Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 12 Aug 2018
Omitting greyed-out text should bring sermon delivery down to about 40 minutes.
· This is the second in my series of expositions on Hebrews. In my first sermon, I looked at how the author introduced the Son of God in the first two verses.
· Then he follows it up by listing seven things that are outstanding about Jesus, the Son of God. In my first sermon, I covered the first two, which were at the end of v.2 [God] “has spoken to us at the last of these days by means of a Son,
o [#1] whom He appointed to be the one to inherit all things
o [and #2] through whom also He made the universe”
o So those first two outstanding things about Jesus are that He created everything and owns everything – including you and me and all our stuff.
o As we look at the remaining five outstanding things about Jesus listed in verse 3, I want you to think about what difference they make in terms of your worship of Him, in terms of the trust that you place in Him to deliver you from evil, and in terms of how you can follow His examples.
o After the first two truths about the privileged status of Jesus at the end of verse 2, the next two things in the list (starting in v.3) have more to do with the personal nature of Jesus:
· The Son of God possesses the characteristic of the radiance of God's glory.
· 2 Cor. 4:6 “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (NASB)
· Apaugasma = active radiance, outshining[1], effulgence; passive reflection ~Friberg Analytical Greek Lexicon. (This word is nowhere else in the Bible[2].)
· Chrysostom’s expositions of Hebrews are one of the earliest commentaries on this epistle, being written around the year 400. Chrysostom was a native speaker of New Testament Greek, so he, of all people, should know the meaning of New Testament words. Here’s how Chrysostom explained this phrase in Hebrews 1:3: “[H]e [the author] uses the word ‘brightness,’ showing that this was said in the sense of ‘Light of Light.’ Nor is it this alone which he shows, but also that He has enlightened our souls; and He has Himself manifested the Father. Also by ‘the brightness’ he has indicated the nearness of the Being [of the Father and the Son]…” His Divine being, his role of revealing God to mankind, His mission of bringing eternal life to lost souls, and His relationship with God the Father as God the Son are all packed into this tight phrase!
· [Object lesson with a light bulb.] Is this a light? No. Why? Because it isn’t omitting light. If, however, I had power connected to it and it was emitting light, it would be a light. Could you separate the light from the light bulb and hold the light in one hand and the light bulb in the other? No. We can conceive of light and a light bulb as being two different things, but we can’t actually separate the two as long as the light is on. If God is the light and Jesus is the brightness, we can make a philosophical distinction between the two persons, but they are both God, necessarily co-existing in unity.
· This kind of statement is proof that Jesus is indeed God:
o In the year 356AD, Athanasius wrote, “Who does not see that the brightness cannot be separated from the light, but that it is by nature proper to it and co-existent with it, and it not produced after it.”
o “Think not that there was ever a moment of time when God was without wisdom, any more than that there was ever a time when light was without radiance.” ~Ambrose, De Fidea, 380AD
o “‘[T]he brightness of God’s glory’ … [is] the true and proper representation of the infinite perfection of the Deity. ‘He is that to the Divine Father, which the solar light, falling on our world, is to the same light at the source of its emanation.’ … the Apostle refers to that visible glory which was an emblem of the presence of God with His ancient people… seen by Moses in the bush… in the miraculous cloud which conducted Israel out of Egypt… on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law, [and which] took possession of the tabernacle… Jesus Christ is the substance of which this natural glory was the shadow. In His person as God-man, in His saving work, and in the revelation He makes of both in His word, the excellences of the Divine character are more illustriously displayed than in any or in all the works of nature or dispensations of providence.” ~Dr. John Brown, Edenborough, 1862
· This also teaches us that in Jesus is the only way to comprehend God:
o “[Bear] in mind that the glory of the Father is invisible to you until it shines forth in Christ, and that He is called ‘the very image of His substance’ because the majesty of the Father is hidden until it shows itself as impressed on His image.” ~John Calvin, 1551
o Mark 9:2-3 “…Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” (NKJV) The Apostles would have died of exposure if they had been subjected to the unmediated glory of God, but Jesus was able to communicate to them the glory of God in a way that could connect with human experience. Similarly, the Apostle Paul testified:
o Acts 26:13-15 “…along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me… I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (NKJV) Paul testified in court - on pain of death if he was a false witness - of the “brightness of His glory” and said it was brighter than the sun at high noon!
