Hebrews 2:1-18

Hebrews 2:1-18

Relevance of angels in the OT law:

They would "mediate" (act as an intermediary) between God and man, and this was represented in the tabernacle/temple

In the most Holy place, a veil with angels woven into the fabric separated God's presence from the High Priest & the people of Israel

Ark of the covenant, in the Tabernacle, the very presence of God would dwell above the mercy seat rested between two angels

So in essence, you had the presence of God, mediated by angels and then mediated by a High Priest and then the people of Israel, and then the Gentiles

Angels were held in high regard - and the law was revered as the message spoken through angels

And so this Gospel message, spoken by the man, Jesus, was being discredited as less than the law that came through angels

Having established in Chapter 1 that Jesus is greater than the angels he continues on in Chpt 2 to say that we therefore need to pay much more attention to his message than we ever did to the message of the Old Covenant

The message of Jesus more weighty than the message of angels (v1-4)

What was the standard for paying attention to the law - Deut 6:8-9

The danger of not paying attention is drifting away

(gradually being washed away) vs a conscious leaving (Qn - key theme?)

The problem with drifting away from this message of salvation:

The law spoken by angels had consequences for every transgression (600+ laws to observe)

How will we escape punishment if we reject the WHOLE Gospel - spoken of by multiple witnesses and spokespeople

Jesus, the Son in v3

For the Father in v3

The Holy Spirit in v4

The apostles in v3

The law, spoken by angels had just punishments, how much more the consequences of the weightier Gospel message? How will we escape if we neglect it?

v5-8 The Humanity & death of Jesus

Y’all are believing that because Jesus was a human being, his authority and his message are diluted and less important - let me tell you why he had to be a human

OT prophecy

God subjected the new world not to angels, but to a human being (v5)

Prophecy from Ps 8:4-9

Referring to a human being, a son of man

Made lower than the angels for a short while

Crowned with glory and honor - kingship

Everything subjected under his feet (authority over everything)

Prophecy yet to be fulfilled

Everything not yet subject to Him

Not every knee is bowed to him as king

Those who accept him as king (audience of this letter) are oppressed, mistreated and suffer

We see it partially fulfilled:

Son of man, lower than the angels

v9 We see Jesus made lower than the angels by becoming a human being

Reason - so that he might taste death for everyone

He had to be a man, so that he could experience death - somehow, this was a grace of God

We see him crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death

Surprisingly, the means/reason that he is crowned with glory is through his suffering and death

How and why would suffering & death (a symbol of defeat), be the reason to crown this son of man as a king and honor him?

The rest of the chapter fleshes this out - this is the salvation that we cannot neglect

v10 - God, who holds in his hands the power over all existence, could have chosen any number of ways to redeem and bring to glory to many sons and daughters, but the most appropriate, the one most in line with his nature, was this one

He would save many sons & daughters up into glory by bringing Jesus down in suffering

In this way, he would make Jesus, the source of their salvation, perfect

v11 - Why? Because Jesus, the one who sanctifies the sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters themselves all have one Father - they all originate from the same being

So Jesus became like us, so that we could be like him, not just to share in humanity, but to share in brotherhood and sisterhood, to have the same Father

So Jesus is NOT ashamed to call them brothers and sisters

Consider how this would have fallen on the ears of the hearers

Shunned from the temple (could not even access the court of the gentiles), rejected by their community and cultural practices and rejected by their very family (Matthew 10:34-36)

To hear now that part of this great mystery and method of salvation is that the God in heaven is your father (when your earthly father may have rejected you), and Jesus, the Son of God, is not ashamed to call you brother, and call you sister

v12-13 3 Passages he quotes that he references to Jesus

unashamed to call the people of God his brothers and sisters - an proclaiming God’s name to them (Ps 22:22)

Trusting in God and his method of salvation (Is 8:17)

In community with the children of God, given to him (Is 8:18)

Okay, so we understand that the reason for Jesus coming down from glory, becoming a son of man, being lower than angels for a short time was to be united with believers as brothers and sisters and children of the same Father.

But that still does not explain why he had to die. Remember he was made lower than the angels for a short time, so that he might taste death for everyone. Why did he have to die?

v14 and on

Because the children (us) have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in taking on flesh and blood

So that when he died, he may destroy the one holding the power of death - the devil

Consequences of sin was death (Gen 3 - because you disobeyed, you will return to the dust)

To die, in a state of sin, would be to face judgement (Luke 12:4-5 - 4 “I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear!)

So Jesus has to die as a human being, so that he can take on himself the fiery consequences of judgement reserved for human beings and by doing so, empty death of it’s power to condemn and destroy the power of the devil to lead people to condemnation through tempting them to sin

So Jesus shares in flesh and blood like the children of God, so that he can taste death for everyone

So his death, that looks on the face of it like a defeat, was actually a victory

His public, humiliating crucifixion was actually a public, humiliating distracting defeat of the devil and of death and of sin (Question?)

Col 1:14-15 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him

So, he is crowned with glory and honor, because he died a death of victory

v15 - Freedom - The author compares the inability to escape this impending fate to a life bound in slavery - Jesus frees his flesh and blood siblings through his flesh and blood death

Kings would often go into battle to rescue their imprisoned citizens from other lands to free them, this is the picture the author is looking to draw (Ephesians 4:7-8 - Question?)

So he takes on flesh and blood to:

Identify with believers as brothers and sisters

Taste/experience death for everyone

Empty sin, death and the devil of their power

Free those living lives of slavery as a result of sin

To wrap up his comparison of Jesus with angels he concludes

v16 - He has to come like a human because he was coming to help human beings, not angels. Not just any human beings but the offspring of Abraham, symbolically meaning those who put their faith and trust in God

v17 - So he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way so that he could help them

The High Priest would be the one who makes the atoning sacrifice for the people

An animal would be killed so that it’s death would be a substitute for the death of the repentant sinners. 1 sacrifice for the sins of the nation

Jesus serves as this High Priest for us - why was it necessary that he be a human high priest?

As a human being, Jesus was tempted, and overcame the temptation

That makes him faithful - he did not give in to the temptation

But it also makes him merciful - he knows what it is to be tempted, and to endure suffering because of the temptation

(his temptation was that he abandon his mission, reject God and take the easy way out) - for his audience, their temptation was to reject the Gospel so that they would not have to continue to endure suffering

Because he knows suffering, and he knows temptation, he took on humanity, and took on flesh

This is why it was entirely appropriate (in v10), in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, for God, for whom and through whom all things exist should make Jesus perfect through suffering - not that he was imperfect in terms of any blemish or sinfulness - but that he could only become a merciful and faithful High Priest - a PERFECT High Priest for us, if he became human, endured temptation, endured suffering, so that he could come alongside us and say, I know what you are going through, and i can help you.