The Glorious Sufferer
Notes
Transcript
It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
and put everything under their feet.”,
In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Introduction
Introduction
Immanence and transcendence
Immanence and transcendence
We have already established the greatness of Jesus
Better than the prophets
Better than the angels
Next week Evan will talk to us about how Jesus is better than Moses
But Hebrews doesn’t just make the argument that Jesus is great (transcendence), it makes the argument that Jesus is great for us (immanence)
One of the special characteristics of Jesus is that his greatness is demonstrated through his humility.
Doctrine of Christ and Doctrine of Man
Doctrine of Christ and Doctrine of Man
Hebrews 2:5–8 (NIV)
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
7 You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
8 and put everything under their feet.”
Man is surprisingly special.
Honey on pizza
“Glorious dirt”
Our specialness is grounded in God not us
We are created in his image
In this book about Christ, why do we pause to talk about man?
Because, while Christ is God he is also man
What does Christ’s humanity accomplish for us?
The Son is Our King
The Son is Our King
Mankind is Created to Rule
Mankind is Created to Rule
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
We Failed to Rule
We Failed to Rule
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
From the Garden onward the theme of kingship carries forward
From the Garden onward the theme of kingship carries forward
A king is promised
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
God’s people are oppressed by wicked king Pharaoh
God’s people are exceedingly wicked as there is “no king in Israel”
Judges 19:1 (NIV)
1 In those days Israel had no king.
God’s people wanted a king like all the other nations
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
God gives his people a king
11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
An eternal king is promised
16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”
David falls short
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
David dies
10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
Wicked kings follow
Man does not rule as he should
Hebrews 2:8b (NIV)
8 Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.
Jesus is the Fulfillment of Human Kingship
Jesus is the Fulfillment of Human Kingship
9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Jesus is different though, death ended the reign of the OT kings, but it inaugurates his reign
He faces temptation and does not sin
He dies for sin and does not stay dead
He reigns through experiencing and conquering our weakness
It would not be enough for him to experience what we experience unless he triumphed over it
Implication
Implication
Death has died and Jesus rules
In Jesus we find the true fulfillment of what it means to be human
One of the fundamental questions we ask about the universe is answered in him
The Son is Our Pioneer
The Son is Our Pioneer
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Life in this world is filled with suffering
The first sound a baby makes is complaining about suffering
Most of us will die suffering
Jesus leads us in suffering
“Pioneer” – one who goes before as an example and a pathfinder for those who follow
Oregon Trail vs. driving to Utah
Jesus is more than just an example. He actually makes the path for us to follow him
Jesus suffering is not wasted
He is “perfected” through it
It was the necessary path that he needed to walk to accomplish God’s purpose for him
Med school for a Dr
The Son is Our Brother
The Son is Our Brother
Hebrews 2:11–17 (NIV)
11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.
Jesus is our brother
The author uses quotations from two OT passages (Psalm 22 and Isa 8) to make the point that Jesus saves us as one of us
Jesus was willing to experience humanity in all its weakness and shame
Not that kind of person (Vortex induced vibration)
Rather than avoiding shame Jesus embraced it
The author then closes this section with a big implication
The Son is Our Priest
The Son is Our Priest
17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
He shares in our humanity (fully human in every way)
This is essential for our salvation
For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.
Gregory Nazianzus
This is helpful for our lives
Jesus has experienced and triumphed over every temptation and suffering we will experience
He was tempted more fully than us because he never gave in
He suffered more thoroughly than us because he brought suffering to it’s fulness (“It is finished”)
He sorrowed more deeply than us because he was the Man of Sorrows
He has paid for sin more completely than us because he paid the entire debt
It’s easy to get into debt. It’s hard to get out. There’s still debt left on the mortgage.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Rest in the Incarnate Son
Worship the Glorious Son
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (NIV)
13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness— 15 so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
1 Corinthians 11:21–26 (NIV)
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word
