The reading today is Hebrews chapter 2, verse 5 to 18.
He left nothing outside his control.
At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him, for who
a little while was made lower than angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour
because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for
everyone.
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.
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name
to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.
And again, I will put my trust in him.
And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.
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, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
slavery.
For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
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 signs
of the people.
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Well, good morning, everyone.
So, the letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage Christians whose practical experience
of living as Christians was not in any way, shape, or form what they'd expected.
Obviously, the readers, the background of the readers was that they were Jewish.
But they had turned their back on their old, age-old Jewish religion when they had encountered
Jesus.
They were convinced, of course, like all Christians are, that acceptance with God and heaven was
only possible through Jesus.
But all in identification with Jesus had resulted, it would appear, in personal hardship, which was
unexpected and for many unacceptable.
Now, I want you just to come with me for a minute as we try and imagine their excitement
as they come to Jesus.
They've just embraced the concept of once-for-all forgiveness.
New acceptance by God.
A new forever relationship with God.
New certainty of heaven in the future.
And all of that as a free gift of God's generosity to them.
And on top of that, freedom from the day-in, day-out religious rituals that had marked their lives
to that point in time.
It's easy to imagine how they assumed, therefore, in their excitement that that meant being in
Jesus would mean they would live happily ever after.
But their practical experience was very different.
Taking a stand for Jesus, they soon realized, put them at odds with, and even found them excluded
from, their biological family and their wider clan, which was big in a Jewish context.
More than that, they may well have found themselves at odds with or excluded from, their local community.
Life was just getting really hard.
And then out on top of that, Emperor Nero brought in persecution.
From Nero, the Roman Empire tended to blame everything that was wrong in the world on the Christians.
And so, increasingly, Christians were being arrested.
There was already rumors flying around of many having been beaten.
And yes, some even having been killed.
Their property, if not when this was written, certainly a few years after, was being confiscated.
Their right to work was being restricted or removed.
Some of these Christians ended up in poverty.
The result?
We can well understand them saying, hang on a minute.
All that excitement about Jesus, that's wonderful.
But I didn't sign up for this.
New life in Jesus is not what I assumed it would be, is not what I expected it to be.
And probably, if I was being honest in the depth of my soul, is not what I demand it to be.
Now, from that point, if you're with me in the imagination, from that point, it's not hard then to imagine these Christians starting to look for some ways to ease their circumstance.
And obviously, they started to think about toning down their identity in Jesus.
Or some of them might have been starting to think about walking away altogether and walking back into the Jewish religious way of doing it because the Romans were quite happy to accept the Jewish religious system.
They started to think, well, maybe because there's not total disconnection between age-old Jewish religion, Judaism, and Christianity.
Maybe we can work a blend.
Maybe we can do something that we can still hang on to Jesus in a fashion, but will be acceptable with our family again.
Will be acceptable in our local community again.
Will be acceptable in the Roman Empire again.
And life will settle down.
So the challenge of the letter of Hebrews is repeated.
Don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus because serving him in a hostile world is really hard.
And the way I've tried to set up the scenario, you should be able to see what it means to drift away.
It just starts and you think, well, maybe I could do this and that.
And by drifting, you wake up one morning and you find you're kilometers away from where you thought you were or where you started.
And I think in those terms, we understand what it is to drift away from Jesus.
When life gets hard for us, we automatically start thinking about ways we can make life easier.
The writer encourages these anxious believers, and they are anxious.
And you can understand why they're anxious.
You can encourage them to remember who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
In other words, remember what caused you to respond to Jesus in the first place.
And in chapter 1, verse 1 through to chapter 2, verse 4, I'm just going to try and recap and bring the argument forward with me.
The writer walks them through some key elements of Judaism.
Contrasting what Judaism or the old Jewish religious practices offered against Jesus.
And the point is that there's nothing to go back to.
Jesus effectively stamped the old Jewish religion, Judaism.
He stamped it past its use by day.
And that he is the key to the good life.
