Hebrews 1:4

So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.


This verse ties the first three verses together with the next section that goes until the beginning of chapter 2. In this section Jesus is compared to the angels.

The ancients had a much better appreciation of angels than we do today (at least most of us). Angels by definition are God's messengers. When they appear to people they seem to always scare them to death. One example is in Luke 2, when the angel first appeared to the shepherds in the field it literally reads, they feared a great fear. This seems to happen whenever an angel arrives on the scene. Therefore, the ancients appreciated the fact that in the hierarchy of life was God at the top, then angels, then man, then animals. Jesus on the other hand was not as intimidating when he met people. People were a bit more comfortable approaching him, because he came as a man. The people of this time were having a difficult time understanding that even though the man that they themselves saw seemed lower than the angels, he is the Messiah and he is now GREATER and over them all.

(to see Paul's further discussion about Jesus humbling himself see Philippians 2.)


Jesus lessened and humbled himself to our level. After he died and rose again, God placed him in the highest seat in the universe, as was prophesied long ago (Ps. 2, 110).

To us today, how high is our view of Jesus. Is he just another prophet, a man who is lower than the angels? How seriously do we treat him? Do we give him the honor he deserves? Or is he just another religious figure that we use whenever we need or want something? Or do we revere him as the one he reigns over the universe?




P.S.
In the subsequent verses we learn what name he inherited. Also note the word GREATER or better than or superior in this verse. This is the first of thirteen times Paul uses it in this book. In fact the theme of Hebrews could be summoned up as:
Jesus >
Jesus is greater than...
And the complete theme I would place on the book is Jesus is greater than anything you could think of.