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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2016 13:36:02 GMT -6
9 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. 10 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. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, 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 whom God has given Me.” 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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JB
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Dedicated TruthSeeker
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Post by JB on Oct 24, 2016 7:16:40 GMT -6
HEB 2:9a But we do see Him...
With these words, the writer responds to his own observation in v.8. After showing that God promised to subject everything to mankind (Psalm 8:4-8), he pointed out the obvious - “We do not yet see all things subjected to him.”
So he continues that thought here. What we DO see is…
HEB 2:9b Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death...
[Note: I rearranged the NASB’s phrases in that verse to make it easier to read]
Jesus died as a human, but today He is alive and crowned with glory and honor. That means that everything, even death itself, IS subjected to Jesus! But that would be just a fine piece of history if it weren’t for the next clause:
HEB 2:9c so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Pause. Take in the cause/effect relationship that the writer wants to get across. BECAUSE Jesus is now the master of everything and BECAUSE He made it so that no one has to die, Psalm 8 IS indeed fulfilled.
Everything has indeed been subjected to mankind. Humanity has mastery over everything - even over death – through Christ.
In short: It may not look like it on the surface, but Psalm 8’s prophecy IS fulfilled.
HEB 2:10 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.
Everything is for the Father and everything is through the Father, and it was the Father’s pleasure to perfect Jesus so that He could become the author of salvation for everyone who wants it.
What a minute. Jesus needed to be perfected?
Yes. He gave up His deity. As a man, He was incomplete just as we are. He faced pain, hunger, illness, sadness and - most importantly - temptation. He could have sinned, but He didn’t.
So He lived in this world as broken and incomplete as we are. He was perfected (a verb in Greek which also means “completed”) through His unfailing faithfulness to the Father in the flesh.
HEB 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, 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 whom God has given Me.”
“Sanctify” (Greek, hagiazō , or ἁγιάζω) means “set apart” and in this context it means “set apart for God.”
People who are set apart for God are in the same family as the One who sets them apart for God. We have the same Father He does. We are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, and He is not ashamed of us (cp. Mark 8:38 for “ashamed”).
HEB 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Jesus became flesh (John 1:14) and blood because the people He wanted to sanctify were flesh and blood. He struggled with the flesh because they struggle with the flesh. He died because they die.
That way, after He lived perfectly and defeated death, the devil would be disarmed. His brothers and sisters would no longer have to fear death. [Note: This is spiritual death – see Hebrews 5:7!]
Fear of death is the devil’s power. The more your mind experiments with that idea, the more obvious it becomes.
How much mind-numbing and alternate-reality “entertainment” is available and popular?
How many times have you heard of both fictional and real people who know they are going to die soon immersing themselves in worldly pleasures –crossing things off their “bucket lists,” indulging in deep immorality, or living out unrestrained craziness that was uncharacteristic of their usual lives?
How much of the world’s time and money go toward preventing and curing fatal diseases, prosecuting and preventing crimes, improving health and fitness, buying and selling life insurance, and more?
I wouldn’t be surprised if research showed that a vast majority of the word’s resources are poured into escaping the reality of death.
The devil loves that… all those resources that could otherwise be directed toward eliminating fear of death by building up the kingdom and defeating death’s power forever in each person!
SOAPBOX: I can never pass up an opportunity to comment on the very first hypocrisy I noticed in the church as a new Christian. I went to a funeral. The man who died was a strong believer. His family members were also believers. Yet they mourned and cried as much as I’d seen at any non-Christian funeral. I’d only been saved for a few months and didn’t know my Bible well, but that struck me as terribly misguided.
Physical death is a welcome event for us who are saved. It is our opportunity for Jesus to stare the devil straight in the eyes and say “you are powerless. This one will live with me forever.”
Oh how I wish we (I include myself here) could love this world so much less and look forward to physical death so much more!
HEB 2:16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Verse 16 resumes the thought the writer began in v. 9 that when Jesus became human He “was made for a little while lower than the angels.” If He had wanted to save angels he would have become an angel. But He wanted to save humans (“descendants of Abraham”), so He stooped even lower and became a man.
That required that Him to be like His brothers and sisters in every way. Jesus was tempted and suffered the same as those He wanted to save. He empathizes with our struggles through personal experience, yet He never failed. That qualifies Jesus alone to come to our aid.
Only Jesus is qualified to serve as a High Priest who can mercifully “sway the Father to show mercy toward peoples’ sins” [that is my best attempt to translate the complex and intense meaning in Greek of “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” in v.17].
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