The Sevenfold Glory of Christ
[Verse 1]. Without an introductory word the letter begins directly with pointing at God’s speaking. Through what God had spoken, He revealed His thoughts. You wouldn’t have otherwise known them. God was not obliged to make His thoughts known, but it is His wonderful grace that He still did it.
The writer points his readers to the fact that God “spoke … to the fathers” in times past. That makes it clear that the readers are in the first place believers from the Israelites. To those that were converted from the Gentiles, this phrase would have been neither meaningful nor important. Also the fact that God spoke “in the prophets” indicates that it is about readers of Jewish origin. The writer includes himself also. You can derive that from the word “us”.
God spoke to the fathers by the prophets “in many portions and in many ways”. In the course of time He had spoken to His earthly people at various moments and again and again by different prophets. He also spoke in various ways. Thereby you may think about warnings, teachings, visions, dreams, wonders and signs (cf. [Hos 12:10]). But all this speaking has not brought about the desired result. His people deviated again and again and much further and further away from God.
After God has spoken to His people in this way through the past ages, He finally spoke in His Son to them. This speaking happened in the last days. Those are the days that God still spoke to His people, but were coming to an end and they definitely ended when His people rejected His Son. This speaking of God in His Son happened when the Lord Jesus was on earth. It was the last attempt from God’s side to bring His people back to Himself.
However, there is a tremendous distinction between the speaking of all previous prophets, and the speaking in the Son. The prophets were people through the means of whom God addressed His people. But the Lord Jesus, the Son, is not a means through Whom God speaks. It is the speaking of God Himself! The prophets spoke in the name of God. The Lord Jesus did not speak in the name of God, but spoke as being God. He indeed did that as Man on earth, but that Man is God the Son.
That’s what makes God’s speaking in the Son extraordinarily impressive. When God speaks in the Son, there is no mention anymore of partial or temporary Divine speaking, for all speaking of the Son is always and perfectly Divine. The Son is infinitely far exalted above the prophets as He is also above all other people as well as above the angels to whom the Jews were looking up.
After the writer has introduced the Son in this way, he starts to describe the great majesty of the Son in an inimitable way. He does that by introducing to you seven glories of this Person Who is exalted beyond everything and everyone.
1. [Verse 2]. In the first place the Son has been “appointed heir of all things” by God. As Son He will own in glory everything that exists. It is God’s plan to subject all things to His Son Who became Man.
He could only receive the inheritance as heir after the testator has died [Heb 9:17]. Now the wonderful thing is that He is the Testator as well as the Heir. And how did He receive the inheritance as Heir? By dying as the Testator. You may say that it is God’s inheritance and that therefore God is the testament Maker, while Christ is the Heir. But Christ is God Himself and therefore receives the inheritance through His own death, of course as Man, for God cannot die. This is an inconceivable mystery to our understanding, but to faith this wonder is a reason to bow down and worship God.
There is yet a wonderful thing in addition to that. He is the Heir, but through God’s wonderful grace you are fellow-heir of “all things”, the whole universe, nothing excluded [Rom 8:16-17]; [Gal 4:7]. Shouldn’t this awareness give us the courage to persevere?
2. His second glory is His power to create. Through Him God has “also … made the worlds – the men’s world, the angels’ world and the world of the stars. The whole wide system of this universe is the work of His hands, Who has spoken to us: the Divine Christ. Without Him not one thing has come into being, that has that has come into being [John 1:3]; [Col 1:16].
3. [Verse 3]. The third is that whatever glory of God radiates to the outside, it always happens through the Son. The Son is “the radiance of His glory”. The light of God’s glory has become visible in Him. He is the image of the invisible God [Col 1:15]. It is like the sun with its beams. Where the sun is, its beams are seen, and where there are sun beams there is the sun. The beams and the sun are fully from the same nature. It is inconceivable that there are sun beams apart from the sun. The beams cannot be blocked or polluted. Whatever man did to the Son on earth, the beams could never be blocked nor darkened or blemished.
