Jesus
Understands Us
Hebrews 2:10-14
Theme: Jesus Christ is not inferior to angels because of his humanity. Christ,
through His humanity, secured our great salvation which involves the exaltation
of believers, freed us from the fear of death, and affords us the help of a
compassionate High Priest in Heaven during temptations. Christ’s humanity enables Him to understand
our needs and challenges fully.
Introduction:
God’s purposes will be accomplished even concerning believers! We have been called into God’s eternal glory. God's initiatives will be done.
Lesson:
Why did God allow his Son to suffer? (Heb. 2:10-14)
A. The
Character of God. It was entirely consistent
with the holy character of God, the Great Planner (2:10)—“For it became Him [Father]”.
a.
The Plan. It was completely in
keeping with the righteous character of God that man’s dominion should be
restored through the humiliation of the Savior.
i. Christ
must suffer, bleed, and die to put away sin. Sin had disturbed God’s order.
Before order could be brought out of chaos, sin must be dealt with righteously;
a manner worthy of a holy God (Rom. 3:21-26; 2Cor. 5:21).
ii. He
sent His only begotten righteous Son to die in our place (Jn. 3:16; Rom.
5:6-10; 8:31-32). Thus God remains “just” and can “justify” the ungodly who
trust Christ.
b.
The Planner. The Father as the wise
Planner is described as the One for Whom are all things, and by Whom
are all things.
i. First
the Father is the objective or goal of all creation; all things were made for
His glory and pleasure. This defines the purpose of all men and everything.
ii. But
He is also the Source or Originator of all creation; nothing was made apart
from Him (2:10). To live in His will is an expression of his design for us.
iii. Because everything belongs to God,
he determines what sacrifice is necessary for sin. He, the Creator of the
world, determined what was needed for our “great salvation.”
c.
The Purpose. His great purpose is bringing many sons unto glory.
i. What
does this glory consist of? Glorification
includes immortality, moral perfection, spiritual power, liberty, reigning in
the Kingdom of God, and sharing God’s glory forever! (Rom 8:23; Phil 3:21; Rom
2:7; 1Cor 15:43-44; 1Thess 2:12; 2Tim 2:10-12; Rom 5:2; 1Thess 2:12; 2Thess
2:14; 1Peter 5:10).
ii. When
we consider our own unworthiness, it staggers us to think that Jehovah would
have even bothered with us, but it is because He is the God of all grace (Heb.
2:9) that He has called us to His eternal glory (Heb. 2:10). Truly this is a “great salvation!”
iii. We
are destine to share in Christ’s glory and honor as fellow sons of God—what a
marvelous-dignified-elevated future is ours (Rom. 9:23-24; 2Cor. 3:18; 2Cor.
4:17-18; Col. 3:4; 2Tim. 2:10; 1Pet. 1:5, 10).
iv. In life or in death, God’s purposes
will be accomplished and his promises to believers will be fulfilled because
believers have been called into God’s eternal glory. God called—this was his
initiative; therefore, he will do as he promised. Why did Christ suffer? Because it is the character of God to endure remarkable
sufferings to secure our salvation—our highest eternal good! How can I be comfortable with giving Him
token and convenient service? Is it my purpose to bring many sons unto glory in
concert with the purpose of God?
d. “Just
A Little While”
For believers, suffering will not
last forever. If you're under stress, if food is scarce, if disease is
spreading, God promises that suffering will last "just a little while
more."
No matter what trouble you face,
hard as it is, God has stamped your life "temporarily out of order,"
with emphasis on "temporarily." A day is coming when the Great
Repairman will wrench evil from the world and restore your life so that it
works as God intended. You will be in mint condition, guaranteed to function as
God designed.
Many times all we can do is trust God and look forward to Jesus' return, when God will restore us. Our hope is in him! –The Life Application Commentary Series
B. The
Captain of God. It was necessary to
prepare Christ to be our perfect Captain of salvation (2:10).
a.