Now, in Judaism, prophets, priests, kings and angels had a huge part in God's plan of salvation.
That's what was worked out in the history of Israel.
But we're led into this argument in Hebrews with the fact that Jesus is God.
And because Jesus is God, he's in a category of his own in terms of status, authority in God's work.
His part in God's salvation plan.
His achievement.
And when you put those things together, Jesus has done more than all of the prophets, all of the priests, all of the kings, all of the angels in some.
That's how unique Jesus is.
That's the argument of Hebrews.
He's the best prophet ever.
Chapter 1, verses 1-4.
He reveals God's word with a clarity and authority like no other prophet before him.
He's the best king ever.
Modeling God's character of justice and mercy and subduing the unruly hearts of his rebellious people like no other king before him.
And he's the best priest ever.
He finally sorts the problems of his people's sin.
He finally makes them acceptable to God.
And then consistently prays for their spiritual well-being, which was one of the key jobs of a priest.
And he does all that like no other priest before him.
The argument continues then, verse 5 through to the end of chapter 1.
He's even in a category of his own in terms of comparison and contrast with angels.
Vastly superior even to angels.
Those incredibly powerful messengers of God tasked with implementing every part of God's salvation plan in history.
Compare and contrast.
Well, they were created beings.
Jesus was their creator.
They followed God's orders in implementing God's purposes.
Jesus gives the orders.
So, given all that, chapter 2, verses 1-4, given all that, the writer's saying to these anxious Christians,
don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus.
Remember who he is.
Remember what he's done.
Remember the thing that attracted you to Jesus in the first place.
Don't allow yourself to start thinking that you can blend in with this world.
while still being religious and doing religious things and still hang on to Jesus in some shape or form.
Don't think that you can live a life driven by avoidance of ridicule and hostility.
Don't think that that's preferable to a strong identification with Jesus,
even though the latter will bring you trouble.
It will also bring you life.
And then the writer continues in our section this morning, chapter 2, verses 5-18.
The writer, I think, anticipates the response of his readers at this point in time.
I think it would go something like this.
Now, this is my reading into the text, so if you don't like it, then just ignore it.
But tune in after I finish this, because I do have other things to say.
So, it goes something like this.
Well, thank you very much.
We really appreciate being reminded of how majestic Jesus is.
His unique authority, his power as ruler of God's world.
His centrality to God's big picture salvation plan in history.
We really appreciate all that.
But I'm still stuck on this question.
Does he really understand my daily struggle, my daily suffering as a believer?
Does he understand how hard it is to have all-in identification with Jesus?
Does he care for me?
Now, the next sentence is the big theme.
So, if you don't take anything else away this morning, take this away with you.
His encouragement in these verses is Jesus does know and care.
In fact, the argument is, you guys have been rabbiting on about angels.
Well, let me tell you, Jesus is far more close to us than angels could ever be.
Why?
Because Jesus has shared our situation.
He's shared our humanity.
Therefore, he knows exactly how we feel.
He knows our daily needs.
And he is the best placed person to help us in our struggles.
That's the big picture of where I'm going this morning in the next few minutes.
So, let's jump into verse 5 then.
And it talks there about the world to come.
It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
Now, just a little note there to make sure you're on board on the right page here.
It's the world of which we've been speaking.
That is, not some vague future time, but it's the edge of salvation that has been mentioned in verse 3.
It's the new world order of the gospel, which had already begun in Jesus, described in chapter 1, verse 2, as these last days.
So, what he's about to say now about Jesus, comparison and contrast, that's how the whole letter works, is applicable to us now.
United with Jesus, believers are experiencing now God's future.
And what is that future?
Well, it's created and defined by Jesus' identification with his died-for people.
And that is something far more personal than angels could ever deliver.
Two main points.
Jesus is our purpose-built trailblazer, verses 6 through to 9.
Now, a trailblazer, for those who, it's very obvious, I think, from the word itself.
