I preached this little reflection as part of our Service of Shadows at our Easter Thursday evening gathering.
Hebrews 1:3 describes for us a clear and powerful summary of who Jesus is.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
What do we find of Jesus in this stunning sentence?
- He radiates.
- He represents.
- He sustains.
First, he radiates.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory… (Hebrews 1:3)
This is the image of light bursting forth from its source. Like the sun breaking through the clouds on an overcast day, with spots of light radiating through.
Jesus doesn’t just reflect the glory of God, like a mirror reflects what is in front of it. Rather, he is the radiance of it. His light isn’t borrowed from somewhere or someone else, it actually comes from him directly. He is the light of the world after all (John 8:12). The glory of God shines through him.
In a world clouded by confusion and darkness, Jesus is the one who shines clearly. If you’ve ever wondered what God is like, the answer is this Jesus, who radiates the heart of God.
Second, he represents.
…and the exact representation of his being… (Hebrews 1:3)
He is the exacts representation of his being. Jesus isn’t a shadow or a copy. He’s not like a movie that has been adapted from a book, which never quite does the book justice. He’s not like a photocopied document, which is as never as clear as the original.
He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. His character, his heart, and his holiness are all in Jesus.
Colossians 1:15 says,
“He is the image of the invisible God.”
And in John 14:9, Jesus says,
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.“
In Jesus we don’t just get a glimpse of God—we get God himself.
Jesus shouldn’t just remind us of God, he reveals God and makes the unknowable known.
Third, he sustains.
…sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)
As we gather this evening, right now, Jesus is holding the universe together. He’s not straining to do this, he’s not finding it particularly difficult or has to put in a lot of effort, but he is doing this through his word.
The breath we take, the turning of the earth in time, the presence and placement of the stars and the moon are all upheld by Jesus and his word.
John 1:3 reminds us that,
…through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
And Colossians 1:17 tells us,
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
This Jesus, the one who we hear in each of the readings here in our Service of Shadows, readings that speak of Jesus’ mocking, bruising, and crucifying, but who is also the one who sustains the universe.
Even though we will hear the end of Jesus’ earthly life through these readings, his power isn’t diminished by the cross. In fact, it is the other way around, his power is revealed through it.
As we sit in stillness and walk through the shadows on the way to the cross we know that Jesus is (1) the radiance of God’s glory, and yet went to the cross for our sake. We know that he is (2) the exact representation of God’s nature, and yet sacrificed himself for you and for me. And we know that he is (3) the one who sustains all things, upholding our very lives, yet gave up his life for ours, taking our place on the cross for our restoration to God.
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