o So, if you want to know about God – the glory of God, skip Krishna, skip Mohammed, skip Joseph Smith, skip all the others, and look to Jesus. Get to know Him.
o “If you want to see God’s hatred of sin, then look at Jesus Christ. If you want to see God’s patience and longsuffering, then look at Jesus Christ.” ~Frank Barker, 1974
o The next point on the list continues this theme of who Jesus is and how He reveals God:
· [Object lesson with a rubber stamp] The first Greek word in this phrase is the word charaktēr; it doesn’t occur anywhere else in the Bible, but in other Greek literature, it is used to describe an image-stamping tool.
o “originally a mark engraved or impressed, the impress or stamp on coins and seals” (Liddell-Scott Greek Lexicon)
o “1. Properly, the instrument used in engraving or carving 2. the mark (figure or letters) stamped upon that instrument or wrought out on it; hence, universally, "a mark or figure burned in (Lev. 13:28) or stamped on, an impression; the exact expression (the image) of any person or thing, marked likeness, precise reproduction in every respect" (cf. facsimile) ~Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
o If I want to put my return address on 200 wedding invitation envelopes, I can press my return address rubber stamp on each envelope, and then each envelope will bear the exact same image, spelled exactly the same.
o “What the Father is, doth, hath, that the Son is, doth, hath… By the ‘express image’ …we are to understand that the whole nature of God is in Him, as also that by Him God is declared and expressed unto us.” ~John Owen, 1650
· The primary sense of the second Greek noun in this phrase, ὑπόστασις[3] “substance is something which stands underneath; foundation... In a philosophical sense, substantial nature; the real nature of anything which underlies and supports its outward form and properties.” ~Marvin Vincent, 1886
· John Brown (and other Greek scholars such as Vincent) noted that, although some versions translate this word as “person,” the Greek word was not used back then to mean a “person of the Trinity,” rather, “The person, or substance, or mode of subsistence of God is just equivalent to God Himself.”
· These phrases, “radiance of His glory” and “character of His nature,” were often referred to in the early church as they were trying to come to an understanding of God’s triune nature, because these phrases imply both the unity of the Son with God the Father as well as His distinctness from God the Father. (Hughes)
· These two phrases “[the] Son… being the radiance of God’s glory” and the Son being “the exact image of God’s substance” together counteract both the heresy held by the Oneness Pentecostal folks here in our town that God the Father and God the Son are one and the same person, and also the heresy held by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons in our town that the Son is inferior to God the Father. “[J]ust as He [the Father] is personally subsisting, being in need of nothing, so also the Son… For the ‘express Image’ is something other than its Prototype: yet not Another in all respects… since the term, ‘express image,’ indicates there is no variation from that whereof it is the ‘express image’… therefore [Scripture] calls Him both ‘Form’ [Phil. 2:6] and ‘express Image’… [J]ust as ‘the form of a slave’ expresses no other thing than a man without variation [from human nature], so also ‘the form of God’ expresses no other thing than God.” ~Chrysostom
· Jesus said to… Philip “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9, NKJV)
· He is “the image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15a)
· C.S. Lewis, [in his book Undeceptions, Essays on Theology and Ethics] pointed out how fantastic such claims are: “…the High Priest said to Him, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am the Anointed, the Son of the uncreated God, and you shall see Me appearing at the end of all history as the judge of the Universe.’ … He went about saying to people, ‘I forgive your sins.’ … On one occasion this Man is sitting, looking down on Jerusalem from the hill above it, and suddenly in comes an extraordinary remark: 'I keep on sending you prophets and wise men.’ Nobody comments on it. And yet, quite suddenly, almost incidentally, He is claiming to be the power that all through the centuries is sending wise men and leaders into the world. Here is another… in almost every religion there are unpleasant observances like fasting. This Man suddenly remarks one day, ‘No one need fast while I am here.’ Who is this Man who remarks that His mere presence suspends all normal rules? … He says again, ‘I am the begotten of the One God; before Abraham was, I am,’ and remember what the words ‘I am’ were in Hebrew. They were the name of God, which must not be spoken by any human being, the name which it was death to utter. The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, ‘This is the truth about the universe. This is the way you ought to go,’ but He says, ‘I am the Truth, and the Way and the Life.’ … He says, ‘If you are ashamed of Me; if, when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise… Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right... Eat Me, drink Me, I am your Food,’ And finally, ‘Do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole Universe.’” (As quoted by Frank Barker) This is not a madman to be laughed at, this is the “stamp” of God hitting the surface of earth and showing us God Himself!