A trailblazer is someone who sort of pushes into uncharted territory, wilderness territory,
and does the hard work of cutting out a track.
So, before there's just jungle, impenetrable, scary, darkness, lostness,
trailblazer goes through and cuts a track.
And there it is.
The comparison is so clear, isn't it?
And everyone then who follows the trailblazer
can, on the one hand, be perfectly thankful
for the one who's gone ahead of them and done all the hard work.
But they can be perfectly thankful also because they get the benefits of that hard work
and the safety of following a clear-cut track.
Well, Jesus is our trailblazer.
He came into our world as an image-bearer or a human like us.
Now, there's lots I could do with that verse,
but I'm just going to have to keep moving and just do a sort of summary.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that nobody understands us better than one who's like us.
Jesus isn't just as it were talking down to us from up there.
He's actually been down and dirty with us.
Nobody understands us better than Jesus.
Our feelings, our fears, our specific needs
as we struggle to serve Him daily.
And angels, again, by contrast,
angels for all their involvement in God's world,
and it was clear that they had a massive involvement in God's world.
But they cannot feel for God's people as Jesus feels for them.
Why?
Because angels, in a sense, have only observed God's world from the outside.
They've not experienced it from the inside, as has Jesus.
Nobody, therefore, can have more empathy towards us
or for us, however empathy is expressed, than Jesus.
He lived as a true image bearer or human for us.
So He came to be like us, and then He lived for us.
He actually did perfectly what God always intended His image bearers to do,
but were never able to do because of sin.
Humans were created to rule over God's world
as God's representative,
as expressed in the theology of Psalm 8,
which is quoted here.
But sin or rebellion just never, ever happened as God intended.
Not even close.
Well, Jesus fulfilled God's original intention
in terms of His image bearers, His humankind.
He models perfectly how to live in God's world.
Even more, He models perfectly how to live in a rebellious world.
A hostile world.
He models how to live as God intended us
to live as His image bearers.
And the third thing Jesus does,
He restored true image-bearing humanity in us.
So He's like us.
He's lived for us.
But He does more than just model the good life to us.
He transforms our humanity.
Jesus renews us from the inside out,
putting His Spirit within us.
It's mentioned in chapter 2.
At the end of chapter 1, right?
Chapter 1, verse...
It's mentioned in chapter 2, verse 4.
Somewhere before, anyway.
He puts His Spirit within us
to enable us to live the good life of obedience.
And He gives us the privilege in Him
as a true humanity
of sharing in the rule of God's world with Him.
And also, verse 8 and 9,
also sharing in the reward of glory and honor
in heaven forever.
Remember...
That's who Jesus is.
That's what Jesus has done for us
and is doing in us.
And here's the application.
And all of that,
behind the scenes, as it were,
because it's not all evident
in our daily circumstances,
but all of that is true.
All of that is happening.
All of that has already happened
in the background,
if you want to put it in those terms.
Even as the world despises,
rejects, and ridicules us
for our identification in Jesus.
There's the contrast.
When we feel so abandoned,
so alone, so cut off for Jesus,
we need to remind ourselves
that it's not possible
to be closer to Him
than what we are.
Second point,
Jesus is our personal champion.
Verses 10 through to verse 18.
Verse 11,
He's described there,
it's one of the lovely verses
in the Bible.
Verse 10, it is.
For it was fitting that He,
that's Jesus,
for whom and by whom
all things exist
in bringing many sons to glory,
should make the founder
of their salvation
perfect through suffering.
So I read that long.
For it was He,
that is God,
the Father,
for whom and by whom
all things exist
in bringing many sons to glory,
should make the founder
of their salvation
perfect through suffering.
Jesus is described
as the founder
of our salvation.
Other words that could be used
there would be
the author of our salvation.
Some translations use that word.
Personally,
I like the idea
of the word champion.
And it fits
with the semantics
of the word.
To be someone's champion
is to be totally
identified with them.
Totally committed
to their well-being.
and acting
for their good
no matter
the personal cost.
