Hebrews 2:5

For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak. But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou crownedest him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands.

Although the great theme continues to be the superiority of Christ, at this point the problem of Christ's sufferings begins to come into view. As Lenski expressed it, "With Hebrews 2:5 humiliation begins, the humiliation of Christ's sufferings."[5] Even the humiliation of Christ, however, is made to support the thesis of his overwhelming superiority over angels because, AS ADAM WAS CREATED, even man was superior to angels. Thus Christ, the second Adam, took up in his human nature where the first Adam left off, but without his sin; therefore Christ, on the lowest plane of his being, that of the incarnated state, possessed in his human nature the superiority over angels that Adam had before the fall.

Quoting from Psalms 8:4ff, the author showed from that passage that people, not angels, are destined to be placed over all the works of God's hands; and, of course, from what was written earlier, it is seen that HUMAN NATURE in the person of Christ risen and glorified has already begun to enjoy royal dignity like that foretold in the Psalm concerning people. As Thomas noted,

It is not to angels but to men, in the representative man Christ Jesus, that God has subjected the coming habitable world. Thus the Son is better than angels, not only as the revealer of God (Hebrews 1) but also, as will now be shown, as the representative of man.[6]

The difficulty of this passage is seen in the author's argument for the superiority of Christ, while at the same time quoting a passage from the Old Testament that seems to contradict it, "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels." The English Revised Version (1885) rendition of the quotation reads, "Thou hast made him a little lower than God"; and, of course, that would remove the difficulty were it not for Hebrews 2:9, "But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels." The key to the problem is the expression "a little lower," which actually means "for a little while lower." (See English Revised Version (1885) margin.) The only exception in Christ's superiority over angels was therefore in this, that for a short while he was made lower in order to taste of death for every man; but the short duration of that exception and the grand achievement wrought by it leave the major thesis of Christ's superiority unimpaired.

Throughout all his incarnation, other than that excepted, the angels served Christ, attended his every desire, and were upon call at his request (Matthew 26:53). Therefore, his being made "for a little while" lower than angels was only for this that he might die for man's sin. That death, so absolutely necessary for man's redemption, involved his actually being made sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Surely, therefore, in his humiliation and death, Christ descended to a place lower than angels; but that in no way diminished his superiority over them, because it was for such a brief time, and altogether vicarious at that. The word that declares Christ to have been made sin on our behalf begins with the affirmation that he "knew no sin?'

Apparently, therefore, the author of Hebrews is still affirming the superiority of Christ over angels throughout his entire incarnation (except for that "for a little while lower"), which would therefore justify and make applicable to Christ as perfect man the bold declarations of Psalms 8 regarding man's being placed over the works of God's hands, etc. The special glory that pertained to Christ even in the deepest of his humiliation appears in the fact that God crowned him with glory and honor for that awesome crisis (see Hebrews 2:9).

It is wrong to refer the royal dignity of man to some far-off utopian state such as a millennium; because the coming age has already arrived, or at least dawned (Hebrews 1:1,2). The author of Hebrews makes much of the new order ushered in by Christ. Robertson noted that "The author is discussing this new order introduced by Christ which makes obsolete the old dispensation of rites and symbols."[7] Bruce also identified "the world to come" as "the new world order inaugurated by the enthronement of Christ at the right hand of God."[8]

What is man ... This inspiring passage of Psalms 8 dwells upon the paradox of man's physical insignificance contrasted with his spiritual importance, so great that even God is mindful of him. The words "but one hath somewhere testified" do not imply any uncertainty as to the authorship of Psalms 8, which was known both to the author and to his readers as David's; but this was merely a literary way of introducing a quotation. Besides, since the entire Old Testament was held in honor as God's word, it was not necessary to identify the particular writer through whom God spoke.

The son of man is part of a Hebrew parallelism and means the same thing as "man" in the other clause. Before leaving this wonderful passage, it is well to think of the physical littleness of man, small enough as compared even with other creatures in the animal kingdom, but whose whole environment, earth and all, appears only as a speck of dust in a limitless universe. Lenski wrote that "Modern skepticism, especially Deism and philosophy, observing man's insignificance, imagine that, if there is a God at all, he certainly cannot bother with us little creatures."[9] In the scriptures, however, all that is changed. Man is of eternal consequence, potentially an heir of the blood of Christ and a candidate for everlasting glory; and the reasons for this are clearly outlined.

Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ...; Psalms 8:5 from which this is quoted actually says, "thou hast made him a little lower than God"; but whichever reading is used the meaning is unaltered, the superiority of Christ over angels being unaffected, as noted above. Dummelow wisely noted the important implications of this text thus: "The words imply the doctrine of the incarnation of One who was essentially and previously higher than angels."[10] Holding to the inspiration of the writer of Hebrews, we accept "angels" as the proper translation of Psalms 8:5, which is the way it appears in the Septuagint, and from which it is alleged the author quoted. However, it does no violence to speak of man as but a little lower than God; for the scriptures, in some instances, actually refer to people as "gods." Psalms 82:6 has, "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High." It was to this very passage that Christ appealed in these words,

Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and scriptures cannot be broken), say ye to him, whom the Father sanctifieth and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the son of God? (John 10:34-36).

Thus, there is truly a sense in which people are gods.

The import of this passage challenges people to look beyond the failures, foibles, sins, and wretchedness of people as they appear in their lost and sinful condition and to behold the man perfect and glorious as he was created "in the image of God," and destined for lordship over all God's creation. Mankind in the person of our Lord was returned and uplifted to that exalted state; and yet, through failure to accept Christ and dwell in him, man remains still far short of what the Creator intended. Cargill commented on that failure thus,

Considering the divine origin of man, and the Bible's description of his potential to master the universe, it is exasperating to look around and see his pitiful condition. He should be free but is bound; he is described as king, but is actually a slave. Man is frustrated by circumstance, defeated by temptations, gird about with weakness, and finally humiliated with death.[11]

The author therefore has maintained the supremacy of Christ over angels, in spite of what seemed at first a difficulty posed by the incarnation, especially the passion and death. But the difficulty was cleared up on the basis of these considerations: (1) Christ's incarnation was served by angels who ministered to him throughout all of it. (2) His being made lower than angels, as the scriptures said of him, was but for "a little while," and for the noblest purpose. (3) Christ's being made a man is no problem at all, when it is remembered that man himself, when viewed AS GOD MADE HIM, is higher than the angels, since it is said that man is made in God's image and was given dominion over all things; and it should be remembered that Christ became man in the highest and best sense.

[4] Robert L. Cargill, Understanding the Book of Hebrews (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1967), p. 15.

[5] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Epistle of James (Minneapolis, Minn., Augsburg Publishing House, 1958), p. 71.

[6] W. H. Griffith Thomas, Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 32.

[7] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1932), p. 344.

[8] F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 33.

[9] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 73.

[10] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Whole Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1017.

[11] Robert L. Cargill, op. cit., p. 18.