⁴… having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

When we say that Jesus, the Son of God, is incomparable and in a completely different category of existence, we must clarify this. Properly speaking, we cannot categorize God, for in doing see we are limiting Him to our concepts; indeed God is greater than any category of human thought can devise. We cannot speak of something that He belongs to or belongs in. He is the Creator of all thought, intellect, and, yes, even concepts. No truth, reality, or philosophical category of thought is greater than He. We human beings, therefore, have no ability at all to think of or conceptualize God, to compartmentalize Him into any system of thinking—that is, unless He reveals Himself to us in human words we can understand.

As we read in Hebrews 1:1, “God has spoken to us ….” He uses what our limited, puny minds can comprehend to convey truths about Himself. Because we are rational beings created in His image, He uses what philosophers have discovered and called “argument from the lesser to the greater.” He uses things we understand (lesser) to communicate to us about Himself (greater). Otherwise, we would never know God.

The writer of Hebrews, after asserting that God has spoken to us in His Son and extolling the central core of His greatness (Heb. 1:1-3), now begins to use things we know about to help us comprehend just how great the Son is. In Hebrews chapters 1-2, Jesus is greater than the angels—those supernatural beings we see throughout the Scripture, who appeared to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, the apostles at the resurrection and ascension of Christ, Paul, and even to those extending hospitality (Heb. 13:2).

Hebrews 3-4 presents Jesus as greater than Moses, the revered leader who brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage. His iconic stature throughout Jewish history is galvanized in the fact that his name was attached to: “The Law of Moses.” He was the law-giver, having received it from God on Mt. Sinai. But, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, did what the Law could never do; it gave people rest from striving for righteousness and perfection.

Then, the Son is shown to be comparably greater than the Jewish (Aaronic) priesthood, which represented the entire sacrificial system of the OT. His was a superior priesthood (to use earthly concepts), one in the order of the enigmatic OT character called Melchizedek (who was what we call a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ). We find this teaching in Hebrews 5-8a.

Hebrews 8-10 finds us contemplating the superiority of the Son of God over the entire OT covenant with Israel. This very defining characteristic set the Jews apart from all other people. In particular, Jesus, as the Son, is the perfect sacrifice that opens the way into God’s presence, which the Jewish system could only symbolize. He, and only He, is the fulcrum, the determiner of who is accepted as righteous in God’s presence or who will fall under judgment for unrighteousness.

As believers, we are (and should be) overjoyed at the greatness of Jesus Christ and His superiority overall Moses, the Law and the Covenant. We stand with those of all ages who believe in God (Heb. 11). What should we do, then, with the greatness of the Son?

… let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1–2)

… let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe… (Heb. 12:28)

… let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (Heb. 13:15)

Lord, I join with all believers everywhere in praising You for revealing Your greatness to us in ways we can begin to understand. Take me deeper, Lord, into an even more excellent knowledge of You.