His Passion. This is the cost of our
glorification! The captain of our salvation had to be made perfect through sufferings.
i. Hebrews
2:10 says: “Make the Captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings.”
1.
Jesus Christ was perfect throughout
His earthly experience (Heb. 4:15; 2Cor. 5:21; 1Pet. 2:22). As far as His moral
character is concerned, the Lord Jesus was always sinlessly perfect. He could
never be made perfect in this respect.
2.
The word “perfect”
means “complete, effective, and adequate.”
3.
According
Ex 29:33, 35, “to perfect” describes the consecration of the priests, and
indicated the qualifying of a person for
priestly service. Jesus qualifies as
High Priest because he has completely fulfilled his role as Messiah.
ii. Jesus
could not have become an adequate Savior and High Priest had He not become Man
and suffered and died.
1.
He was made perfect or
adequate as our Savior and Intercessor.
2.
What do sufferings mean? Basically it means
enduring hardship, affliction, pain, persecution, and Calvary.
a.
In order to purchase eternal
redemption for us, He had to suffer all the punishment that our sins deserved.
Christ’s death was punitive.
b. Besides
being forsaken by God, and the extreme sufferings of His physical body, He was
also brought into waters so deep, there was no place to stand. He endured
extraordinary punishment, arising from the awful visions of the sins He had of
His people, and of the wrath such sins deserved, and felt all those inward and
painful sensations which such views provoked. In these things, no doubt, the
sufferings of His soul far exceeded His physical agonies on the Cross, though
these must have been colossal also.—The
Biblical Illustrator
3.
We could not be saved by His
spotless life; His substitutionary death was an absolute necessity.
iii. He
must be made perfect for this role “through suffering.” Since His
brethren must suffer, so must He if He is to be the kind of Captain they need.
By having done so, He can give them the help they require (cf. v. 18).—Walvoord, John F.
1.
Always
bear in mind that God has a glorious purpose in sufferings and He uses such
experiences to prepare us for ministry and leadership (2Cor. 1:3-7).
2.
Be mindful of this the next time you
are dealing with the pains of this life; suffering is preparatory (Rom. 8:17-18).
3.
Sharing with Jesus Christ … involves
more than anticipating the glories of heaven. For Jesus Christ it involved
suffering and abuse and crucifixion; therefore being co-heirs with Christ
requires that believers share in His sufferings (cf. John 15:20; Col.
1:24; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12). In fact believers do share in His sufferings…
(cf. Rom. 8:9). Then after the suffering they will share in His glory (2
Tim. 2:12; 1 Peter 4:13; 5:10). –The
Bible Knowledge Commentary
b. His
Pioneering. Christ as the Last Adam is our Representative,
but He is our Restorer as the Captain
of salvation.
i. That
word Captain literally
means “pioneer—one who opens the way for others to follow—a leader.” Christ
gave up His glory to become man. He regained His glory when He arose and
ascended to heaven. Now He shares that glory with all who trust Him for
salvation (John 17:22–24). He is literally bringing an entire band of redeemed children
to glory—great is our Restorer!
ii. As lost children, we were once held
in servitude by our enemy, Satan (2:14-15). Since we were human, our Captain
had to become human and die for us, in order to rescue us.
c. His Path. In God’s eyes, Jesus was
the perfect sacrifice for God’s people, pioneering their salvation through his
suffering and death. Because humans experience suffering and death, Christ
became fully human and experienced these aspects of being human as well. That
Christ both lived and died gives us confidence that we have a High Priest who
is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (4:15). We have confidence that
because Christ conquered death, he also can save us from death.–The Life Application Commentary Series
C.
The Children of God. It was necessary to sanctify and identify
with God’s children (2:11-13). The next three verses emphasize the perfection
of Jesus’ humanity. If He is going to regain the dominion which Adam lost, then
it must be demonstrated that He is true Man.
a. Christ
Sanctified Us.
i. First,
the fact is stated: For both He that sanctifieth and they
who are [being] sanctified are all
of one, that is, they are all possessors of humanity, and have
the same origin; meaning that in our humanity, we all have one God and Father.
ii. Christ
is the One who sanctifies, that is, He sets apart or separates men to God
from the world. Blessed are all those whom He thus sets apart!