These anxious Christians
need to remember
that Jesus
is their champion.
Not just
a majestic king
and lord
and ruler of the world,
but He is their
personal champion.
He's bringing
all His power,
all His knowledge,
all His love
to bear
on their circumstances
for their good.
He's got a single-minded
focus
on family.
It's in there.
What's His purpose
in coming into this world?
To bring many sons
to glory.
I love that phrase.
When Jesus
came into the world
on His
salvation rescue mission,
it was never
just a job.
It was never
just a formal
assignment.
For Jesus,
it was personal.
It was family
who were in trouble,
and it was
family
in trouble
that He came
to help.
And it was family
He determined
to renew
so that He could
set them apart
for lives
lived for God
as they were
intended to be lived.
It was for family
that Jesus
took upon Himself
huge cost
even to death.
confidence
confident
that God
would reward
His actions
by opening
the door of heaven
to all His
died-for people.
So the champion,
as it were,
if you could visualize this,
would march in
with all those
people He championed
following in His wake.
And three passages
from the Old Testament
pick that up.
There's a whole
bit to say
about how the
writer to the Hebrew
actually uses
those passages
from the Old Testament,
but there's too much
to talk about that
here now.
I can talk to you
about that some other
time if you want to.
Essentially,
there's three passages
here from the Old Testament
used by the writer
of the letter
to the Hebrews
that picks up
the family nature
of Jesus' focus.
Sons,
daughters,
children.
Friends,
you can't get
a closer connection
than a family connection.
Some would argue
you can't get
a greater concern
than a broad-based
family concern.
We often say
that a mom or a dad
would do anything
to protect their child
and to keep them safe.
We know that
has its limits
in human terms,
but it's a good picture
here, isn't it?
Jesus was prepared
to do what was
necessary to be done
for the family,
his family.
nobody is more committed
to the well-being
of his people
than Jesus.
Not sparing himself
because he wanted
to free them
from fear.
We'll say a little bit more
about that in a minute.
Fear from,
fear of death.
He wanted to guarantee
that they'll get home
to heaven.
He wanted them
to rest in that security,
in the toughness
of life,
to just be able
to say,
to settle their anxiety,
he will bring me
as his son
home to glory.
He will bring me
as his daughter
home to glory.
And friends,
all that proves
that Jesus
is perfectly
skipped a point,
I have to go back.
Jesus was uniquely
qualified to fight
and defeat
our key enemies,
verses 14 through to 17.
Rebellion reduces,
or rebellion or sin,
reduces people
to being helpless,
terrified victims
of Satan
or the devil.
That's picked up
in these verses
14 onwards.
Now here's how it works.
Death is a direct
consequence
of sin.
God said,
where a person sins,
a person has to die.
Satan
gladly plays
on that reality
in a way
that enslaves
people to fear
for the whole
of their life.
Fear of what?
Fear of death,
which is fear
of God's wrath
and that final
accounting,
fear of condemnation.
Determined to rescue
his people,
that is,
covering all those
bases I've just mentioned,
determined to shield
his people
from God's wrath,
determined to pay
the penalty
of their rebellion
in full,
so that Satan
could no longer
accuse them
of being guilty,
guilty,
guilty.
And giving his people
the righteousness
they need
to be acceptable
to God,
so that God
looks at them
and says,
yes,
you are perfectly
righteous,
you are welcome
into my heaven
forever.
to be able
to do that,
the argument here
for the writer
of Hebrews
is that Jesus
had to become
like his guilty
people in every
way,
in every respect,
verse 17.
Why?
Well,
only a sinless
person could
step in
as a champion
and act
on behalf
of sinful
people.
The same
idea
is also
in verse 10.
Jesus
was made
perfect,
not in the
sense that
he was
imperfect
beforehand,
as it's
something
deficient
in Jesus,
but he was
made perfect
in the sense
that he
needed to
become a
true human
experiencing
life,
temptation
to disobedience,
suffering.
