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Christmas Season · Nativity of the Lord - Day Mass · Year A

Hebrews 1:1-6

God Has Spoken by a Son

December 25, 2025

Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic), Unknown Byzantine mosaicist
Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic), Unknown Byzantine mosaicist, c. 1261Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
In the south gallery of Hagia Sophia, made after the Byzantines retook Constantinople in 1261, and the finest surviving Byzantine mosaic face. Much of the lower half is lost.Hebrews says he is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of his being, and this is the image that phrase was made into.Unknown Byzantine mosaicistUnnamed, as Byzantine craftsmen generally were. The work is signed by its quality rather than by a hand.Hagia Sophia, IstanbulJustinian's sixth-century church, then a mosque, then a museum, now a mosque again, and for a thousand years the largest enclosed space in the world.Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Roman Lectionary
GospelJohn 1:1-18Jn 1:1-18 orJohn 1:1-5, 9-14Jn 1:1-5, 9-14
Second ReadingHeb. 1:1-6Heb 1:1-6
First ReadingIsa. 52:7-10Is 52:7-10
Responsorial PsalmPs. 98:1, 2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6 (3c)Ps 98:1, 2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6 (3c)

Overview & Insights

“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.” (Hebrews 1:3)

Hebrews has no greeting and no named sender; it begins instead with a formal exordium, verses 1 to 4 forming a single periodic sentence whose opening line is built on five words beginning with the same letter in Greek. The argument is about modes of speech: God spoke in many pieces and many ways through the prophets, and has now spoken in a Son, so revelation is treated as continuous but no longer partial. The language of v. 3 is drawn from Jewish wisdom writing, where the same rare noun for radiance describes Wisdom as a reflection of eternal light (Wisdom 7:26). Verses 5 and 6 then assemble scriptural testimony: Psalm 2:7, the dynastic promise of 2 Samuel 7:14, and a line about the angels worshiping from Deuteronomy 32:43 in its Greek form. Read on Christmas Day, the “today” of Psalm 2 is heard of a birth and of an enthronement at once.

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Take it further: Hebrews 1:1-6

Commentary

Commentary on Hebrews 1:1-4 [5-12]Commentary on Heb 1:1-4 [5-12] Working Preacher

Luther Seminary commentary on God speaking by a Son, the exact imprint of his being, the Day Mass epistle.

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 CommentaryHeb 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on the opening claim that Christianity has a better word in the Son.

Enduring Word Bible Commentary Hebrews Chapter 1Enduring Word Bible Commentary Heb Chapter 1 Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik on the Son as heir of all things, radiance of God's glory, superior to the angels.

Hebrews 1:1 CommentariesHeb 1:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregated classic commentary on God speaking in these last days by his Son.

Hebrews 1:1-2 CommentaryHeb 1:1-2 Commentary Precept Austin

Verse-by-verse exposition of Hebrews 1:1-6 on God speaking through the Son, the radiance of his glory.

Background & Word Study

Hebrews 1:1 InterlinearHeb 1:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek word by word with parsing for radiance (apaugasma) and exact imprint (charakter) of God's being.

BibleProject: Book of Hebrews OverviewBibleProject: Book of Heb Overview BibleProject

Animated overview showing how Hebrews presents Jesus as the superior and final word of God.

The Church Fathers

Catena: Hebrews 1Catena: Heb 1 Catena

Patristic comment chained to Hebrews 1 (Chrysostom, Theodoret) on the Son's divinity and the angels' worship.

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