From Suffering to Glory

Hebrews 2:10-18

Bible Passage: Hebrews 2:10-18

Summary: This passage speaks of Christ as the pioneer of salvation who, through suffering, brings many sons and daughters to glory. It emphasizes Jesus’ identification with humanity, His role as a merciful and faithful high priest, and His victory over death.

Application: This sermon can help Christians understand that their own struggles and sufferings are part of the journey to glory promised by God. It reassures them that Christ empathizes with their weaknesses and invites them to trust Him in their hardships as they walk the path He has paved through His suffering.

Teaching: The teaching of this sermon could focus on how Jesus’ suffering was not in vain, but rather it was essential for our salvation. It underscores the importance of understanding our identity as children of God and how Jesus made this possible through His perfect sacrifice.

How this passage could point to Christ: In the context of the Bible, this passage highlights Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament sacrificial systems, connecting His experience of suffering with the redemptive work necessary for our salvation. It showcases Him as the high priest who offers Himself, bridging us to the Father.

Big Idea: The core message is that through Christ's suffering and sacrifice, believers are invited into a greater experience of glory and identity as sons and daughters of God, empowering them to face their trials with hope and purpose.

Recommended Study: As you prepare your sermon, consider using your Logos library to explore the Greek terms used in Hebrews 2:10-18, particularly looking at the concept of ‘pioneer’ and ‘salvation’. Investigate the intertextual references to the Psalms and how they relate to the messianic expectations. Look into commentaries on Hebrews that discuss the role of suffering in the life of Christ and its implications for believers today.

1. Pathway to Perfection

Hebrews 2:10–11 “10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,”

This morning we will get back in to this thought of Jesus as a kind of first fruits in that He led the way in salvation by turning suffering into bringing many to glory.

We know that through our study of the bible, that God the Father had instituted a plan long ago that would send His Son Jesus to Calvary’s cross to die for the sins of the world.

And through that plan, Jesus would “bring many sons to glory” as we see in V10.

God’s plan to make this happen was to make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering

So we ask ourselves what does this mean? Jesus is already perfect so why do we see that He should be made perfect through this suffering?

The answer is that Jesus, although perfect in His being, becomes the “perfect” sacrifice for the sins of the world by His coming to Earth, living as a man, and dying as one as well.

In this “suffering” that He did, He was made to be a perfect sacrifice. Jesus had to come live and die as one of us, for humankind to receive the salvation we get to receive through Him.

We know Jesus to go on before us in many things. Suffering many things that we suffer in order to be that savior we all know and have come under lordship of.

Jesus is this perfect Savior to walk with us through our daily trials because He has walked through these trials, He has suffered like we suffer.

Its through those temptations and trials that makes Him who He is… The perfect Sacrifice… The perfect Savior.

Application:

What this means for us today, is that we have a hope in knowing this. Knowing that our savior walked through the things we now experience and more importantly did it perfectly.

Now you and I don’t have a hope to do it perfectly, but we have a hope to walk with the one that did. And thats where our strength should come from. thats who we should be leaning in to.

Christ came to live in this human form of flesh and blood so that He might have experienced the same things we do, not because He had to but because he was being made perfect, so that He could be the best encouragement for us as we go through those things.

There is a reason that those who have experienced loss unexpectedly do well in ministries of grief counseling and sympathy ministries. Its because they have that experience to fall back on and give advice that they would have wanted to hear.

Jesus has gone through the things He went through on this Earth so that He might be that friend to you and I that can give us those words we so desperately need in those times of darkness.

And when you get through the season that your going through, Jesus has walked right beside you and now you will have a testimony to go out and be that person for someone else.

2. Proclaiming Our Belonging

Hebrews 2:12–13 “12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.””

In the world today, the sense of belonging is so needed. Having a place to call home, having a friend group to be able to call or text when you need them, all of these things are paramount more now then ever before.

God offers this sense of belonging to His children. Jesus acknowledges us as brothers and sisters in Christ because we have unity and identity THROUGH Him.

This verse here gives us reassurance as readers that we belong to God’s family. I often say it here that this congregation is a faith family, one that needs to encourage one another each and everyday.

Your identity is no longer found in the things the world knows you by, but your identity is in Christ. You are His and He is yours thats how it should be.

And when we start to proclaim this, it then becomes real…

You can sit in here this morning to hear this sermon and go on about your day to forget about it sometime over the lunch your about to go have, or…

You can tell yourself, you DO belong to this family of God, you DO belong to this faith family under the roof of God’s house.

and then you meditate on that throughout the week, be challenged by it to show others what God is doing in your life, tell other about the gospel and start a conversation that will get people to start thinking about it.

And that all comes from this idea that you truly belong to this thing we call family. you truly belong to God because YES He did give His only begotten Son for you.

He who created this entire existence knows your name and desires to have a relationship with you. That is why you belong.

3. Power Over the Prison

Hebrews 2:14–15 “14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Jesus also did something that we all at least subconsciously fear, and that is that He conquered death.

Death is the debt all men pay is what one Greek man said by the name of Europedes

And its true, that as we draw closer to the end of our lives that reality becomes more and more true. But when we see this verse here in V15:and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Jesus has conquered that death and that one that had power over death so that you might not be subjected to a lifelong fear.

You have not been given the spirit of fear but the spirit of life! There is a reason that the Holy Spirit wasn’t given until the day of Pentecost in the bible.

That was because Jesus had gone to steal the keys of death away from the enemy. That after that had been done, The helper had been given to those early believers as a helper to guide and direct their lives.

Death shouldn’t be a prison! The keys have been procured, they have been used to open your cell and now its only up to you to walk into freedom through that free act of freedom Christ gave to everyone.

So live out your faith, live out your beliefs, because you better bet that the world around you is doing just that.

This prison of death has no power over you anymore Jesus has fought that battle for you and even though we must all pay that debt one day, it is nothing more than a gateway into your eternity, spent within the presence of the Father.

4. Priesthood of Empathy

Hebrews 2:16–18 “16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Jesus is called many things, He has many titles. One thing He has become through His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross is that of the High Priest.

Jesus now acts as the High Priest between the Lord and ourselves. And its through Him that we might feel His mercy and grace in our lives.

And it all comes back to the suffering He did and the temptations He faced while here on Earth. So that He might help those who suffer in the same things.

Jesus’ faithful service in this role of High Priest is done with something called Empathy. A tool used in our weakness so that He might encourage us in our times of need.

Its a mercy that He gives us, the aid He gives us when we are weak shows Jesus’ understanding of our lives and temptations.

And through that understanding, through that empathy, through that mercy. Jesus aids us in helping us to navigate that path from suffering into glory.

That is what is means to be guided by the Holy Spirit, to allow this Helper to guide and direct your life.

As we are going to see here in a moment, a young one that would answer the call to come forward and take that first step in obedience to publicly proclaim her faith before you all today.

Its not the angels, as the author of Hebrews reminds us, but only Jesus. Its always been Jesus, it will never stop being Jesus.

Because Jesus is supreme….

What Do I Do?

Your pathway to glory will begin with suffering…

You belong…

Death no longer is your prison…

Allow yourself to be guided and directed with Empathy…

Consider focusing on Christ's merciful and faithful high priesthood role, emphasizing empathy in our weaknesses. It suggests that believers find solace and strength in Him who understands and aids us, navigating the path of suffering toward divine glory.