· Now, after listing Jesus’ rights as Son of God and His glory as God, the last three items on the list have to do with what Jesus does as Son of God.
· [Object lesson: toy boat?] From this Greek verb ferw we get the English word “ferry,” a boat which picks up and “carries” people - and their things - across a body of water.
· Again, I want to turn to some of the greatest Greek scholars, this time of the modern era, to explain the meaning of this Greek word:
o “[This is] not to be understood simply of the passive support of a burden. The Son is not an Atlas, sustaining the dead weight of the world… [but it is to be understood in terms of] movement, progress towards an end.” ~Westcott, 1889
o “Neither is the sense [merely] that of ruling or guiding, as Philo (De Cherub. § 11), who describes the divine word as ‘the steersman and pilot of the all.’ It implies sustaining, but also movement... It is concerned, not only with sustaining the weight of the universe, but also with maintaining its coherence and carrying on its development.” ~Marvin Vincent, Word Studies of the NT, 1886
o The fact that the verb φέρων is a present tense participle “indicates that this is a continuous work of the Son.” ~Phillip Hughes, 1977
· Everything in the universe rests on the shoulders of the Son of God, and He causes all things to “continue” (L&N, 1988). Without Him they would not have existence to begin with, but also without Him, whatever had existence would cease to exist, because all depends upon Him to sustain existence. For “…in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17b)
· What the Son of God created – by speaking words, He continues to uphold – through words, the “word of His power.” This phrase “word of His power” doesn’t occur anywhere else in Scripture, but it includes:
o the laws of motion and energy invented by the Lord at the creation to govern the universe and its elements (“natural laws” discovered by modern physicists like Newton and Einstein),
o and also the authoritative commands issued by the Lord each day to preserve individual persons and objects in His creation from their natural course of decay – His saving providences.
· This kind of power belongs to Jesus. It is “His power,” not the Father’s power that the Son is borrowing, but the Son’s own power.
· And it is absolute power over “all things” – over your food supply, over other human beings and what they do, over the weather, over demons and angels, the very course of history, everything!
o “He alone hath an absolute sovereignty over us in ‘all things’; this should teach us our constant dependence on Him and our universal subjection unto Him. And this abundantly discovers the vanity and folly of those… in an opposition unto the Lord Christ… their very lives are at the disposal of Him whom they oppose.” ~John Owen
· Now, “In ‘carrying on’ all things toward their destined end of conformity to the divine archetype, the Son must confront and deal with the fact of ‘sin,’ which had thrown the world into disorder, and drawn it out of God's order.” ~Vincent
· If you’re reading from a King James or New King James Bible, your text matches mine, but if you’re reading from another version, you’ll notice that my translation has a few extra words.
o I don’t think we have anything to fear from the honest application of the science of comparing ancient manuscripts of the Bible because I believe that God “upholds all things by the word of His power,” so He has been actively seeing to it throughout history that His written word doesn’t get accidentally corrupted (and I have objective proof of that in my sermon footnotes), but I still think we need to be cautious regarding newfangled editions of the Bible, and I want to make the case for keeping these so-called “extra words.”
o Regarding the pronoun “our” (modifying “sins”):
§ Even though I don’t think that the actual pronoun was in the original epistle (because it is not in any of the manuscripts which date earlier than 1000AD), I still think that the pronoun should be there in our English Bibles,
§ First, because it is an important clarification in meaning: Whose sins did Jesus make purification for? His own? No! He had no sin. It was “our sins” that He made purification for.
