January 29, 2012 – Hebrews 1 – 2

A few words I had to look up.  One from the readings and two from the footnotes. 

Refulgence - to shine brightly.  1:3 - who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.  If you look at other translations, this makes sense.’

Fortiori Argument - The Latin phrase argumentum a fortiori denotes "argument 'from [the] stronger [reason]'." For example, if it has been established that a person is deceased, then one can, with equal or greater certainty, argue that the person is not breathing.  The Christian apostle Paul makes frequent use of the argument for purpose, often signaling it with the phrase "... if [A], then how much more [B]"  Footnote for 2:1-4.

Leitmotif - a motif or theme associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, or idea.  Footnote for 2:5-18 - The reference to Jesus as leader (Heb 2:10) sounds the first note of an important leitmotif in Hebrews.

The basic idea here is about how Christ is not only superior to the angels, but in the very same breath humbled Himself to become below angels and be human.  It wants to make very clear that Christ was not an angel and that He was greater than the angels.  This makes His becoming human all the more humbling.  But He had to become human to save humans. 

If you read the introduction, this letter was thought to be written by Paul, but that is not thought as true anymore.  They don’t know who wrote it.  It listed off several possibilities, but it is amazing to think we don’t know the author of such a large and important letter.