1.
A sanctified person is set apart
from ordinary uses to be for God’s own possession, use, and enjoyment. The
opposite of sanctification is profanation.
2.
Lookout for the various passages in
Hebrews where sanctification is mentioned, and carefully determine which type
of sanctification is in view.
b.
Christ Identified with Us. He is united to us, and we are united to Him:
we are spiritually one.
i. We
are His “brethren” (Heb. 2:12). This quote from
Psalm 22:22—a messianic psalm— refers to Christ and His church as His brethren. This means we and the Son
of God share the same nature and
belong to the same family! What a marvel of God’s grace!
1.
He became a true Man therefore He is not ashamed to speak of His followers as brethren. Is it possible that the Eternal Sovereign of the
universe should become man and identify Himself so closely with His creatures
that He would call us brothers?
2.
The answer is found in Psalm 22:22
where we hear Him say, “I will declare Thy Name unto My
brethren.” The same verse also pictures Him as identified with His
people in common worship, “in the midst of the church [assembly] will I sing praise unto Thee.”
In His dying agony, He looked forward to the day when He would lead the
ransomed throng in praise to God the
Father.
ii. We
are all believers (Heb. 2:13).
1.
Christ’s humanity is demonstrated by
the fact that He placed His trust in God.
Implicit confidence in Jehovah is one of the greatest marks of true humanity.
2.
Jesus lived in utter dependence on
God and with complete confidence in God.
All of his brethren must live in the same faithful manner even in the
midst of hard sufferings.
3.
He can also speak to them of His own
trust in God (v. 13a, quoting Isa. 8:17) and can regard them as the
children God has given Me (Heb. 2:13b, quoting Isa. 8:18). Like an elder
brother in the midst of a circle of younger children, the Captain of their
salvation can teach them the lessons of faith along the pathway of suffering. —Walvoord, John F.
4. Like those faithful to God in
Isaiah's day, we should stay true to Christ and ignore the advice that would
distract us from following him. –The Life
Application Commentary Series
iii. We
are His “children” (Heb. 2:13). Not only are believers His brethren, but we
are also His children: “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me”
(Heb. 2:13).
1.
The Lord quoted Isaiah 8:18, which
refers to the Prophet Isaiah and his unique sons who were given significant
names (see Isa. 7:3; 8:1–4). But the ultimate reference is to Jesus Christ.
2.
The thought is that we are members
of a common family, acknowledging a common Father.
3.
If Jesus Christ had not come to
earth and become man, He could not take us from earth to share in His glory.
The Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection must go together. They all lead
to glory.
D.
The Conquest of God. It was
necessary to destroy Satan and the power of death (Heb. 2:14).
a.
This exaltation, vaulting us far
above the angels to be Christ’s brothers in God’s family, is also our deed to
freedom. Satan, who held the power of death, was destroyed by Christ’s self-sacrifice.
Now we are free.
b.
By
dying Christ was able to destroy …the devil. The author did not mean that Satan
ceased to exist or to be active. Rather the word he used for “destroy”
indicates the annulment of his power over those whom Christ redeems. –Bible Knowledge Commentary
Response
Use
these questions to share more deeply with each other.
9. How is Jesus' pain and temptation relevant to us?
10. In times of trouble, why do we turn to other people rather than to Jesus?
11. In what way does God equip us to reach out
to others with compassion?
Prayer
Lord,
we stand in awe of you for what you have done—you left your throne to live
among us, you faced temptation, ridicule, and shame so that you could
understand us, and then you died on a cross to save us from our sins. You gave
up everything so that we could spend eternity with you. Help us to grasp the
depth of your love. And as we experience your great love for us, help us to
share it with others.
Journaling
Take
a few moments to record your personal insights from this lesson.
How
has Jesus shown his love for me? How can I thank him?