4. But fourth, He is the Sun Himself and not only the brightness. He is not only a reflection of God, no, the Being of God is in Him. The Son is “the exact representation of His nature”. Everything that God is on high, Christ is as Man. It is ‘expressed’ in Him (cf. [Deut 4:15-16], [Deut 4:25]; [Exod 33:9-11], [Exod 33:20-23]. The whole Being of God is found in Him as an exact image.
What is visible in the Son is completely in accordance with and is identical to the invisible God. There is no thought in God or Christ is the exact image of it. He Himself is God, as much as the Father and the Spirit Who in and through Him are revealed in Their full nature. You see the triune God in Him in everything He says and does.
5. His fifth glory is that He “upholds all things by the word of His power”. His word has Divine power [Ps 33:6-9]. He is the Creator and He also sustains everything. After He has created everything He also looks after everything He has created, for He has created everything with a purpose. All things exist together in Him [Col 1:17], all things are held together by Him.
He doesn’t bear all things as a dead matter on His back that it does not fall, but He leads everything to a goal. The bearing implies movement and going on. An example of that you see in His daily care for all His own. To each of the countless prayers that are daily sent to Him for all kinds of matters, He can answer by the word of His power. He takes care of the maintenance of the whole creation and of each individual life.
6. The sixth Divine glory becomes visible in Him as Man. That glory is that He “made purification of sins”. Here it is not about ‘our’ sins, but about the fact of the purification of the sins. That He has done that, is an addition to the glory of the Son. He did that Himself, which underlines additionally that the Son has accomplished the redemption work absolutely Himself alone and in His own strength. The purification of sins means that He has done away and removed the sins.
7. Also the seventh Divine glory you see in Him as Man. He “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. As Man He took His seat on high after He had made purification of sins. The fact that He is there proves the perfection of His work. As a result, everything related to the majesty of God is fully fulfilled. Therefore He is entitled to that place. He sits there, which indicates a situation of rest. He sits down at the right hand, which indicates a place of honor.
On Him there, seated on high, your eyes are always directed as you read this letter. Should you ever doubt whether your sins have been put away, then look to Him there, seated on high. Looking to Him there makes an end to every doubt.
By the way, in this letter the Lord Jesus is seen four times at the right hand of God:
1. In chapter 1 [Verse 1-3] where He in His own personal glory is seated there after He made purification of sins;
2. in chapter 8 [Heb 8:1-2] in relation to His High Priest service;
3. in chapter 10 [Heb 10:12] with a view to the sacrifice accomplished by Him once for all, through which He can be seated as Priest, for the sacrifice doesn’t ever have to be repeated again;
4. finally in chapter 12 [Heb 12:2] where it is not related to His Person, His service or His accomplished work, but to His inner feelings of ‘the joy that laid before Him’.
The writer points his readers to the fact that God “spoke … to the fathers” in times past. That makes it clear that the readers are in the first place believers from the Israelites. To those that were converted from the Gentiles, this phrase would have been neither meaningful nor important. Also the fact that God spoke “in the prophets” indicates that it is about readers of Jewish origin. The writer includes himself also. You can derive that from the word “us”.
God spoke to the fathers by the prophets “in many portions and in many ways”. In the course of time He had spoken to His earthly people at various moments and again and again by different prophets. He also spoke in various ways. Thereby you may think about warnings, teachings, visions, dreams, wonders and signs (cf. [Hos 12:10]). But all this speaking has not brought about the desired result. His people deviated again and again and much further and further away from God.
After God has spoken to His people in this way through the past ages, He finally spoke in His Son to them. This speaking happened in the last days. Those are the days that God still spoke to His people, but were coming to an end and they definitely ended when His people rejected His Son. This speaking of God in His Son happened when the Lord Jesus was on earth. It was the last attempt from God’s side to bring His people back to Himself.
