阅读经文 

大约二十年前，有许多人对天使很着迷。电视节目和电影用虚构的故事和其他神灵的故事来吸引观众的注意力。天使总有些地方让我们着迷，也许是因为我们对他们知之甚少。

我们不太确定为什么希伯来书会着重于天使。可能在写作这卷书的时代，有一些关于天使的流行说法。也许人们试图把耶稣降低到与天使同等的地位。

但是，有一件事希伯来书讲得很清楚，那就是耶稣远超过天使。天使是神的使者，先知也是神的使者。但，耶稣更大，因为祂是神。

我们的经文说得很简单。在提醒读者耶稣的所说和所做之后，希伯来书说：“祂所承受的名既比天使的名更尊贵，就远超过天使。” 接下来又引用了一处又一处的旧约经文显明耶稣的尊贵。

希伯来书的重点是耶稣。即使天使也不能与祂相比。现在，祂的尊贵已经确定无疑，我们要来揭示耶稣是谁，以及祂如何在日常生活中帮助我们。

Around 20 years ago lots of people were fascinated with angels. TV shows and movies captured viewers’ attention with made-up stories about angels and other spiritual beings. There is something about angels that intrigues us—probably because we don’t know much about them.

We are not exactly sure why the book of Hebrews has a heavy emphasis on angels. There may have been some popular speculation about them back in the time when it was written. Maybe people were trying to reduce Jesus to the same level as angels.

But one thing that Hebrews makes clear is that Jesus is far superior to the angels. Angels are messengers of God. Prophets also were messengers of God. But Jesus is far greater because he is God.

Our text says it rather simply. After reminding readers of all that Jesus is and has done, Hebrews says, “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” Then the rest of the chapter quotes from text after text in the Old Testament to show how much superior Jesus is.

The focus of Hebrews is on Jesus. Not even the angels can compare to him. And now that his superiority is established, we will begin to unpack who Jesus is and how that helps us in our daily lives.