What does it mean Jesus was made a little lower than the angels?
Psalm 8 asks what man is worth, and then speaks of a "son of man" set over everything God made — and Hebrews 2 tells us that this is Jesus. The puzzle is that Hebrews 1 has just insisted the Son is far above the angels, so what does it mean that He was placed beneath them?
A place He entered, not a place He held
Being lower than angels is where humanity stands by creation. The Son did not start there; He came there.
F. B. HoleMan's place in the original scale of creation is a little lower than the place of angels. He, whom we know as Son of Man, was not in that lower place to begin with. He entered into it by an act of God. It was not what He was, but what He became. This lower and lowly place was His as ordered of Jehovah, and He took it that thereby He might become obedient to death.
The reason: the suffering of death
Hebrews adds four words the psalm does not have — "for the suffering of death." That explains why the descent had to go this far.
F. B. HoleIn chapter 2 the emphasis lies upon the Manhood of the Lord Jesus. He became a Man with a view to the suffering of death. Man was so created — spirit, soul and body — that he could die, by the spiritual part of him being separated from the body. In this respect man was made a little lower than the angels. Now the Son of God has become the Son of Man in so real a sense that as a Man He has taken up the death penalty and died for men. From this standpoint He has been made a little lower than the angels, for angels never die.
Two people can die the same death for opposite reasons. The difference is the whole gospel.
Hamilton SmithIn a world where God has been dishonoured, the Son of Man perfectly glorified God and vindicated His holy character by suffering death. Man tastes death as the result of sin: the Son of Man tastes death by the grace of God. He tastes death for all, that grace might flow out to all.
Lower in place, never lower in person
The phrase describes a position taken, not a drop in dignity. The One placed under angels is the One angels are told to worship.
J. T. MawsonHe was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, yet He was and is always above them. HE IS THE OBJECT OF THE ANGELS' WORSHIP.
Commentators differ on how wide the lowering reaches. Some read it of the whole stoop into manhood, the very body He took. Others tie it strictly to His death, since angels waited on Him all through His life.
Arend RemmersDuring His life, I don't think we can say that He was below the angels, because all the time the angels served Him. They were His servants. But the moment He went into the suffering of death He was lowered below the angels. Angels don't die, but the Lord in His own free will took that choice, took that pathway to obey His God and Father.
He passed the angels twice
Angels are the higher order — yet God stepped past them going down and going up, and He did not go up alone.
The Bible TreasuryAngels have no Redeemer... We learn from this that they are on a higher scale than man, but He passed them by twice. He passed them coming down when He was made a little lower than the angels; and He passed them again going up. He is made higher than the heavens, angels, authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. He has gone up above them, and taken us up too, in spirit, already.
The dominion Adam lost
Psalm 8 hands a man rule over all God's works. That grant was given once before and thrown away.
W. W. FeredayThe Son of man there spoken of is not Adam, but Christ. The divine purpose is there declared to set Him over all the works of God's hand. The first man had this grant of power from God, but failed to act for His glory. He sold himself into the hand of the enemy, and became his tool and slave. When the Second Man takes up the reins of universal government in God's due time, He will glorify God perfectly, and bring in full blessing for all beneath His sway.
What faith sees now
The world does not look like a place where all things are under His feet. Faith is not looking at the world.
James BoydIf the littleness of man filled the vision of the Psalmist so that he was forced to exclaim, "What is man, that you are mindful of him?" it was Christ that filled the vision of the Spirit: not Adam, but the Seed of the woman, the Son of Man, the object of divine counsel, and He saw everything put under His feet; and though this is not manifestly so yet... If we see not yet all things put under man, we see the Man under whom everything is to be put, and we see Him in the highest place in glory.
Summary
- Descent. The lower place was not His by nature but taken by an act of God — not what He was, but what He became.
- Purpose. He went that low for one reason: angels cannot die, and He came to die.
- Grace. We taste death because of sin; He tasted it by the grace of God, so that grace could reach everyone.
- Dignity. Placed beneath angels in position, He was never beneath them in person — they worship Him still.
- Result. He passed the angels going down and going up, and carries into that glory the dominion the first man lost.