Jared Neusch—Year B Proper 22

Anthony: All right, let’s do this. Let’s dive into the lectionary texts, which we will be discussing for this month. Our first passage of the month is Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12. I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version, the updated edition. It is the Revised Common Lectionary passage for Proper 22 in Ordinary Time, which falls on October 6.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. ³ He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵ Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶ But someone has testified somewhere, “What are humans that you are mindful of them or mortals that you care for them? ⁷ You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, ⁸subjecting all things under their feet.” Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, ⁹ but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ¹⁰ It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, ¹² saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

So, Jared, what are your insights on the high Christology found in Hebrews 1:1-4? And how should it inform our understanding of God and Scripture?

Neusch: It’s really quite a profound thing that the author says here to open this letter. It’s a really, really important start to this letter that helps us understand a lot of what’s going on here.

So, this author says for a long time, God spoke to us through a variety of ways by the prophets. But in these days, he now speaks to us by his Son. And then the author goes on to clarify how the Son is the exact imprint of God’s being. And I don’t think it’s a mistake that there is a clarification of how this new way of God speaking carries the exact imprint.

There’s a suggestion there about the previous representations of God, if this new way is the exact imprint. So this speaks to the clarity. And one might even say the absolute reliability of God’s message now through the Son. And in short, I think this is saying Jesus is the supreme way God speaks.

And I find this text to be a beautiful companion to John 1. And versus 17 – 18 come to mind; obviously the whole chapter is great. (And I can hear you saying, yes.) So, it says the law indeed was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

And then just the author of Hebrews does same here, John then goes on to talk about the Son’s ability to represent God in a way that no one else has been able to. So then verse 18, no one has ever seen God. It is the only Son himself, God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. So, in both John 1 and here in Hebrews, there’s this sense of, hey, God has — sure he has spoken in these other ways and it’s beautiful. And it’s certainly a part of the story. And then there’s almost okay, the pin drops here. And it’s now he has spoken through his Son, and he clarifies: and the Son is the one that is truly, with absolute clarity, the highest resolution image of God that we’ve ever seen.

And so, there are some implications here. So Christologically, we get a message of hermeneutical priority. And what I mean by that — for there might be a spectrum of listeners here who have different experience with theology — but that just means in terms of interpreting Scripture, Christ takes center stage in directing that. And we have heard from God through some mediums, but now we have heard through the Son, who is the exact imprint.

And so, this is the highest, again, the highest resonance image we have. And so, Christ is the supreme hermeneutic when reading the scriptures the supreme interpretive ethic.

And although the revelation of Christ, in some ways, it seems to build upon what came before, but it is, nevertheless, also the beginning of the story and it is superior. And it is the center. So, I guess to summarize that Jesus is superior to all the ways God has previously revealed himself.

And so, our readings of Scripture should reflect that whatever else we might come across in reading Scripture about God and how he may be presented or represented in certain ways, the revelation of Christ must stand as the highest order of truth through which we filter all other revelation, all other depictions and images of God.

It must be our hermeneutical North. And I think that is a key thing here that this is how the author starts Hebrews, and it sets the tone for us.

Anthony: I appreciate what you said about him being the highest hermeneutical ethic. Since it is about him, he is our true North, our starting point.

He is the hermeneutical key for all of Scripture.

And yet Jared, often when I hear preaching, it doesn’t start with him. It starts with us. Or I hear instead of exegesis, sometimes eisegesis. And I’m just curious. I didn’t plan to ask you this, but you, I know, love hermeneutics. So, what would you say to preachers, as a guide, to help them know that when I come to a text, I want to have the highest Christology, the highest hermeneutical ethic as possible.

Any steps, any guidance that you would provide to preachers and teachers in that way?

Neusch: I mean, even your question is instructive for these preachers and teachers to make sure that they are keeping Jesus as central. And I think it goes down to the very center of how we understand the gospel.

And we probably won’t get into this in this podcast, but you mentioned at the beginning apocalyptic readings of Paul. And in short, that is readings of Paul that most centrally account for the impact of the revelation of Christ on Paul and the apocalypse or the revelation of Christ is central for Paul.

And it’s the beginning of the story for Paul. And it helps him make sense of the whole grand narrative of Scripture, but it begins with the revelation of Christ. Because as you rightly said, if we begin various theological explorations with a problem or sin, some of these other things or our story, then — it’s very subtle, and we often don’t even know we’re doing it — but we are framing the rest of what then comes, we are conditioning and contextualizing Christ in our story or in our problem. And then he appears as a bit of a cameo in something else that’s going on. And so, then the sin or the problem or the issue or our life or our story, helps make sense of Christ rather than the other way around. It’s the revelation of Christ that helps us truly understand what the sin problem was, helps us truly understand the narrative that we were in, and all these other things.

So, I think, yeah, to preachers and teachers, I think it’s a constant journey, but I think returning over and over to these key texts like John 1 or Hebrews, of course, the Gospels in general, to keep Jesus as the center and as the human, as the hermeneutical priority in Scripture.

And maybe this would be also a good checkpoint as well. If we’ve developed a sermon, and we’ve got bullet points at the end. And we see, I’ve done these three things that I’m communicating as maybe some sort of principle or guide or something, they need to be clearly consistent with what God has revealed in Christ by the Spirit. So, it needs to be incarnational. It needs to reflect Jesus. It can’t be at odds with what God has revealed about himself in Christ. Otherwise, we’re in some sketchy waters.

Anthony: Oh, that is really helpful. And I hadn’t even considered maybe those bullet point, keys at the end of a sermon, but they still have to reflect the truth of what God has revealed in Jesus Christ. And it’s certainly as J. B. Torrance would say, can’t throw people back on themselves to work this all out without the work of the Spirit. Thank you for that.

Is there anything else from this text that you would want to shine the spotlight on for preachers and teachers in helping them prepare this Sunday’s sermon?

Neusch: Yeah, I think I would want to maybe just to reemphasize that our theology is grounded in Jesus. So, I would want to communicate the reliability of Jesus to show us the Father, not just a part of the Father and not just, oh, this revelation of Christ clearly shows us this, but we have this competing idea in a different place. That’s just as equal, just as good, just as high.

Jesus is God’s supreme self-revelation by the Spirit. And so, this must make a difference in how we read the Old Testament. Not to be gloomy or negative here, but I do sometimes think our interpretations of the Old Testament wouldn’t change that much whether or not we had the story of Jesus dying on the cross.

We’d still say, oh wow, look at how great David was and look at this courage and look at the wisdom of Solomon, and look at Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. All these things are great. And sometimes they have a nod to Christ. Oh, this looks Jesus being sacrificed. Or oh, David killing Goliath looks like Jesus defeating our enemies. And that’s a cool reflection, but it doesn’t go deep enough.

And I think it has to mean something for our interpretation of the scriptures that God has revealed himself in Jesus. And I think it sometimes requires radical readings and re-readings like we see the apostle Paul doing. And I think we need to be willing to be pushed a bit further by the revelation of Christ. And I think, yeah, Jesus is not just one section of our systematic theology, cordoned off in the Christology section. The incarnation is the cornerstone, the fountainhead of our theology as a whole.

I think I would just really want to emphasize that.

Anthony: That’s a good word for all of us who have the privilege and the responsibility to teach. So, thank you, Jared.