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. Hebrews 1:3
There is a saying regarding family-run businesses that become very successful: ‘Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’. What this means is that a man who starts from humble beginnings to build a great business may see his own children carry on successfully with the business, but his grandchildren will bring the business down to destruction. But what we see in today’s text is the very opposite of that in that the person of the Lord Jesus went from the highly exalted position in His Father’s bosom, humbled Himself in obedience and went to the shameful and humiliating cross to die, and from there rose in triumph to be seated at the pinnacle of power and glory forever.
We cannot fathom the brightness of the glory that was His in Heaven. Peter, James, and John received but a slight glimpse of that glory as they viewed the Lord’s discussion with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. But they were unable to express much more than the brightness of it. And who among us can comprehend the depths of the expression that tells us that the Lord Jesus was – and is – the express image of God? We know that the Father and the Son are co-eternally equal. But that’s as far as we can take it. We also can accept, but only by faith, that the Lord Jesus did, and always will, uphold all of things by the word of His power. That includes all of earth, all of creation, all that is in Heaven above. And that is the position from which He stooped to rescue poor sinners.
Today, our attention is focused on what transpired when our Saviour set aside most of the evidence of the glory that was His. We remember what He had to endure in order to purge our sins. We remember the humility of His life, from the lowly Bethlehem birth to the shameful Golgotha crucifixion. We remember how the world had nothing but the outside place for Him, the only crown they would give Him was one of thorns, the only exalted position they would give Him was one that was accorded the worst of criminals.
We also remember today His resurrection. By His own power, He shed the shackles of death, which had no power over His sinless Person. On this resurrection morning, we also hail Him who has risen not only from the tomb but also from this earthly platform. His today is the highest position. And we worship Him who is worthy to receive all honour, glory, and majesty. -Jim MacIntosh