However, there is a tremendous distinction between the speaking of all previous prophets, and the speaking in the Son. The prophets were people through the means of whom God addressed His people. But the Lord Jesus, the Son, is not a means through Whom God speaks. It is the speaking of God Himself! The prophets spoke in the name of God. The Lord Jesus did not speak in the name of God, but spoke as being God. He indeed did that as Man on earth, but that Man is God the Son.
That’s what makes God’s speaking in the Son extraordinarily impressive. When God speaks in the Son, there is no mention anymore of partial or temporary Divine speaking, for all speaking of the Son is always and perfectly Divine. The Son is infinitely far exalted above the prophets as He is also above all other people as well as above the angels to whom the Jews were looking up.
After the writer has introduced the Son in this way, he starts to describe the great majesty of the Son in an inimitable way. He does that by introducing to you seven glories of this Person Who is exalted beyond everything and everyone.
1. [Verse 2]. In the first place the Son has been “appointed heir of all things” by God. As Son He will own in glory everything that exists. It is God’s plan to subject all things to His Son Who became Man.
He could only receive the inheritance as heir after the testator has died [Heb 9:17]. Now the wonderful thing is that He is the Testator as well as the Heir. And how did He receive the inheritance as Heir? By dying as the Testator. You may say that it is God’s inheritance and that therefore God is the testament Maker, while Christ is the Heir. But Christ is God Himself and therefore receives the inheritance through His own death, of course as Man, for God cannot die. This is an inconceivable mystery to our understanding, but to faith this wonder is a reason to bow down and worship God.
There is yet a wonderful thing in addition to that. He is the Heir, but through God’s wonderful grace you are fellow-heir of “all things”, the whole universe, nothing excluded [Rom 8:16-17]; [Gal 4:7]. Shouldn’t this awareness give us the courage to persevere?
2. His second glory is His power to create. Through Him God has “also … made the worlds – the men’s world, the angels’ world and the world of the stars. The whole wide system of this universe is the work of His hands, Who has spoken to us: the Divine Christ. Without Him not one thing has come into being, that has that has come into being [John 1:3]; [Col 1:16].
3. [Verse 3]. The third is that whatever glory of God radiates to the outside, it always happens through the Son. The Son is “the radiance of His glory”. The light of God’s glory has become visible in Him. He is the image of the invisible God [Col 1:15]. It is like the sun with its beams. Where the sun is, its beams are seen, and where there are sun beams there is the sun. The beams and the sun are fully from the same nature. It is inconceivable that there are sun beams apart from the sun. The beams cannot be blocked or polluted. Whatever man did to the Son on earth, the beams could never be blocked nor darkened or blemished.
4. But fourth, He is the Sun Himself and not only the brightness. He is not only a reflection of God, no, the Being of God is in Him. The Son is “the exact representation of His nature”. Everything that God is on high, Christ is as Man. It is ‘expressed’ in Him (cf. [Deut 4:15-16], [Deut 4:25]; [Exod 33:9-11], [Exod 33:20-23]. The whole Being of God is found in Him as an exact image.
What is visible in the Son is completely in accordance with and is identical to the invisible God. There is no thought in God or Christ is the exact image of it. He Himself is God, as much as the Father and the Spirit Who in and through Him are revealed in Their full nature. You see the triune God in Him in everything He says and does.
5. His fifth glory is that He “upholds all things by the word of His power”. His word has Divine power [Ps 33:6-9]. He is the Creator and He also sustains everything. After He has created everything He also looks after everything He has created, for He has created everything with a purpose. All things exist together in Him [Col 1:17], all things are held together by Him.
He doesn’t bear all things as a dead matter on His back that it does not fall, but He leads everything to a goal. The bearing implies movement and going on. An example of that you see in His daily care for all His own. To each of the countless prayers that are daily sent to Him for all kinds of matters, He can answer by the word of His power. He takes care of the maintenance of the whole creation and of each individual life.