He needed
to experience
all of that
to be
properly
qualified
for every
aspect of
his rescue
mission.
And such
is his
commitment
to his
people
that he
willingly
took all
of that
shame
and humiliation
on,
ultimately
to take
sin itself
upon his
shoulders
and become
sin,
so his
people could
be freed
from
infernal
accusations
of guilt
and lifetime
slavery
to fear
of having
to face
God's
accusations
and condemnations
when we die.
It's all been
dealt with.
There is no
fear.
And all of that
proves that
Jesus is
perfectly
qualified to
help us
and represent
us before
God
in the last
two verses.
Now,
priests
had two
jobs.
One was
to offer
sacrifice
for sin,
to make
sure that
the relationship
between God
and his
dirty people
was continuous.
Another really
important job
that often
doesn't get
mentioned
is that the
priest was
responsible to
pray for his
people and
advocate for
them before
God.
He was
to pray for
them in
their struggle
to live
faithfully
because he
knew as a
priest that
he'd be doing
more sacrifices
tomorrow for
the same sins
as he did
sacrifices for
yesterday.
Nobody knows
the power of
temptation.
temptation to
turn away
from obedience
and find an
easier pathway
in life
more than
Jesus.
Just think
of Jesus
in the
garden
on the
eve of
his
crucifixion.
Nobody knows
the debilitating
fear that
comes with
the prospect
of suffering
and cruel
torturous
death
better than
Jesus.
Jesus'
own encounter
with a
sinful
hostile
world and
the suffering
of death
means he
is perfectly
placed to
understand,
to pray
for,
and to
help you
and me
in our
daily
struggles.
He knows
what it's
like and
he cares.
So,
I wrap up
with just
a thought
to challenge
you for
the week
ahead.
What have
you been
saying to
yourself
as you
face your
situation
each day?
Paul Tripp
and others
use this
idea so
it's not,
I'm not
claiming it's
new to me.
The point is
this,
each of us
is constantly
in conversation
with ourselves.
We tell
ourselves how
to think,
how to feel,
how to react
to external
circumstances.
So,
what have you
been saying
to yourself
on the one
hand about
your circumstances
and on the
other hand
what have you
been saying
to yourself
about Jesus?
And what have
you been saying
to yourself
in terms
of bringing
those two
together?
What have
you been
saying to
yourself
about who
Jesus is?
What have
you been
saying to
yourself
about the
value of
identifying
with him
even if it
brings hostility
and rejection
and ridicule?
Each of us
preach some
sort of
gospel to
ourselves
every day.
Have you
been preaching
a gospel
to yourself
that heightens
your fear
and encourages
you to
distance yourself
from Jesus
thinking,
well,
okay,
if I can
just keep
my head
down,
if I can
just blend
in,
then life
will be
good.
Or have
you been
preaching
the gospel
of Jesus
who's been
there before
you,
who's blazed
the trail
of suffering
and death,
who knows
how you
feel,
who's
committed
to helping
you because
he wants
to make
sure he
brings you
home to
glory.
A gospel
like that
which gives
courage,
trust,
confidence,
and hope
to step
in
to
trouble.
Have you
been preaching
a gospel
to yourself
in which
Jesus is
remote,
perhaps
unaware of
your situation
or aware
but uncaring
of your
situation?
Have you
been preaching
that sort of
gospel to
yourself or
have you been
preaching the
gospel of
Jesus who
is closer
to you,
more committed
to you,
more active
for you
than anyone
or anything
else in this
world because
he's taken
you as a
son or
daughter home
to glory.
This week,
like last
week,
when it
feels as if
nobody
understands
your fears,
failures,
if they
were known
by those
around you,
would just
destroy you,
when your
pain just
rises up
and grabs
you around
the throat
and threatens
to throttle
you,
will you
preach
the Jesus
of Hebrews
such that
you rest
in him
rather than
panic.
Well,
thank you
very much
for listening
to me.
Thank you.