Daily Devotional • January 12

A Reading from Hebrews 1:1-12
1 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 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds
and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,“In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like clothing;
12 like a cloak you will roll them up,
and like clothing they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will never end.”
Meditation
Something we have largely lost as a culture is a robust angelic theology, once a major part of theological discourse. St. Thomas Aquinas is sometimes referred to as the “Angelic Doctor,” not because of his celestial nature, but because of his reflections on the angels. Angels exist, according to Aquinas, in a space between human beings and God. While humans are limited by time and space, angels have no such limitations. Reflecting on their existence guards us against hubris by reminding us of our dependency and finitude.
And yet, God chose to become a human being in order to unite us with himself. The angels, being unbound by time, must have known this purpose at the point of our creation, and, to some, it must have seemed unjust that such a lowly creature be so elevated. This is, in fact, the dramatic introduction to Paradise Lost by John Milton — Satan, “stirred up by envy and revenge,” sought to separate the beloved creature from the loving creator by introducing sin into the world.
And here, in the Epiphany season, we are able to catch a glimpse of the morning glow on the far side of the death brought on by this sin. Far from being foiled by Satan’s plans, God used them to overcome hell and the grave in the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus. Moreover, in the Ascension, Jesus took his human nature with him, and thereby laid a path to such glory for the adopted children of God. By making the Son, as the writer of Hebrews declares, “superior to the angels,” and having him adopt a human nature, the Father has opened a gateway through which we may pass to become — subsisting entirely on God’s eternal grace, of course — higher than the angels as well.
James Cornwell is an assistant professor of psychology and management who lives in the Hudson Valley north of New York City. He and his wife, Sarah, have five children.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
San Jose Episcopal Church, Jacksonville, Florida
The Church of the Province of West Africa