HEBREWS 1:5

“For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU’? And again, ‘I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE WILL BE A SON TO ME’?”

When my children were little, they used to watch Sesame Street. This was long before the show got woke on us. One of the regular parts of the show was “One of these things is not like the other.” Do you remember that? They would have three or four items on the screen, one of which was different than the other three. It helped children identify different objects and similar objects. That’s a great learning tool, isn’t it?

We are basically told in today’s verse that Jesus is not like the other heavenly beings. The writer quotes from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. We’ll look at those below in just a minute. These are but two of the 35 direct Old Testament quotations we will find throughout the book. In addition, there are around 30-34 allusions to the Old Testament. Whoever this writer is, we can be assured they had a keen knowledge of the Old Testament.

ASK QUESTIONS (Command to Obey, Promise to claim, Sin to avoid, Application to make, Something new about God)

There is Something new about God in this first quotation from Psalm 2:7. In this passage God is declaring that His Anointed will be the One to reign. Look at this passage in context (verses 6-8). “6‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 7 ‘I will announce the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have fathered You. 8 Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession.”’” That’s our Jesus. He is the Anointed One, high above any angelic being.

In the 2 Samuel 7:14 quotation the writer uses God’s covenant with David to point to Jesus. He was in the line of David, was He not? He is the Lion of Judah, right? Here too we see Something new about God. We know Jesus existed long before David came on his throne. But because of this covenant with David, God used his lineage to bring forth the Messiah. No angel was chosen for this task. Only His Son could provide the sacrifice.

Let me ask you a question. Do you stand out from the crowd because of your faith? Would anyone be able to pick you out of the mass of humanity as someone who walks with Jesus daily? We are in the world but not of it. If we appeared in that segment on Sesame Street, what would distinguish us from others? Carry Jesus with you everywhere you go and let Him show others you are different.

Thank You, God, for making me a new creation. My old self has fallen away. I want to stand out in the crowd for my faith.