6. The sixth Divine glory becomes visible in Him as Man. That glory is that He “made purification of sins”. Here it is not about ‘our’ sins, but about the fact of the purification of the sins. That He has done that, is an addition to the glory of the Son. He did that Himself, which underlines additionally that the Son has accomplished the redemption work absolutely Himself alone and in His own strength. The purification of sins means that He has done away and removed the sins.
7. Also the seventh Divine glory you see in Him as Man. He “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. As Man He took His seat on high after He had made purification of sins. The fact that He is there proves the perfection of His work. As a result, everything related to the majesty of God is fully fulfilled. Therefore He is entitled to that place. He sits there, which indicates a situation of rest. He sits down at the right hand, which indicates a place of honor.
On Him there, seated on high, your eyes are always directed as you read this letter. Should you ever doubt whether your sins have been put away, then look to Him there, seated on high. Looking to Him there makes an end to every doubt.
By the way, in this letter the Lord Jesus is seen four times at the right hand of God:
1. In chapter 1 [Verse 1-3] where He in His own personal glory is seated there after He made purification of sins;
2. in chapter 8 [Heb 8:1-2] in relation to His High Priest service;
3. in chapter 10 [Heb 10:12] with a view to the sacrifice accomplished by Him once for all, through which He can be seated as Priest, for the sacrifice doesn’t ever have to be repeated again;
4. finally in chapter 12 [Heb 12:2] where it is not related to His Person, His service or His accomplished work, but to His inner feelings of ‘the joy that laid before Him’.
Verses that belong to this explanation: 1-3
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 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; 3 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;
 | Author: Ger de Koning Rank: Author Posted on: 2025-04-17 Source: Title: Der Brief an die Hebräer: Reihe: Eine Auslegung speziell für dich Year (original): 2011 Author: Ger de Koning Number of pages: 196 Copyright: kingcomments.com Note General: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author or the publisher. |
No other letter of the NT addresses its concerns as quickly as the Letter to the Hebrews. Without any greeting or introduction, the author gets straight to the point. It seems as if he is filled with a sacred impatience to present the surpassing glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, he contrasts the revelation of God through the "prophets" with the revelation in his Son. The "prophets" were men designated by God who spoke in his name. They were revered as servants of Yahweh. The spiritual wealth of their service is preserved in the OT.
However, their service was only partial and remained fragmentary. Each was given a certain measure of revelation, but it was always incomplete.
The truth was revealed to them not only in parts, but they also used "various" means to convey their revelation to people. It was passed on as law, history, poetry, and prophecy. Sometimes it involved oral communication, sometimes written revelation. Occasionally, there were visions, dreams, symbols, or even theatrical acts. But whatever method they used, it is important to note that God's earlier revelations to the Jewish people were preliminary, continually supplemented, and diverse in their form of presentation.
First, he contrasts the revelation of God through the "prophets" with the revelation in his Son. The "prophets" were men designated by God who spoke in his name. They were revered as servants of Yahweh. The spiritual wealth of their service is preserved in the OT.
However, their service was only partial and remained fragmentary. Each was given a certain measure of revelation, but it was always incomplete.
The truth was revealed to them not only in parts, but they also used "various" means to convey their revelation to people. It was passed on as law, history, poetry, and prophecy. Sometimes it involved oral communication, sometimes written revelation. Occasionally, there were visions, dreams, symbols, or even theatrical acts. But whatever method they used, it is important to note that God's earlier revelations to the Jewish people were preliminary, continually supplemented, and diverse in their form of presentation.
 | Author: William MacDonald Rank: Author Posted on: 2024-04-14 Source: Title: Commentary on the New Testament Year (original): 1989 Author: William MacDonald Number of pages: 1504 Publisher/Editor: CLV Print: GGP Media GmbH, Pößneck |
God spake to his ancient people at sundry times, through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son. In beholding the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we behold the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Father, [John 14:7]; the fullness of the Godhead dwells, not typically, or in a figure, but really, in him. When, on the fall of man, the world was breaking to pieces under the wrath and curse of God, the Son of God, undertaking the work of redemption, sustained it by his almighty power and goodness. From the glory of the person and office of Christ, we proceed to the glory of his grace. The glory of His person and nature, gave to his sufferings such merit as was a full satisfaction to the honor of God, who suffered an infinite injury and affront by the sins of men. We never can be thankful enough that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness, spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.
