Suffered for us

Hebrews 2:9-10 “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Suffering to overcome our death (2:9)

i. In order for us to understand this context properly, we must understand the thesis statement of the book of Hebrews. The most important verses in the book of Hebrews is 1:1-3.

ii. You see the Father long ago spoke in the prophets in many ways and many portions. The prophets came and called Israel and the surrounding nations to repent in which they refused to repent and turn away from God. So in those days, God spoke to His people through many people and in many different ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us through His son, whom He appointed heir of all things. Again, this is what 2:8 is saying when it says that everything is under His authority. Not only did God make Him heir of all things, a king over all things, but also through whom also He made the world. He isn’t just the heir of this world, but also the owner of it.

iii. Then in verse 3, He is the radiance of His glory, He is the reflection of the glory of God and the exact representation of His nature. The author here is telling us that through Christ, we can know who the Father is. To see Christ is to see what the Father is like.

iv. But not only this, He upholds all things by the word of His power. His word, His promises uphold all things. So when He made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So when Christ died on the cross to make the payment for sin, He sat down at the right hand of God.

v. This phrase sat down at the right hand is talking about not a literal right hand, but rather speaks of the supremacy of Christ. His supremacy is in that He sat down. This denotes the finished work of Christ. Unlike the Aaronic priests who remain standing, Jesus finished His work on the cross for purification of sins and sat down.

vi. Chapter 2 verse 9 continues from what the author of Hebrews wrote previously. The context in verse 8 helps us understand that the author is speaking about angels and Jesus. The context in verse 8 tells us that God the Father subjected all things to Christ and left nothing that is not subject to Him. This means that the Father granted all authority to the Son and everything is now under His dominion, His control. Then finishes verse 8 by saying but we don’t see all things which are subjected to Him. He is referring to angels and other created things.

vii. Then in verse 9, the author then talks about the Christ. We do see Him who was made a little lower than the angels. This is referring to Christ as the one who was made lower because He was humiliated. And because of this suffering of death in which He was humiliated and hung on a tree, He was crowned with glory and honor. His suffering had a divine purpose attached to it. What is that purpose? The result is that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.

viii. This is a beautiful phrase. This picture of tasting the death for everyone is a wonderful picture. It reminded me of Nehemiah 2:1. We know that Nehemiah was the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes. What does the cupbearer do? Well in Nehemiah 2:1, it tells us that the wine was before him and I took up the wine an gave it to the king. You see, the cupbearer would taste the wine to see if the wine was poisoned or safe to drink. You see, the cupbearer would taste so that the king would not fall victim to the drink. This is exactly the same thing that Jesus did for us on the cross. He bore the cup of wrath in Mark 14:36, where He says remove this cup from Me. This picture of removing the cup shows us the picture of a cupbearer who would drink the cup first to prevent others from falling victim.

ix. What is this drinking of the cup? It is the grace of God. You see the cup was full of death. But the grace of God reminds us that He tasted it for us. This is the love of God on the cross. You see the payment of death had to have been made. The fullness of time had arrived. It was time to make payment. At that time, Christ took it upon Himself, His life to take the penalty of sin upon Himself. He would drink the cup so that everyone who believes in Him would live. He would suffer to overcome our death. This is the grace of God.

b. Suffering to perfect our salvation (2:10)

i. Verse 10 starts with the author of Hebrews stating that it was fitting for Christ. What was fitting for Christ? It was fitting in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. What the author of Hebrews is saying is that it was fitting for Christ to suffer to perfect their salvation.

ii. So when we read verse 10, what was fitting? What was the purpose of His suffering? The purpose of His coming to earth was to fulfill the promise of God by redeeming mankind. We see that it was fitting for Him to bring many sons to glory. When we take the theme of chapter 1 in the background, the idea of speaking to the fathers in the prophets in many ways and many portions, God showed constantly throughout the OT that He would lead His people. One of the greatest examples is the exodus from Egypt.

iii. With that idea of leading His people out from Egypt, the author tells us that God’s purpose is to bring His people to glory. This is the clear intention of God as we see the background of Chapter 1 imbedded into Chapter 2. It’s not a coincidence that the author of Hebrews uses similar language. It is to show us the significance of this idea of leading His people into glory.

iv. The notion of a crucified Lord was a scandal to the first-century world. Crucifixion was a public form of execution, and its cruelty was well known. For Jews, death by crucifixion meant that a person was under the curse of God, while pagans protested that it was sheer madness. To associate God with the world of suffering was therefore utterly inappropriate. But in spite of the offensive nature of Jesus’ suffering and death, that is precisely the way God has worked, and Hebrews gives it a central place . It was fitting that God should effect his glorious saving purposes through Christ’s sufferings.

v. As much as this was a scandal in the first century world, it is a scandal even in our world today. The reality that the God of the universe died on a cross to redeem mankind in the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18 says that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God.

vi. This is no different today. People have a hard time understanding this. I had a hard time understanding this because I always thought, if He was truly God, why would He die? Why would He allow others to kill Him if He was truly God? What kind of God dies? This is an impossible scenario for us to understand because God in most stories or movies show us that God is undefeatable. Yet the God of the Bible, He humbles Himself to suffer for His people.

vii. What we deem as a failure, the author of Hebrews tells us it was perfectly His plan. We see this by the author’s description of who this Christ is. He writes “for whom all things and through whom all things exist.” The author reaffirms this sentiment by quoting indirectly referring back to Psalm 8. Clearly with this idea of divine creation in mind, the author is not stating that God failed on the cross, yet accomplished the very purpose that He set out to do. Through His power clearly displayed, we see the perfectly fulfilled plan that He had set out to accomplish.

viii. The greatest statement here is that Christ suffered to perfect our salvation through suffering. The word here for author should be better translated the leader or initator. First, Christ accomplished something unique by his death and exaltation on behalf of others: he tasted death for everyone (v. 9), not simply in order to identify with humankind in general, though this was certainly true, but also ‘to break the power of him who had death at his command.

ix. Second, the nuance of ‘originator’ or ‘initiator’ seems to be demanded by the qualifier ‘of their salvation’. Clearly Christ has effected a deliverance which his brothers and sisters or the many childrencould not achieve for themselves. He leads them along the path to glory, and is able to save them completely (7:25; 9:28). The same point is made explicitly at 5:9, where Jesus is called ‘the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him’.

x. But the perfection is not merely the suffering. Through the suffering, it results in exaltation. His suffering had a purpose. It wasn’t just for Him to suffer. Rather, His suffering leads to His exaltation which is why our salvation is perfected through suffering. It’s perfected through suffering because of the resurrection that follows. The leading unto glory is the final destination. This is how He brings many sons to glory. It would not be glorious if there was no glorious ending.

xi. What is the significance of this statement? It is to call all believers in Christ, to press on and press towards their destination. Following the Lord Jesus Christ is the calling and this statement reminds us, to follow Him to the end.

3. CONCLUSION