Thomas J Parlette
“The Original N.I.L.”
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2: 5-12
10/6/24, World Communion
It has recently become quite profitable to go to college for some student athletes.
It used to be that collegiate athletes were amateurs, which by definition meant that they couldn’t make any money from anything they did on the football field or the basketball court. They played for the love of the game, basically working for free. Indeed, you could expect the NCAA to come down hard with sanctions if a booster bought a player as much as a hamburger as a gesture of appreciation.
But all this has changed. Consider the basketball superstar Caitlin Clark. She broke the all-time NCAA scoring record last season at the University of Iowa, and after a run in the NCAA tournament, she announced that she was entering the WNBA draft, and recently joined the Indiana Fever, where she just won Rookie of the Year.
The irony is that she probably could have made more money had she opted to stay at Iowa for another year. According to some analysts, she’ll make less in the WNBA than she could have made in college. (1) Just consider some of the numbers:
The average salary for a player in the WNBA is $102,000.
For a player with 0-2 years of experience, the minimum salary is just over $64,000.
For a player with 3 or more years of experience, the minimum is $76,500.
The supermax salary for 2024 – almost $242,000
And the very highest earners in the WNBA get a salary of around $252,000
Granted, Caitlin Clark probably makes a lot more than that in sponsorships and endorsements – but analysts think she could have made millions if she had stayed in college another year.
How is this possible? Three Letters – N. I. L. It stands for Name, Image and Likeness.
The new NCAA rules that allow student athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness is turning a lot of college kids into instant millionaires.
The Name part of the equation is pretty straightforward – Your name is your name. No one can use it without your consent. Athletes can now sign contracts or endorsements to get paid for companies to use their names
Image is pretty easy to understand as well. Your image is your photo. A photograph of your face or body cannot be used without permission, and athletes can now sell their image for profit without penalties.
Likeness is a little trickier. How is “likeness” different from “image.” The easiest way to understand it is with an example. Think of the silhouette of Michael Jordan leaping through the air on the Nike Air Jordan brand clothing and sneakers. Or Arnold Palmer’s signature on Arizona Iced Tea, or even the logo for the PGA that depicts a golfer in the middle of their backswing. The PGA says it’s based on no one in particular, but most golf historians think it’s based on Johnny Miller, although some say Tom Weiskopf, or Jack Nicklaus or maybe even Ben Hogan or Byron Nelson. We’ll never really know. “Likeness” is you – but not really you exactly, it’s a representation. It’s an important distinction in this virtual reality world, because avatars are becoming more and more common. Think of all the popular videogames based on the NFL, NBA and College football and basketball. The players in the games are representations of real players. For the Collegiate videogames, the NCAA profited, but not the athletes being represented – well, not anymore. Now, the athletes will get paid for their “Likeness.”
In our passage from Hebrews for today, the writer refers to Jesus’ name, image and likeness as our best way of knowing God.
We know that Jesus has many names in the Bible. When the name “Jesus” as a transliteration of the Hebrew word “Yeshua,” meaning “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.” But we also refer to Jesus as the “Christ”, which comes from the Greek “Christos,” meaning “anointed one”, or “Messiah.” Jesus often referred to himself as the “The Son of Man,”a title found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Coming up in the season of Advent, we will refer to Jesus as “Emmanuel,” meaning God with us.
John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” We also know Jesus as the “Savior” of the world. And according to Revelation, Jesus describes himself as the “Alpha and Omega” – the beginning and the end of all things.
Lots of names. But the reading for today doesn’t refer to Jesus by any of those names – not even Jesus. No, here at the beginning of Hebrews, he is identified as “a Son.” But this is a Son with an extraordinary resume. This Son is:
The heir of all things,
The Creator of the World,
The reflection of God’s glory,
The sustainer of all things
Superior to the angels,
Crowned with glory,
Tasted death for everyone,
And was made perfect through sufferings.
A pretty impressive list. In our modern society, so many people are looking to cash in on their name, their celebrity status. For the writer of Hebrews – this Son has the most powerful name out there.
This brings us to image, this Son known by the name of Jesus is “the exact imprint of God’s very being.” This isn’t the only allusion to this idea that we have in the scriptures – Paul famously wrote that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” So, when we see Jesus, we see God - when we know Jesus, we come to know the divine nature in human form.
Writing in his commentary, Hebrews for Everyone, biblical scholar N.T. Wright reminds us that though the ancient world didn’t have printing presses per say, they did have early equivalents that were used, particularly for making coins. The emperor would employ an engraver who carved the royal portrait, and suitable words or abbreviations, on a stamp, or die, made of hard metal. The engraver used the stamp to make a coin, so that the coin gave the exact impression of what was on the stamp.
The word “character” in ancient Greek was widely used to mean just that: the accurate impression left by the stamp on a coin. From there it came to mean both the individual letters that could be produced by this method – the characters of a language – and the “character” in a broader sense of a person or thing. This is what the author of Hebrews is saying about Jesus. It is as though the exact imprint of God’s very nature and glory has been precisely reproduced in the soft metal of the Son’s human nature. And now – there it is for the whole world to see. The image of God in the person of Jesus. (2)
Which then brings us to likeness. Jesus is the image, the exact imprint of God. We see Jesus – we see God. But what is God like?
Again, it’s helpful to turn to Paul, who offers us the wonderful words found in Philippians – “Christ Jesus was in the form of God, but did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”
So what is God like? God is like a servant, filled with humility, and cares so deeply for us that He would become like one of us – even to the point of tasting death for everyone.
In the life and ministry of Jesus, we see many other examples of what God is like.
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus revealed the heart of God by teaching about love, forgiveness, mercy and righteousness.
In the miracles of healing the sick and raising the dead, changing water into wine and multiplying loaves and fish, Jesus showed us that God loves us, cares for us and wants to provide for our needs. God is concerned for our well-being. This is who God is, that is the likeness of God.
In Jesus’ interactions with people, he shows himself as the “imprint of God’s very being.” For instance, in the story of the prodigal son, Jesus reminds us that God loves us unconditionally and is never happier than when we turn back to God.
On this World Communion Sunday, the writer of Hebrews celebrates God’s Son, the one known as Jesus, “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.” It is Jesus’ Name, Image and Likeness that gathers us here to today, to be united with Christians all over the world, and be nourished on our path of discipleship
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Weston Blasi, “Caitlin Clark is turning pro. Why she could make more money staying in college one more year.” Marketwatch.com, March 4, 2024.
2. N.T. Wright, Hebrews for Everyone (SPCK, 2004) p.2.