§ Second, I think the word “our” should go alongside of sins because the definite article which is there in all the Greek manuscripts can carry the force of a pronoun, so the translation “our sins” is still technically accurate whether or not the Greek word for “our” was in the original epistle.
o Similarly, regarding the phrase “by Himself/with His own self,”
§ The information contained in that phrase is already implied in the middle-voice reflexive spelling of the Greek verb for “making” purification, and since we don’t have a reflexive action indicator like that in English, we need the prepositional phrase “by Himself” to bring out the meaning of that Greek verb.
§ In addition to the voice of the Greek verb, the prepositional phrase “with His own self” is actually in almost all of the Greek manuscripts of Hebrews 1 (including the oldest one of all, the Chester-Beatty Papyrus dating to the year 200), as well as in the oldest-known Syriac, Ethiopic, and Latin Bible translations, and it’s also in the quotes of Hebrews 1:3 made by the majority of the early church fathers, including Augustine and Chrysostom. The three recently-discovered ancient Greek manuscripts which don’t contain the phrase are not, in my opinion, enough reason to drop the phrase from our Bibles.
§ However, even in the versions where it has been dropped out, Christ is still the actor in making purification, so you don’t need to burn your modern versions,
§ but this phrase “by Himself” – which I think should be in there – does specify more clearly the means of purification, that it was by means of Himself, rather than by the means of Old Testament-style animal sacrifices, that the Son of God “made purification for our sins,” and that is an important clarification in the argument of this epistle.
§ “This He did ‘by Himself.’ He Himself was priest, sacrifice, altar, incense…” ~John Owen
§ “The phrase is explained in the subsequent part of the Epistle by such expressions as these: ‘By His own blood’ [9:12] … ‘by the sacrifice of Himself’ [9:26]… and makes the enlightened mind regard the scene of the Saviour’s deepest humiliation as the scene, too, of the brightest display of His glory.” ~John Brown
· Now, purifying things was part of the Levite priests’ job, according to 1 Chronicles 23:28 “For he appointed them [Levites] to wait on Aaron, to minister in the house of the Lord, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the purification [καθαρισμὸν] of all the holy things, and over the works of the service of the house of God.” (Brenton)
· However, the phrase here in Hebrews 1:3 “make purification” does not appear anywhere else in the Bible! I suggest this is because Jesus did what no one else had ever done – or ever will do. The priests could purify the altar (Ex. 29:36) the utensils (Num. 31:20-23) or the saints (Num. 8:7), but they could not make purification for sins. Nobody can take sin and make it clean – least of all sins which hadn’t even been committed yet and would need to be forgiven in the future! Nobody but Jesus could ever do such a thing!
o 1 Cor. 15:3 “For I delivered to you in first [place] what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…” (NAW)
o 1 John 2:2 “And He Himself is appeasement concerning our sins... (NAW)
o Rev. 1:5 “…[He] loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood...” (NKJ)
· “Therefore we must despair of our own penances and our own purging of our sins, because, before we even begin to confess, our sins have already been forgiven. I would even go on to say, that it is not until then that Christ’s own purging becomes operative and produces true penitence in us. It is in this way that His righteousness works our righteousness.” ~Martin Luther, 1516
· Now we come to the seventh and final outstanding thing about the Son of God:
· [Object lesson: Set the light bulb, rubber stamp, toy boat, and cross onto a chair.]