Verses that belong to this explanation: 1-3
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 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; 3 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;
 | Author: Matthew Henry Rank: Priest AD: 1714 Source: Title: Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible Author: Matthew Henry |
But since there are of arguments myriads of currents and ways, God inspiring us "at sundry times and in divers manners"
 | Author: Methodius of Olympus Rank: Bishop AD: 311 |
The blessed Paul, writing to the Romans, says, "Inasmuch then as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: if by any means I may provoke to emulation them that are my flesh": and again, in another place, "For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles." If therefore he were the Apostle of the Gentiles, (for also in the Acts, God said to him, "Depart; for I will send you far hence unto the Gentiles," what had he to do with the Hebrews? And why did he also write an Epistle to them? And especially as besides, they were ill-disposed towards him, and this is to be seen from many places. For hear what James says to him, "Thou see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe . . . and these all have been informed of you that you teach men to forsake the law." And oftentimes he had many disputings concerning this. Why therefore, one might ask, as he was so learned in the law (for he was instructed in the law at the feet of Gamaliel, and had great zeal in the matter, and was especially able to confound them in this respect)--why did not God send him to the Jews? Because on this very account they were more vehement in their enmity against him. "For they will not endure you," God says unto him; "But depart far hence to the Gentiles, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me." Whereupon he says, "Yea, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on you; and when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." And this he says is a sign and proof of their not believing him. For thus it is: when a man goes away from any people, if he be one of the least and of those who are nothing worth, he does not much vex those from whom he went; but if he be among the distinguished and earnest partisans and those who care for these things, he exceedingly grieves and vexes them beyond measure, in that he especially overthrows their system with the multitude. And besides this, there was something else. What now might this be? That they who were about Peter were also with Christ, and saw signs and wonders; but he [Paul] having had the benefit of none of these, but being with Jews, suddenly deserted and became one of them. This especially promoted our cause. For while they indeed, seemed to testify even from gratitude, and one might have said that they bore witness to those things in love for their Master; he, on the other hand, who testifies to the resurrection, this man was rather one who heard a voice only. For this cause you see them waging war passionately with him, and doing all things for this purpose, that they might slay him, and raising seditions The unbelievers, then, were hostile to him for this reason; but why were the believers? Because in preaching to the Gentiles he was constrained to preach Christianity purely; and if haply even in Judaea he were found [doing so], he cared not. For Peter and they that were with him, because they preached in Jerusalem, when there was great fierceness, of necessity enjoined the observance of the law; but this man was quite at liberty. The [converts] too from the Gentiles were more than the Jews because they were without. And this enfeebled the law, and they had no such great reverence for it, although he preached all things purely. Doubtless in this matter they think to shame him by numbers, saying, "Thou see, brother, how many ten thousands of Jews there are which have come together." On this account they hated him and turned away from him, because "They are informed of you, he says, that you teach men to forsake the law." Why, then, not being a teacher of the Jews, does he send an Epistle to them? And where were those to whom he sent it? It seems to me in Jerusalem and Palestine. How then does he send them an Epistle? Just as he baptized, though he was not commanded to baptize. For, he says, "I was not sent to baptize": not, however, that he was forbidden, but he does it as a subordinate matter. And how could he fail to write to those, for whom he was willing even to become accursed? Accordingly he said, "Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you." For as yet he was not arrested. Two years then he passed bound, in Rome; then he was set free; then, having gone into Spain, he saw Jews also in like manner; and then he returned to Rome, where also he was slain by Nero. The Epistle to Timothy then was later than this Epistle. For there he says, "For I am now ready to be offered"; there also he says, "In my first answer no man stood with me." In many places they [the Hebrew Christians] had to contend with persecution, as also he says, writing to the Thessalonians, "You became followers of the churches of Judaea": and writing to these very persons he says, "You took joyfully the spoiling of your goods." Do you see them contending? And if men had thus treated the Apostles, not only in Judaea, but also wherever they were among the Gentiles, what would they not have done to the believers? On this account, you see, he was very careful for them. For when he says, "I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints"; and again, when he exhorts the Corinthians to beneficence, and says that the Macedonians had already made their contribution, and