A) The Exalted Person of the Mediator of the New Covenant

Heb 1:1–2. “God, having of old spoken in many portions and in many ways to the fathers through the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us through His Son.”

“Having spoken”—“has spoken.” Since the matter concerns faith, and true faith can be taught only by God through His divine revelation, it is with this that the Apostle begins his discourse. Of old, God taught faith, and now He teaches it still. But then He taught through prophets, whereas now He teaches through His own Son. By this the Jews were admonished from the very first word: Take heed, therefore! And what do these words suggest to us? — Do not await a further revelation; it has been completed. This is why the Apostle, having said “having spoken—has spoken,” did not add: “and will speak.” There is no one left to send. The Son, as in the parable of the vineyard workers, is the last messenger (Matt 21:37). After this, to us too one may apply: Take heed, therefore!

“Having spoken—has spoken.” Once again the same God speaks Who spoke before. Consequently, the new Word of God is in accord with the ancient, and the ancient with the new. Although the outward institutions of old have passed away, the word of truth hidden within them is unchangeable. That word serves as the most powerful confirmation of the truth of the new word as well; and the new word guides toward a fuller understanding of the ancient word. He who enters the ancient word carrying the lamp of the new word comprehends clearly all the mysteries hidden therein. And he who rightly understands the significance of all that belongs to the Old Testament finds that the New Testament possesses an urgent and unconditional necessity—and precisely in the form in which it exists.

“In many portions and in many ways”—these words point to the manner in which God communicated His will to mankind: not once, not a single time, but many times He spoke, as often as need arose, and accordingly men appeared from before the face of God. There was revelation in Paradise; there was revelation after the expulsion from Paradise, from Adam to Noah; after the Flood, from Noah to Abraham; to Moses; at the time of Moses; in the time of the judges; and through the remaining prophets down to the last. God, who revealed His will concerning how He wished to be served and pleased, accommodated Himself to the religious, moral, and intellectual condition of the people living in each era. But in conformity with each such revelation, the outward ordering of life before God was also established—and, as we see, this ordering was renewed, and renewed more than once. By the guidance of each of these revelations, those who were faithful to it pleased God and were saved—by the measure of salvation proper to each of them. For the saving power—faith in the Promised One—extended across all ages. The revelation concerning the Promised One could not be given all at once; it was given as it could be understood and received. The image of the Promised One was disclosed by parts (in many portions). About five hundred years before His coming, the revelations ceased. Israel was given time to ponder what had been revealed about Him, to understand and to assimilate it—so that when He appeared, they might recognize Him without error.