· In Bible culture, sitting down was symbolic of serving in a public office,
o it is what the priests did when they taught in the temple;
o it is what the judges did (and still do) when the courts were in session,
o and it’s what kings do when they are on their thrones – they sit.
o (The word for the ruling authorities of the Jews in the New Testament was “Sanhedrin,” which literally means “those who sit together.”)
o So this is talking about Jesus taking office as the “right-hand-man” of God, the “prime minister,” so to speak.
· In the Old Testament, the priests stood to offer the sacrifice at the altar. It involved lugging firewood and cutting up animals and heaving them onto the altar – along with buckets of other stuff, and setting fire to it all, but, after the last sacrifice – the fellowship/peace offering – was made, the priest got to sit down with the people and eat barbequed or pot-roasted lamb and beef together with them. Sitting down indicated that the work of atonement was done.
o Hebrews 10:11-14 “And every [Levitical] priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (NKJV) People of God, do realize your relationship with God was “perfected forever” when Jesus died on the cross for you?
· The phrase “majesty in the highest places” is clearly referring to God the Father in Heaven:
o The same Greek word for “Majesty” megalwsunhs appears in the Greek versions of the Psalms, for instance, Psalm 145:3 “The Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and there is no end to his greatness.” (Brenton, cf. Ps. 150:2, Sirach 18:5)
o The Greek word for “highest places” is plural here and is common in the Greek Old Testament, for instance: Isaiah 33:5 “Holy is the God who resides in the highest places. Zion has been filled with justice and righteousness.” (NAW translation of Septuagint, cf. Psalm 93:1-4, 113:4-5, and Sirach 24:4[4])
· “‘[O]n the right hand’ … showed His equal dignity with the Father; … ‘on high’ … expressed being higher than all things, and having ascended up above all things.” ~Chrysostom
o “Jesus Christ is elevated to the highest-conceivable station of dignity and authority. His place is not a seat on the right hand of the throne merely, but a seat on the throne at the right hand of Him that sitteth on it. ‘Jesus having overcome sat down with His Father on His throne’ [Rev. 3:21]. The throne of Jehovah is the throne of Jesus. It is the same throne, the throne of God and the Lamb.” ~John Brown
· The word for “heights/heavens” (hupselois) only occurs in plural form one other time in the New Testament besides Hebrews 1:3, and that is in Hebrews 7:24-27, giving us further information as to what Jesus is doing at the right hand of God: He has taken up the office of High Priest in Heaven! “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
1. Will you cherish this exalted understanding you have of Jesus’s privileges, His glory, and His actions? Never forget Who is your Prophet, Priest, and King, and never cease to give worship to Him - in prayer, in song, and service! No other person or thing is so worthy of your attention!
o “[Christ is King. He is sitting on the throne and controlling everything in the world.] Christ is Prophet. He reveals God. He is the final revelation. There will be no other. Christ is Priest. He made atonement for our sins. If we are to be forgiven we must come through Him and His sacrifice. He is the one Mediator between God and man…” ~Frank Barker, Jr.
o Ephesians 1:16-22 “I never stop… [praying] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the Glory may donate to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, resulting in [you] knowing: what the hope of His call is, what the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints is, and what the hyperbolic greatness of His power into us believers is, according to the energy of the might of His strength, which He worked in the Christ when He raised out of the dead and seated Him in His right hand in the heavens above every ruler and authority and power and lordship and every name being named - not only in this age but also in the one which is about to be, and everything He subordinated under His feet…” (NAW)
2. Will you trust this Jesus to take care of you? To truly bring God’s word to you when you need it, to truly save you from evil, and to truly provide for your daily needs? He alone can cleanse you from your sins; will you trust Him to do that?
o “[T]he heavenly existence of the exalted Savior… is active… constantly sustaining the universe by His dynamic word. He is active as, enthroned on high, he rules over history until every enemy has been subdued (1 Cor. 15:25). He is active on behalf of his chosen people as he dispenses mercy, grace, and help to them in the hour of their testing… ‘He always lives to make intercession for them’ (7:5); where too he is preparing a place for them (Jn. 14:2f.)” ~Phillip E. Hughes Do you believe that and rest your soul on that?
