I love the way Hebrews opens so directly. The writer minces no words. “Long ago the Lord spoke to our ancestors …” Throughout the story of human history, God has spoken in many different ways, but now, He has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus.

Then, immediately, the writer begins to pile on truth after truth. The Son is heir of all things, creation came through Him, He reveals God’s glory and nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. Then, after decisively dealing with sin, He sits at the right hand of the Most High.
 
The point he’s trying to make here is pretty clear; everything points to the Son.
 
But make no mistake, the writer isn’t just trying to give us a pile of facts to learn about Jesus. The exalted greatness of the Son demands we give Him a response. His superiority to the angels demands worship, and it demands we hear what He has to say.

Following Jesus isn’t just admiring His authority from below while we actively choose not to obey Him. If He is really the exalted Son through whom God is now speaking, being His disciple means allowing His word to carry weight, more weight than all the competing voices around us combined.
 
Fear tries to tell us what to do and when. The culture in which we live tries to convince us what matters and what is important. Our fleshly anger will point out who deserves our loyalty and who should be judged or condemned. Internal desire will persuade us of what it says will satisfy our longings. Even our ingrained instincts can become so loud we fail to notice we’ve made them the final authority in our life and practice.
 
Thankfully, Hebrews yanks our attention away from all those things and back to Jesus. The One seated at God’s right hand is more than one voice among many. He’s the Son. He’s the ONLY voice that matters.
 
To follow this ascended King, we must first be an attentive and obedient listener to all He has to say. We must trust in His character and order our lives around His authority. He needs no affirmation of HIs throne, but He does demand obedience to it. This is what it means to follow the ascended King.

Which voices most often compete with Jesus for authority in your everyday decisions? What is one area where listening to Christ needs to become concrete obedience?

Father, I’m so glad you’ve spoken to us through Your Son. I’m just glad You’ve spoken at all! Help me not to just admire Jesus, but to listen to Him and obey Him. Quiet the competing voices who jockey for my loyalty. Give me wisdom to see His authority and courage to obey. Form me so my words, choices, relationships, and priorities increasingly reflect the King I say I follow. Amen.

“This week I will listen to Jesus by __________________.”