The Ambassador Who Came in Person

For centuries, the British Crown communicated with distant colonies through letters, proclamations, and appointed governors. Messages crossed oceans slowly, often arriving months late, sometimes misunderstood, occasionally lost altogether. Colonial subjects knew the monarch's will only through intermediaries — each one faithful, but each one limited by the distance between throne and territory.

Then came moments when everything changed. When King George VI visited Canada in 1939, it was the first time a reigning British monarch had ever set foot on North American soil. Thousands lined the streets of Quebec City and Ottawa, weeping at the sight of the sovereign himself. No letter could carry what his presence communicated. No governor could embody what the King embodied simply by being there. The written word had served its purpose, but the living presence rendered every prior dispatch insufficient.

The writer of Hebrews opens with exactly this drama. God spoke "at many times and in many ways" through the prophets — faithful messengers carrying fragments of the divine will across the centuries. Each prophet was a letter from the throne, genuine but partial. Then God stopped sending letters. He came Himself, in His Son, who is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature."

Jesus did not bring another message about God. He is the message — the King who crossed every distance to stand among His people in person.