Such are the thoughts suggested by the word “in many portions.” Perhaps the same meaning attaches to the word “in many ways” as well, so that both words signify one and the same thing: diversely. This is the interpretation of the holy Chrysostom. Under this interpretation, the manifoldness of manner is to be understood not in relation to the mode in which the revelation itself was accomplished—for example, in a dream, while awake, and so forth—but in relation to the form in which the revelation was communicated in terms of its content: antediluvian, through Abraham, through Moses… A many-portioned revelation naturally became a many-sided one. Yet one may also distinguish these two words: connecting with “in many portions” the notion of revelation repeated many times over many distinct acts, and with “in many ways” the notion of the modes of revelation—now in a dream, now while awake, through angels, through interior illumination, through a word heard without any visible form; and to the people of Israel God commanded that His communications be conveyed sometimes in direct speech, sometimes in parable, and sometimes the parable was to be expressed not in words but in action. Bl. Theodoret distinguishes the meaning of these words: “The word ‘in many portions’ denotes the diverse economies (probably the patriarchal and the Law-given), while the word ‘in many ways’ denotes the diversity of divine visions (revelations). For God appeared to Abraham in one manner, to Moses in another, to Elijah in yet another, and to Micaiah in another still. Isaiah and Daniel and Ezekiel beheld different images. Teaching this, the God of all things declared: ‘I have multiplied visions, and through the prophets I have used similitudes’ (Hos 12:10). For the divine nature is not manifold; on the contrary, it has neither form nor figure, but is simple and uncomposite. Therefore what they beheld was not the incomprehensible nature itself, but such images as the invisible God displayed as need required. Yet the word ‘in many portions’ also suggests another thought, namely that each of the prophets was entrusted with some particular economy. But the God of the prophets—that is, the Lord Christ—had in view not any particular need, but, having become man, He accomplished all things and accomplished the salvation of men.” Oecumenius expressed the sense of these words thus: διάφορος καί ποικίλος, and Bl. Theophylact thus: διάφορος καί πολυειδής, without appending a separate explanation to each. There is, however, no great need for a more precise definition of these words. The Apostle’s chief thought is: then God spoke through prophets, whereas now He speaks through the Son. The force of the statement lies in the words: through the Son. It is about this that he continues his discourse. As for how often and in how many ways God spoke through the prophets—there was no intention of distracting the attention of readers with that, although the elucidation thereof could furnish very suggestive thoughts: for instance, there was promise; here—fulfillment; there—shadow; here—the body; there everything was preparatory in significance; here everything is in actual reality; here is the crown of revelations: “Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17). Consequently, the people of God were guided so providentially by God that there was no longer any need to remain under the Law, but it was necessary to submit to the new economy of God established by the Son of God. The interpretation of these words may be directed toward the Apostle’s chief thought as follows: however many times and in however many ways God revealed His will, He revealed it always through prophets—but now He has revealed it to us through the Son. How greatly He has distinguished us! What a wondrous work He has wrought in us! “What great thing is it,” says the holy Chrysostom, “that God sent prophets to your fathers? To us He sent His own Only-Begotten Son.”

Judging by what has been said, the word “of old” encompasses the entire period of Old Testament revelations, from Adam to the last prophet, and not only that time during which the prophets themselves properly acted. Throughout this whole time God spoke “to the fathers through the prophets.” The fathers are all the founding ancestors, and the prophets are the chosen men through whom God revealed His will. The former were the custodians and guardians of revelation; the latter were its proclaimers. As a flash of lightning traverses the sky from end to end in a single instant, so the holy Apostle Paul illuminates all previous time with a single thought. The opening of the discourse is rousing. It resembles the opening of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where the holy Paul does not stop at Adam but ascends to the eternal decrees of God. Adam, Enoch, and Noah were prophets, through whom God instructed the antediluvian race in how He wished to be served and pleased. In the person of Noah this instruction passed into the post-Flood age and was renewed and supplemented at its very beginning, in conformity with the then-current maturity of humanity. When the necessity arose to separate from the general mass of mankind a distinct lineage for the preservation of the true faith, its founding patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—were prophets to it. They stand at the transition to the dispensation of the Law, which, when its time came, was established through the prophet Moses and was thereafter continually sustained by the prophets whom God raised up in every age, and through whom He revealed His will, His judgments, His commandments, and especially His promises concerning the coming of the Savior. Thus the work of instructing in the faith continued until the coming of Christ the Savior. God did not speak to the people directly, but spoke to chosen men so that they might convey it to the people. Only once, on Sinai, did He speak to the people directly; but the people could barely endure even the brief word of God—the utterance of the Ten Commandments—and begged that God speak to them no more, but transmit His will to Moses, who would then convey it to them. And that was precisely the purpose of this divine action: to instill in the people a firm conviction that everything Moses would establish was from God—a conviction that remained in them until Christ the Lord, before whom they said, “We know that God spoke to Moses” (John 9:29). They were also convinced that through all the other prophets God likewise spoke, although they did not always heed their words, owing to their own evil disposition.

The Apostle affirms this conviction as true, and takes it as the foundation of his guidance of the Jews toward faith in Christ. God, he says, Who spoke of old through the prophets, in these last days has declared His will to us through His Son. The same God speaks—but through the Son. Although upon hearing “through the Son” not everyone could form a precise and clear conception of what the Son is within God, yet in all who feared the will of God with reverence, this word immediately gave rise to the thought that the word of God through the Son is higher than His word through the prophets. This thought instantly raised the apostolic word to considerable height in their eyes; in the believer it revived and elevated faith, while in the unbeliever it stirred attention and prompted inquiry into what it really is and how it stands.

