evangelical and gospel sense is not the theme of Hebrews; it deals with a saved people,

and their sanctification.

The teaching of the epistle as to sanctification is directly bearing on the "purifying of

sins", which Heb. 1: 3 brings so prominently forward. It figures again in 2: 11 and

10: 10, 14, "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

. . . for by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified". The

context speaks of the new covenant, of access into the holiest, and of despising the blood

of the covenant whereunto one is sanctified: it is not the salvation of the sinner, but the

perfecting of those who are sanctified that is here; so we come back to Heb. 1: 3.  Of all

the phases of the sacrificial work of Christ this one is selected, selected by reason of the

fact that it is vitally connected with the purpose of the epistle. The greatness of the One

who thus provided the purifying, the Son of God, makes wilful defilement a terrible

thing, it does despite to the spirit of grace.

Heb. 10: 12 tells us that after the Lord had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, He

sat down; this is the testimony also of Heb. 1: 3, "When He had made a purifying of sins,

sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high". This has reference to His high

priesthood, "we have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the

Majesty in the heavens" (8: 1), and to Himself as the pattern, "looking unto Jesus, the

author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God" (12: 2).

Both the high priest and the pattern are for believers, so also this one phase of the work of

Calvary, "the purifying of sins".

The first "better" thing of the epistle is the exaltation of Christ ("having become by so

much better than angels, by how much having inherited a more excellent name than

they"). This is a sentence of un-English sound, and yet it brings out the comparison that

is intended. The becoming better than the angels is not by virtue of the Lord's deity.

Looked at from the divine standpoint, He Who is addressed as God (verse 8) must of

necessity be better than angels; looked at from the human standpoint, He was made for a

little while lower than the angels, and in that capacity as Son He has been highly exalted.

The measure of His excellence above angels is His inherited name: by how much He has

inherited, by so much He is greater.

The question then has to do with the inherited name. But first, we might pause to ask:

Why should such an argument be necessary, and in what way does it contribute to the

theme of the epistle?