says, "If it be meet that I go also," --he means this. And when he says, "Only that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do,"--he declares this. And when he says, "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision,"--he declares this. But this was not for the sake of the poor who were there, but that by this we might be partakers in the beneficence. For not as the preaching did we apportion the care for the poor to each other (we indeed to the Gentiles, but they to the circumcision). And everywhere you see him using great care for them: as was reasonable. Among the other nations indeed, when there were both Jews and Greeks, such was not the case; but then, while they still seemed to have authority and independence and to order many things by their own laws, the government not being yet established nor brought perfectly under the Romans, they naturally exercised great tyranny. For if in other cities, as in Corinth, they beat the Ruler of the synagogue before the Deputy's judgment seat, and Gallio "cared for none of these things," but it was not so in Judaea. Thou see indeed, that while in other cities they bring them to the magistrates, and need help from them. and from the Gentiles, here they took no thought of this, but assemble a Sanhedrim themselves and slay whom they please. Thus in fact they put Stephen to death, thus they beat the Apostles, not taking them before rulers. Thus also they were about to put Paul to death, had not the chief captain thrown himself [upon them]. For this took place while the priests, while the temple, while the ritual, the sacrifices were vet standing. Look indeed at Paul himself being tried before the High Priest, and saying," I knew not that he was the High Priest," and this in the presence of the Ruler. For they had then great power. Consider then what things they were likely to suffer who dwelt in Jerusalem and Judaea. He then who prays to become accursed for those who were not yet believers, and who so ministers to the faithful, as to journey himself, if need be, and who everywhere took great care of them;--let us not wonder if he encourage and comfort them by letters also, and if he set them upright when tottering and fallen. For in a word, they were worn down and despairing on account of their manifold afflictions. And this he shows near the end, saying, "Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees"; and again, "Yet a little while, he that shall come will come, and will not tarry"; and again, "If ye be without chastisement, . . . then are ye bastards and not sons." For since they were Jews and learned from the fathers that they must expect both their good and their evil immediately and must live accordingly, but then [when the Gospel came] the opposite was [taught]--their good things being in hope and after death, their evils in hand, though they had patiently endured much, it was likely that many would be fainthearted;--hereon he discourses. But we will unfold these things at a fit opportunity. At present: he of necessity wrote to those for whom he cared so greatly. For while the reason why he was not sent to them is plain, yet he was not forbidden to write. And that they were becoming fainthearted he shows when he says, "Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths" and again, "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and love." For the soul overtaken by many trials, was turned aside even from the faith. Therefore he exhorts them to "Give heed to the things which they have heard, and that there should not be an evil heart of unbelief." On this account also, in this Epistle, especially, he argues at length concerning faith, and after much [reasoning] shows at the end that to them [of old] also He promised good things in hand, and yet gave nothing. And besides these things, he establishes two points that they might not think themselves forsaken: the one, that they should bear nobly whatever befalls them; the other, that they should look assuredly for their recompense. For truly He will not overlook those with Abel and the line of unrewarded righteous following him. And he draws comfort in three ways: first, from the things which Christ suffered: as He Himself says, "The servant is not greater than his Lord." Next, from the good things laid up for the believers. Thirdly, from the evils; and this point he enforces not only from the things to come (which would be less persuasive), but also from the past and from what had befallen their fathers. Christ also does the same, at one time saying, "The servant is not greater than his Lord"; and again, "There are many mansions with the Father"; and He denounces innumerable woes on the unbelievers. But he speaks much of both the New and the Old Covenant; for this was useful to him for the proof of the Resurrection. Lest they should disbelieve that [Christ] rose on account of the things which He suffered, he confirms it from the Prophets, and shows that not the Jewish, but ours are the sacred [institutions]. For the temple yet stood and the sacrificial rites; therefore he says, "Let us go forth therefore without, bearing His reproach." But this also was made an argument against him: "If these things are a shadow, if these things are an image, how is it that they have not passed away or given place when the truth was manifested, but these things still flourish?" This also he quietly intimates shall happen, and that at a time close at hand. Moreover, he makes it plain that they had been a long time in the faith and in afflictions, saying, "When for the time ye ought to be teachers," and, "Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief," and ye became "Followers of them who through patience inherit the promises."
