Hebrews 2:9-18
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
“He is risen!” We repeat those words every Easter. They were originally said by an angel at the garden tomb to the women who had come to finish preparing Jesus’s body for burial with spices nearly 2,000 years ago. The empty tomb, the stone being rolled away, the presence of the angels, and the contents of the tomb all testified to the truthfulness of the angel’s words. Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself alive to Mary Magdalene, His disciples on multiple occasions, the group of women that came to His tomb, his brother James, and to over 500 people at once. God went out of His way to confirm that Jesus rose from the dead with undeniable historical evidence. Beyond it being a miracle, what is the significance of Jesus rising from the dead? Why is the resurrection so important? Why is it the cardinal truth of the Christian faith on which everything else hangs? We are told very plainly what the resurrection means concerning who Jesus is. [Doubting] Thomas said it best when he was allowed to see and touch Jesus’s crucifixion scars. His conclusion about Jesus after seeing Him risen from the dead was, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The resurrection confirms that He is who He said He is. He is God in the flesh. He is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). The resurrection is so important that Paul said that without it, Christians are to be the most pitied people on earth (1 Corinthians 15:19). As we celebrate this truth this Easter, let us consider something that the book of Hebrews highlights. What did Jesus’s work in coming, dying, rising again, and ascending accomplish for His people? The author of Hebrews in 2:9-18 provides for us three things to consider about Jesus’s work and what it means for the people of God who trust in Him today.
First, He identified with us. Hebrews 2 is the continuation of an argument that began at the beginning of the book that lays out Jesus as the superior revelation of God. He is the clearest declaration of who God is and is, therefore, the way to know the One True God. In that portion, the author laid out His superiority to the angels. The modern cults (such as Jehovah’s Witnesses) teach that Jesus is an exalted angelic being. Scripture clearly denies this. Hebrews 1 and 2 teach that Jesus is superior to the angels and that the angels serve Him and His people. In the midst of that section, the author of Hebrews uses an Old Testament passage to teach about the significance of Jesus’s coming into this world and taking on humanity. Psalm 8 is a wonderful Psalm where King David spoke of looking up at the vast universe with the stars and all of their glory and considering the greatness of the fact that God pays special consideration to mankind. In all of God’s creation, human beings have been given a unique honor in that we are made in His image. What that means is defined for us in Genesis 1:26-27. God entrusted the works of His hands in creation to mankind as a stewardship. The phrase “made a little lower than the angels” describes mankind being placed on earth and given dominion over it (Hebrews 2:7). We are His representatives with the unique capacity to fellowship with Him and worship Him. That image was marred in the fall when Adam and Eve sinned and we have not lived out our role ever since. What the author of Hebrews did is take that truth and apply it to Jesus in verse 9 describing how Jesus took that same place – “a little lower than the angels” – so that He could “taste death for every man.” The significance of that is not that Jesus was made less important than the angels, but that He became a man. He did this, verses 10-13 tell us, so that He could identify with mankind in order to save mankind. He became like us in every way, except without sin (Hebrews 4:14-16), all so that He might be able to “call us brethren.” Hebrews 2:12 is a quote from Psalm 22:22 that is used to describe the multitude of people that Jesus would redeem through His work and how one day that group will stand before God and praise the Lord for His goodness. Verse 13 quotes Isaiah 8:17 and describes Jesus’s work in one day standing before God with an entire group of people that He has saved and presenting them to His Father. In order for Jesus to save us, He had to identify with us. In the Garden of Eden, mankind sinned. Jesus came as our representative, as One who identified with us, to save us from our sin. That God would stoop down, leave heaven’s glory, and become one of us to identify with us proves His amazing love for mankind. What a Savior we have that would humble Himself and identify with us in such a way (Philippians 2:5-11).
Next, verses 14-15 tell us that Jesus conquered death for us. Since the fall occurred in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, the entire human race has been subjected to sin and its consequences, the chief of which is death. Death in the Bible is both physical and spiritual. Both types of death are separation. When a person dies physically, their spirit and soul are separated from their body. Spiritual death is separation from God, both now and in eternity. People who are lost now and have never trusted in Christ are “dead in trespasses and sins.” They are cut from right relationship with God because of sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned” and Romans 6:23 confirms that “the wages” of that “sin is death.” All people are spiritually dead apart from trusting in Jesus and all people will physically die one day (Hebrews 9:27). Living in that reality breeds fear. The entire human race is driven by a fear of death. Life becomes about getting the most out of it because we all recognize that our time here is short (James 4:14). Most human beings live to cheat death as long as possible, but all people will inevitably die. When Jesus came and died for our sin, He actually took the punishment (the wrath of God) for our sin. He endured a type of hell on the cross in our place so that He might save those who trust in Him from eternal death. When Satan led the human race into sin in Genesis 3, all of us became subjected to the bondage of the fear of death. By dying for our sin and rising again victorious over death, Jesus offers the hope and promise of bringing that same victory to us. Satan’s work was rendered powerless because Jesus overcame the bondage that it brought. Not only are we delivered from the fear of death, but one day we will be set free from death and sin altogether when we are raised up with bodies no longer affected by them. Jesus came to set us free from sin and death and His resurrection is proof of that work. Do you fear death? What a Savior we have that would die for us, conquer death, and set us free from the fear of death.
Lastly, the author of Hebrews lays out one more significance of Jesus coming and identifying with us and that is that He helps us. The reason that He came as a Jewish man (“seed of Abraham”) is so that He would fulfill the Old Testament promises and be able to represent the people of God as “a merciful and faithful High Priest.” The role of the high priest was to make atonement for sin and intercede (go before God) for the people of God. By identifying with us and by dying and rising again, Jesus atoned for our sin and lives at the right hand of God to intercede for us and to offer us the help that we need to live for Him and serve Him faithfully in this world. Verse 18 tells us that because He came, lived out His human life, and suffered for us, He can faithfully identify with all that we go through as human beings and help us when we are “tempted.” Hebrews 4:15 tells us that He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” That means, He faced every struggle we could face and handled it all perfectly. We have One in heaven that we can always go to with every struggle and find all of the “mercy” and “grace” that we “need” (Hebrews 4:16) because He has overcome all that we could go through. Jesus has not only finished the work for us that delivers us from sin and death, but He ever lives to help us and intercede for us as our Great High Priest (Hebrews 7:25). What a Savior we have that has provided and will provide all that we need in this life and the next to serve Him and be all He wants us to be.
“He is risen!” He has identified with us. He has conquered death for us. He helps us. The resurrection is undeniable. God has done everything to accomplish our salvation. This salvation is only given and applied to our lives when we bow the knee and trust in Christ as Savior and Lord. He calls us to follow Him. It is one thing to know that Jesus is the risen Lord, but it is quite another to trust in Him and follow Him as the risen Lord. In Christ, a person has everything. Outside of Christ, a person only has a short time before an eternity apart from God. Jesus has risen. He is coming again. Now, He is extending grace to this world so that all who will can come to Him for salvation. The question this Easter is, have you trusted in Him? He is risen! Happy Easter!