Jesus Unplugged
in these last days has spoken to us in His Son Hebrews 1:2
In – Don’t you think that this statement is a little odd? We wouldn’t say that God spoke to us in someone. We would say that God spoke to us through someone. Why? Because for us, the emphasis is on the message, not the messenger. We focus our attention on what is verbally communicated, not on who does the communicating. That’s a mistake. The author of Hebrews wants us to understand that God’s full revelation finds its paradigm case in the Son, not simply through the Son. It is Jesus Himself that is the message of God. It’s not just what He says, but rather who He is that matters.
In our culture, we rarely pay attention to the messenger. In fact, we have a common saying that shows just how much we divorce the message from the message bearer. “I’m just the messenger,” implies that the content has nothing to do with me. It’s as if I were simply carrying something along the way; something that is not really part of me. But this is never true of Jesus. Every action, every word, every feeling and every thought of Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus is God in the flesh – and that means we had better pay very close attention to His “flesh” because it is also God’s message to us. It matters how Jesus acted and reacted. It matters how He worshipped, prayed, ate, drank, walked, slept (or didn’t sleep). Nothing in the life of the Son of God is insignificant. Nothing is merely the messenger.
The author of this verse uses the Greek word en. It’s really a very simple word, commonly translated by a whole host of English equivalents like “in, at, on or by.” But there is something you need to know about this tiny little word. This Greek preposition stands in the middle between two other prepositions, eis and ek. All of these prepositions are finally about motion. Eis means “into.” Ek mean “out of.” And en stands right between them. En is the place of rest. What it implies here is that the full revelation of God comes to rest in Jesus. Nothing more needs to be added. God rests in the place of Jesus.
This is an absolutely incredible claim. If it were not backed up by the resurrection, we would have to rationally reject it. How can the God of the universe, the All Mighty, rest in a man named Jesus? It is simply not conceivable. Therefore, many reject this claim. They keep looking for other messengers of divinity. They don’t see that Jesus is not a messenger! He is the message – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about who God is.
Go back to your gospels. Read them in a new light. Jesus is God. Yes, of course, you knew that already. But have you really understood? Jesus is not communicating with you about God. Don’t put Him in the category of a messenger. Let who He is show you who God is. You might discover something important.
