meet the crisis that was coming. To do so, he set up a series of ten comparisons in the Book of Hebrews.
Comparison One
The first comparison is a comparison of Christ with the prophets. Hebrews 1:1 says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” All right, we are going to look at the prophets for a moment, and then we are going to look at Jesus.
“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Verses 2, 3.
To the mind of the genuine, spiritual Hebrew, a prophet was a reverenced person, a highly honored person, a highly respected person. They had great honor and respect for the prophets, but Paul is saying, “Look at the prophets, and then look at Jesus. Jesus is ever so much greater than the prophets.” Is that not very clear?
Second Comparison
Next, he compares Jesus with the angels, beginning with verse 4. “Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
And then he goes into the Book of Psalms and gives a whole series of quotations from that book to reinforce his argument that Jesus is better, higher, and greater than the angels. Verses 5 and 6: “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” (That is from the Psalms.) “And again,” (another quotation from the Psalms) “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again,” (a third quotation) “when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” Obviously, Jesus is greater than the angels are.
“Of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son [he saith], Thy throne, O God,” (he says that God is calling Jesus God) “[is] for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness [is] the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows: And,” (a new quotation now) “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” Verses 7–10.
Surely you get the idea from these few verses. The rest of chapter 1 is filled with quotations from the Psalms, exalting Jesus Christ, addressing Jesus Christ as God, seeing Him as God, and seeing Him as sitting on the throne of God.
Look at the last verse of this first chapter in which Jesus is compared with angels. Talking about the angels, Paul said, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Verse 14.
Now we need to jump down to Hebrews 2:5, because he puts in one verse there about angels: “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.” But God has put in subjection the world to come to Jesus. Jesus is greater than the prophets. Jesus is even greater than the angels.
Godliness
The apostle Paul, besides being teacher of Christology, teacher of theology, was also a preacher of practical godliness. That is recommended to us in the Spirit of Prophecy. In between his ten comparisons that we are going to look at, he puts passages dealing with practical godliness. It is a little bit of the same idea as the apostle Peter. In 11 Peter 3, he is talking about the Second Coming of Christ and the destruction of the earth and the fire that will cleanse the earth, and then he says, in verse 11, “In view of all these things, what manner of persons ought we to be?” He gives inference to the practical godliness aspect.
So we are going to pass by Hebrews 2:1–4, where Paul is talking about practical godliness. It is wonderful, and it is good, but that is not the study of this article.
As We Are
Beginning with Hebrews 2:6, Paul does something that is very interesting to me, and carries it all the way through the end of the chapter. He has just started exalting Jesus Christ, higher and higher—higher than the prophets, higher than the angels—but then a sudden thought occurs to him. “But do not forget, He is my brother; He is your brother; He is just like we are. He is not so high that we cannot get to Him.”
Paul fills the rest of chapter 2 with that, and he tells us that Jesus took on the flesh and blood of the children of Abraham. “For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren.” Verses 16, 17.
Third Comparison
In Hebrews 3, Paul moves on to his third comparison. Jesus is greater than Moses. What name, other than Abraham, was so revered in Israel as much as the name of Moses, the great lawgiver, the great leader, the great establisher of the nation in the days of the covenant at Sinai?
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses [was faithful] in all his house.” Hebrews 3:1, 2. Remember that in the Bible the word house is often used where you and I would use the word family. So, you see, we find that to be true here, as you will see shortly. Substitute family for house as you read the following verses.
“For this [man],” that is, Jesus, “was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some [man]; but he that built all things [is] God. And Moses verily [was] faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Verses 3–6.
So here we have Christ as greater than the prophets. Christ is greater than the angels. Christ is greater than Moses. I think it should be clear to us now what Paul is trying to do. When everything is swept away and everything is gone, Jesus Christ is still going to be there.
Hebrews 3:7–5:3 all deals again with practical godliness, urging upon us the kind of godly life we should live in view of the things that Paul is laying before us.
Fourth Comparison
And now we come to Hebrews 5:4 where Paul tells us that Christ is greater than Aaron: “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as [was] Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another [place], Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Verses 4–6.
This Melchisedec theme will come back all the way through chapter 7. Intermittently, Paul throws it back and back. Christ is like Melchisedec, not like Aaron, but like Melchisedec. As he offers his evidence here, you read in verse 6, “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Verses 7–10 continue: “Who in the days of his flesh,” speaking of Jesus, “when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
Paul argues presently that Melchisedec is one who has no record of where he came from or where he went or anything about him. He picks up on that. Now, we hear people today asking, “Who was Melchisedec? Whose son was he? From where did he come?” And we do not have any good answer for that, even in our time.
Paul picks up on that, seeing Melchisedec as a symbol of Jesus Christ who did not come from a lineage that we know a lot about, but is of a higher order of the priesthood. So, he says, now, that Christ, in this fourth comparison, is greater than Aaron, the founder of the Levitical priesthood.
And then practical godliness is presented again, beginning with Hebrews 5:11 and continuing through chapter 6:1. We cannot pass this last verse without at least reading it, because it is loaded with meaning. “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” (Paul is going to come back to the doctrine of Christ) “let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.”
Do you know what I see in that? If you have the right doctrine of Jesus Christ, you will have the right doctrine of perfection. If you have a wrong doctrine of Jesus Christ, you will have a wrong doctrine of perfection, and we see that all about us.
Transition to Abraham
The practical godliness theme continues through chapter 6, until we come to the last verse, verse 20, and then Paul returns to Melchisedec. “Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
Paul enlarges on this, and there is a transition, you see. He has been talking about Christ being greater than Aaron because He is like Melchisedec, and then he enlarges on the Melchisedec theme by bringing Abraham into the picture. Watch carefully as we go to chapter 7. “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all . . .” Verses 1, 2, first part.
And then Paul talks about Melchisedec, which means “king of righteousness.” That is given in verse 2, and in verse 3, he mentions that we have no genealogy for Melchisedec, so he compares that to the Son of God.
In verse 4, he returns to his basic argument that Abraham is not as high as Melchisedec, because Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec: “Now consider how great this man [was], unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.” Verses 4–6.
Now notice the line in verse 7: “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.”
Paul is saying that Christ is greater than the prophets. Christ is greater than the angels. Christ is greater than Aaron. Christ is greater than Abraham, and his reasoning is presented there.
To be continued . . .
Dr. Ralph Larson has completed forty years of services to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as pastor, evangelist, departmental secretary, and college and seminary teacher. His last assignment before retiring was chairman of the Church and Ministry Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Far East. His graduate degrees were earned from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and Andover-Newton Theological Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts. He now lives in Cherry Valley, California. His evangelistic sermons have resulted in more than five thousand persons being baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.