“In these last days”—in these latter days, recently, not long ago, within our own memory; one may even add: “what we have heard with our ears” (1 John 1:1), as the holy John the Theologian begins his first epistle. These last days are last in relation to what preceded them. From Adam God began to speak to mankind, and He did not pass over a single generation without speaking. And finally He spoke also in our time—the last time. The word “last” conveys two thoughts: that the time of promises has come to its end, and that the revelation given to us is the final one. In the prophets such expressions are frequently heard: the last days, the latter days — and they almost always point to the time appointed for the coming of the promised Deliverer. By using such an expression, the Apostle emphatically intimated that the last days of which the prophets spoke had already taken their place in the course of time and of its events. Take heed, therefore!

“Having spoken through the prophets… He has spoken through the Son.” The Son is set alongside the prophets as God’s instrument in the utterance of the divine will. Even from the very words and mode of expression it is evident that the prophets cannot be compared with Him—yet it was not yet the moment for the Apostle to explain what the Son is. He will explain this afterward. Here he only gives a hint that He is Someone Higher—and this was sufficient for a beginning. Bl. Theodoret writes: “The Apostle clearly showed the difference between the Lord Christ and the prophets, for Him alone did He call Son.” Those who had already received the Gospel could not, at these words, fail to recall the words of the holy John the Theologian: “No one has ever seen God; the Only-Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18), and from this to conclude that the word of the Son possesses a superiority which not only the prophets, but no one among the most perfect spirits, can possess. The holy Chrysostom draws this conclusion: “The superiority (of the new revelation) lies not only in the fact that prophets were sent to them whereas to us the Son was sent, but also in the fact that none of them had seen God, whereas the Only-Begotten Son had seen Him.”

“Whom He appointed Heir of all things.” The holy Paul begins to show what the Son is. The first thing is that He is Heir. The name of Son called forth the designation of Heir, for a son is naturally an heir (Gal 4:7). God appointed Him Heir. “Appointed”—either from eternity He decreed that He should be Heir, in the eternal Trinitarian counsel, or now He made Him Heir, introduced Him into the inheritance, placed the inheritance into His hands. Both meanings may be combined thus: appointed from eternity as Heir, He has now been brought into the inheritance and has received it. Yet it was the latter meaning that the Apostle primarily had in view. This is evident from the fact that he speaks of the Lord Savior as the One Who declared the will of the Father to mankind—and this He accomplished in the economy of the Incarnation. While He lived among men, He spoke to men what He heard from the Father; but when after His suffering He rose again, ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father—then He became the Heir of all things. Πάντων — of all things. What does “all things” mean? The son ordinarily inherits his father’s estate. Of what, then, is Christ the Lord Heir? Of all the Father’s estate. Not of the divine nature, surely? No. The divine nature is not inherited by Him but is His by birth itself. The Lord Savior, as God the Son, possesses all that is divine by nature, and not by the economy of inheritance. The holy Chrysostom says: “What does ‘appointed Heir’ mean? It means that He was made Lord of all. The Apostle uses the name ‘Heir’ in order to express two ideas: the authenticity of the Sonship and the inalienability of the lordship.” It is evident that this is said in relation to the economy of the Incarnation. By divine nature the Son of God is Lord of all, and does not need to be introduced into that lordship. If He is introduced, it is as man. Of this He Himself spoke after the Resurrection: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matt 28:18)—which is equivalent to: I have now been introduced into lordship over all things. Bl. Theodoret writes: “The Lord Christ is ‘Heir’ of all, not as God, but as man. As God, He is Creator of all. And the Creator of all is by nature Lord of all. But an heir becomes lord over that over which he was not previously sovereign.”