o Hebrews 7:26-8:1 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…” (NASB)
3. Will you follow Jesus as your example? Will you walk with humility, yet boldly confront evil?
o “Seeing then that we know these things, let us be ashamed of nothing, nor have any high thoughts. For if He Himself being God and Lord and Son of God, did not decline to take the form of a slave, much more ought we to do all things, though they be lowly.” ~Chrysostom
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3 ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων[A] τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ[B], δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ[C] καθαρισμὸν ποιησάμενος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν [ἡμῶν[D]] ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, |
3 Who being the radiance of His glory and the stamp of His substance and carrying all things by the word of His power, having made purification from our sins with His own self, He took office at the right hand of the Greatest One in the heights. |
3 Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself X purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty |
3 who being the brightness of His
glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the
word of His power, when He had by Himself X purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty |
3 [And] He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of
His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He X
had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty |
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3 He is the radiance of the glory [of God] and the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds the |
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[1] Cf. Vincent “outraying” who contrasted it with “Δόξα glory is the expression of the divine attributes collectively… used of various visible displays of divine light and splendor, as Exo. 24:17; Deu. 5:24; Exo. 40:34; Num. 14:10; 16:19&42; Eze. 1:28, 3:23; 10:4; 43:4-5 Lev. 9:23, etc.
[2] although it is in the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon 7:24-26, which was written perhaps 100 years before Hebrews and which sounds very much like thoughts extending from Proverbs 8: “For wisdom is more active than all active things: and reaches everywhere by reason of its purity. For it is the ether of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing can come into it. For it is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness.”
[3] I might add, however, that the most common meaning of this word in the Septuagint was one’s “possessions.”
[4] ἐγὼ ἐν ὑψηλοῖς κατεσκήνωσα καὶ ὁ θρόνος μου ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης
[A] One of the most significant early Greek manuscripts, the Vaticanus, adds two letters to this word which change its meaning from “carrying” to “shining.” Although a significantly-different reading, it is in line with the meaning of the previous phrase in the text. No other manuscripts have these added letters, however, and the Vaticanus itself has been corrected to the standard reading.
[B] The oldest-known Greek manuscript, the Chester-Beatty Papyrus, omits this pronoun “his,” but it is in every other manuscript except for a few dated between the tenth-fifteenth centuries. The omission doesn’t make a significant change in meaning, although the presence of the pronoun rules out the possible interpretation that “the power” refers to God the Father instead of to the Son’s own power.
[C] Although the oldest-known Greek manuscript (the Chester-Beatty Papyrus c.200AD) and one other of the five oldest-known manuscripts (E=5th century), together with the vast majority of thousands of Greek manuscripts of Hebrews 1 (as well as the oldest-known translations of Hebrews 1 into Syriac, Ethiopic, and Latin a=4th c. and the majority of the early church fathers, including Augustine and Chrysostom) contain this phrase, the modern critical texts of the Greek New Testament omit “by Himself” because it is not in the majority of the oldest-known Greek manuscripts (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus – from the 4th – 5th c.) and there are also a half-dozen or more later manuscripts which don’t have the phrase, and it’s not in the Vulgate. It is in the Textus Receptus, though, which is why it’s in the KJV. It doesn’t change the meaning, since Christ is the actor either way in making purification, but it does narrow down the means of purification, that it was by means of Himself rather than by sacrificing an animal, an important clarification in the argument of this epistle.
[D] The pronoun “our” is in the majority of Greek texts, but it is not in the original manuscript of any of the oldest-known texts prior to the year 1000, which is suspicious. It’s not in any of the Latin translations, but it’s in the Syriac translation which dates back around the year 300, but translations don’t tend to be as accurate as original-language copies. However, this pronoun makes no appreciable difference in the meaning. Scriptural context makes it clear that Jesus made purification - not for His sins (for He had none) but - for “our” sins (the writer of Hebrews included).