From A Brief Word of Exhortation, Volume 1:
Heb. 1:4
We will discuss Heb. 1:4 in this Lesson and find out what the word “name” means in both the Old and New Testaments and even find out what it means to pray in the name of Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews describes the Son as “having become so much better than the angels.” Here we encounter the first use of the word, “better,” which is one of the writer’s favorite words. It is used 13 times in Hebrews. “Better” (kreitton), means “more worthy, more excellent.”
The writer uses the phrase, “having become,” which raises a question. Hasn’t Jesus always been better than the angels? Heb. 2:6-8 quotes from Ps 8:4-6 which declares that the son of man was made a little lower than the angels, then God put all things under his feet, that is, under his authority. The writer equates the son of man in the psalm with Jesus. In the Jewish thought of the time, the angels ruled over the earth (under God’s authority, of course). By taking on flesh and entering the world which is administered by the angels, Jesus, like us, took a lower position of authority under the angels. But after his resurrection, all authority was given to him, so now he has become better than the angels.
The writer says that Jesus has become so much better than the angels because he obtained a more excellent name than they. “More excellent” (diaphoros) means “excellent, surpassing.” Jesus has a name that surpasses the angels. The writer will spend the rest of chapter 1 proving his point.
But why does Jesus’ name surpass the angels? What is so excellent, so special about his name? The answer lies in what “name” means in both the Old and New Testaments.
In English, “name” can mean label (My name is Clayton), reputation (the family name), or authority (Stop, in the name of the law). “Name” means all of those in both the Hebrew and Greek.
The Hebrew and the Greek words both mean “label” in Gen. 11:29 and Luke 1:63. They both mean “reputation” in Prov. 22:1 and Rev. 3:1. And they both mean “authority” in Esth. 8:10 and Acts 16:18.
But in both the Hebrew and Greek, “name” takes on one more meaning: character. This is what they mean in Ps. 111:9 and Matt. 6:9. God’s label is not holy and awesome; his character is. The writer of the Epistle is not referring to Jesus’ label, but to his authority and character. Jesus has a more excellent authority and character than the angels.
Knowing that name means these things helps us to understand other passages.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given me” (John 17:6). Jesus did not come to tell us that God’s label is Yahweh. He came to manifest God’s character, to show us who God really is.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23). Believing in the name of Jesus is not to believe that his label is Jesus. To believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in who he really is, to believe in the real Jesus, the Jesus proclaimed by the Bible, not the Jesus proclaimed by the cults.
Peter to the Jewish leaders: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). No one else has been given the authority to save men.
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17). Doing all in the name of Jesus does not mean we say, “In the name of Jesus,” every time we do something. It means to do everything in the authority and character of Jesus, as if we were Jesus himself.
Doing all in the name of Jesus includes praying in the name of Jesus: “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:23).
Praying in the name of Jesus does not mean we add the statement, “We pray all this in the name of Jesus,” or something similar, to the end of our prayers. There is no prayer in the Bible that ends this way. I did a Google search on the prayers of the early Church, and the first written prayer that ends with the statement, “In the name of Jesus,” is a prayer in Latin from the middle of the fifth century (450 AD), four hundred years after Jesus told the disciples to pray in his name. This means that by the middle of the fifth century, people had forgotten what praying in the name of Jesus really means.
Praying in the name of Jesus means to pray as if we have the character and authority of Jesus, as if we were Jesus himself. And if we pray as if we were Jesus himself, we will ask for the things that Jesus would ask for, so of course the Father will grant us our request.
In Luke 11:1-4, one of the disciples asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus responds by giving them a model prayer, which we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Our Father.” Notice that the prayer does not end with the statement, “We pray all of this in Jesus’ name,” or something similar. Jesus did not teach us to end our prayers with that statement. That is a tradition developed by men. Praying in the name of Jesus means praying in the authority and character of Jesus, as if we were Jesus himself.
Notice also that the prayer starts with, “Our Father.” Jesus said that we will ask him nothing. Instead, we should ask the Father in his name. There is no example of prayer being directed to Jesus anywhere in the New Testament. In the book of Acts, the only time people spoke to Jesus after he ascended to heaven is when he appeared to them. We do not have to take our requests to Jesus. We can take them directly to the Father.
Jesus, therefore, has a more excellent name than the angels because he has a more excellent character and authority than the angels.