All things have been placed in the hands of the Lord Savior for the realization of the purpose of the economy of the Incarnation: to direct all the heavenly and earthly powers and all creation toward this one end, and to gather around Himself all those who are being saved. On the other hand, also in order that through the human nature—which, through the body, comprehends all the forces of the world and all its elements—He might introduce regenerative powers into the world, building therein, above the crude visible order, an invisibly better world, which will appear in all its greatness on the last day. In the Epistle to the Ephesians the holy Paul had already written that God “in Christ Jesus has summed up all things, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10), and that through the Resurrection and the sitting at the right hand of the Father He became “far above all rule and authority… and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” God has put all things in subjection under His feet. “He gave Him as head over all things” (Eph 1:20–22). Or as in the Epistle to the Philippians: “He highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil 2:9–10).

The inheritance may more specifically be understood as all peoples. This stands in contrast to the Old Covenant economy. At that time, the portion of God and His possession was Israel alone; but now it is all the nations, as was foretold through the prophet David: “I will give You the nations as Your inheritance…” (Ps 2:8).

Bl. Theophylact writes: “‘Whom He appointed Heir of all things’—that is, He made Him Lord of the whole world. No longer is only Jacob the portion of the Lord, but all.” Yet of what precisely lordship does the Apostle here speak? — Of lordship over those who would voluntarily and willingly submit to Him: a moral lordship. For the natural lordship He always possessed, even over those who would not have Him, as it is said: “All things serve You” (Ps 118:91 LXX). This makes clear what superiority it is that God spoke to us through the Son, “Whom He appointed Heir of all things”—He spoke through a Person above Whom there is no one higher. Consequently, if ever a need should arise for men to be addressed yet again, there would be no one through whom to speak. The final word has been spoken. Either hear and be saved, or perish if you will not hear.

“Through Whom also He made the ages.” That the Savior was appointed Heir might appear to be a fruit of the accomplishment of the economy of salvation. But that “He also made the ages through Him”—this cannot be a gift, but must belong to nature. Therefore the Apostle here raises minds to the perception of divinity in the Person of the Savior. The Apostle seems to say: God made Him Heir, but He is also Himself—God. He leads minds upward by degrees: pointing first to the fact that in Christ Jesus God spoke, then that upon the completion of that speaking He was set over all and received all into His hands. Now he points to God in Him—though not directly, but through the attribution of creative power to Him: “Through Him God made the ages.” Although creative power already pointed directly to divinity, since to create belongs only to God. Yet the Apostle refrains from making such a proclamation, and leaves it so that in the souls of readers the proclamation may arise of itself: therefore, He is God! The Apostle sets forth only the ground for such a confession. “With these words the Apostle pointed to the divinity” (Theodoret). Had the Apostle confined himself only to indicating that He is Heir of all, someone might have thought that this was a gift of grace or of God’s mercy. But by pointing to the creative power, he directly paves the way to the confession of Him as God as well (Photius and Oecumenius).

“An age is not any kind of substance, but something not self-subsistent, but accompanying that which has a created nature. It is a product of time, conjoined with created natures” (Theodoret). By reason of this inseparability of the age—or time—from created things, the creation of the age is inseparable from the creation of things, and to say “the ages were made” is the same as to say all creatures were made. Yet the mind may also dwell on the age, or time, by itself in the abstract, and draw a distinct conclusion therefrom. The ages were made by the Lord Jesus. Therefore—He is before all ages, that is, eternal. A new indication of divinity: for eternity belongs only to God. Bl. Theodoret writes: “The Apostle called the Son Creator of the ages, teaching and making clear that He is eternal, because He always was above every temporal extension of whatever kind. Thus the Old Testament Scripture says of God: ‘He Who exists before the ages’ (Ps 54:20 LXX), that is, He Who always is.” “Where are you who say: there was a time when He was not?” (Chrysostom). “He Himself created the ages. How then were there ages when He did not exist?” (Theophylact). Having thus spoken of the creative power of the Son, the Apostle has deflected from the appointment of Him as Heir every inadequate conception, and at the same time has given to understand that this latter is not an addition to the nature, but is the natural attribute of the Son as God—which remains unchangeable even after the Incarnation, which has not diminished it in the least…