 | Author: John Chrysostom Rank: Bishop AD: 407 |
Truly, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Romans 5:20 This at least the blessed Paul intimates here also, in the very beginning of his Epistle to the Hebrews. For since as it was likely that afflicted, worn out by evils, and judging of things thereby, they would think themselves worse off than all other men,— he shows that herein they had rather been made partakers of greater, even very exceeding, grace; arousing the hearer at the very opening of his discourse. Wherefore he says, God who at sundry times and in various manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the Prophets, has at the end of the days spoken unto us by His Son. Why did he [Paul] not oppose himself to the prophets? Certainly, he was much greater than they, inasmuch as a greater trust was committed to him. Yet he does not so. Why? First, to avoid speaking great things concerning himself. Secondly, because his hearers were not yet perfect. And thirdly, because he rather wished to exalt them, and to show that their superiority was great. As if he had said, What so great matter is it that He sent prophets to our fathers? For to us [He has sent] His own only-begotten Son Himself. And well did he begin thus, At sundry times and in various manners, for he points out that not even the prophets themselves saw God; nevertheless, the Son saw Him. For the expressions, at sundry times and in various manners are the same as in different ways. For I (says He) have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the Prophets. Hosea 12:10 Wherefore the excellency consists not in this alone, that to them indeed prophets were sent, but to us the Son; but that none of them saw God, but the Only-begotten Son saw Him. He does not indeed at once assert this, but by what he says afterwards he establishes it, when he speaks concerning His human nature; For to which of the Angels said He, You are My Son, Hebrews 1:5, and, Sit on My right hand? Hebrews 1:13 And look on his great wisdom. First he shows the superiority from the prophets. Then having established this as acknowledged, he declares that to them indeed He spoke by the prophets, but to us by the Only-begotten. Then [He spoke] to them by Angels, and this again he establishes, with good reason (for angels also held converse with the Jews): yet even herein we have the superiority, inasmuch as the Master [spoke] to us, but to them servants, and prophets, fellow-servants.
| Author: John Chrysostom Rank: Bishop AD: 407 |
That is, "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. "Similarly also Paul says, "Variously, and in many ways, God of old spake to our fathers."
 | Author: Clement Of Rome Rank: Bishop AD: 99 |
With reason, therefore, the apostle has called the wisdom of God "manifold "and which has manifested its power "in many departments and in many modes".
-by art, by knowledge, by faith, by prophecy-for our benefit. "For all wisdom is from the Lord, and is with Him for ever "as says the wisdom of Jesus.
The golden lamp conveys another enigma as a symbol of Christ, not in respect of form alone, but in his casting light, "at sundry times and divers manners".
This is He who is the Teacher of all created beings, the Fellow-counsellor of God, who foreknew all things; and He from above, from the first foundation of the world, "in many ways and many times".
"For, having spoken at sundry times and in divers manners".
For we have, as the source of teaching, the Lord, both by the prophets, the Gospel, and the blessed apostles, "in divers manners and at sundry times"
 | Author: Clement Of Alexandria Rank: Author AD: 215 |
The listed verse explanations of the individual persons have nothing to do with the explanations of the other persons. This also applies to the Bible translations.
