“Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.”
(Heb 2:5 ESV)
It was back in the early ‘00s (I’ll let you figure out how to pronounce that) and I had just seen the warm spotlights come up behind Roma Downey’s red hair and heard her say, “Gawd looves ya” for the umpteenth time when it hit me: Whatever the script for this week, this story is at least 2000 years old.
God? Yes.
Angels? Sure.
Human suffering? Obviously.
God sending angels to deal with human suffering? Yeah, sure. Obviously?
Just don’t be mentioning the name “Jesus”.
The idea of God becoming a man to build a kingdom not with swords but through acts of mercy, and one great scandalous act of mercy in particular, is as hard for people to swallow today as it was long ago. If He has all power and can do whatever He chooses, why would he appear in such weakness?
In this Kingdom the King chooses a vile and humiliating public execution as His coronation ceremony, and in doing so, turns evil on it’s ear. The greatest possible sin turns into freedom from all sin. Of all the deaths Mankind has perpetrated, this was the most heinous. Yet His capture and death frees us from slavery to the hold and fear of death. And Jesus has promised to keep wringing good out of evil, bending and twisting it to His good purposes, until that day when there is no more evil to be found. Angels are faithful ministering servants, but this is no job for one of them. This is God’s own work. And this is a job for a Man.
So says the writer to the Hebrews in the second chapter of his letter. He shows that this singular Son of God is just exactly like all the other sons and daughters of God, from whom He stands unique. By driving home this paradox, drinking in the scandal from angle after angle, he gives us Jesus our King, Savior, Priest and Brother.
So when did God, who has everything and needs nothing, become needy? Perhaps it was when He first required adding to Himself that which we take for granted: a simple, commonplace, human name. Yeshua, a.k.a. Joshua, a.k.a. Jesus.
I pray my words here will draw you into the ancient, holy words of Hebrews.
Not Angels
Helpers of the righteous
They stand before the throne
Worshipping Almighty God
He sends them to His own
Messengers of mercy,
of discipline and death
The listen to His every word
and hang on every breath
It is not angels
who will rule the world to come
It is not angels
who built the Golden City we are from
It is no angel
who made us all one family the same
It is our Brother, the Son of God,
and Jesus is His name.
A domain that is not visible
All things beneath His feet
A little lower than the angels
His suffering complete
Boldly He has worn for us
two kinds of crown
Cups sweet and bitter,
He has drunk them down
It is not angels
who will rule the world to come
It is not angels
who built the Golden City we are from
It is no angel
who made us all one family the same
It is our Brother, Mary’s boy,
and Jesus is His name.
Joshua and Jesus,
it’s still a name for flesh and blood
So many have worn that name,
but only One has borne their shame
He was made like us
For flesh and blood can die
By His sacrifice He broke the chains
That held you and I
He suffered in temptation,
He knows you when you cry
He destroyed death,
so we are not afraid to die.
It is not angels
who turned away God’s wrath
It is not angels
whose dusty sandals
walked a perfect path
Not for angels
He offered up Himself the sacrifice
It is not angels
who will rule the world to come
It is not angels
who built the Golden City we are from
It is no angel
who made us all one family the same
It is our Brother, the Lamb of God,
and Jesus is His name.
Not Angels: