“The Brotherhood of Suffering”
[Hebrews 2:10-18]
April 29, 2012 Second Reformed Church
Last week, we considered the
Incarnation, and we said that God coming to earth in the Person of Jesus – God
taking on human flesh – becoming a real human being, did not make God any less
God. God is still wholly God in the
Incarnation, even though – for a time – God condescended to humanity – God hid
His Glory behind the finite Person of Jesus.
The Christians that the author of
Hebrews was writing to were experiencing many false teachers coming into the
Church and teaching them – for a variety of reasons – that Jesus is less than
God – He is not wholly God. The author
of Hebrews wrote his letter to show – among other things – that Jesus is the
One God – One Person of the Trinity.
The author continues to address the charge
that Jesus is less than the angels in this morning’s text. Last week, we looked at him address the idea
that Jesus must be less than God because He has a real human, physical,
body. He argued that humans are only
temporarily less than the angels because of our sin, and Jesus was without sin,
so the only sense in which He could be understood as less than the angels is
that He hid the fullness of His Glory while He ministered prior to His Death
and Resurrection.
Humans are a greater creation than
the angels, because we were created in the Image of God. And Jesus is the greatest of humans because
He is God. All things are coming into subsection
under Jesus’ Sovereign Rule, and when He returns in Glory; all things will be
put under His Feet. Jesus is King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, the One Sovereign God, forever and ever, reigning now
from His Eternal Throne.
We ended last week looking at Psalm
8 and seeing how it applied both to David – and human experience generally –
and how it is fulfilled in Jesus. We saw
that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor through suffering and death that
He, by God’s Grace, would be the Savior of everyone who would ever believe – from
every people who ever live.
Now, the author turns to the
accusation that the angels must be greater than Jesus because Jesus did suffer
and die. How could He be Truly God and
suffer and die?
“For it was fitting that he [God],
for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should
make the founder of their salvation [Jesus] perfect through suffering.”
The author of Hebrews begins without
hesitation: “It makes absolute sense
that God would come to earth in the Person of a real human being, Jesus. God is the One Who brings all things into
existence and all things happen according to God’s Will. And, if we think about it, it makes perfect
sense that – in order for God to bring a people into His Glory – that God would
have to become a real human being and die on their behalf.
First, let us remember that God is
God – the Sovereign God Who knows all things and holds all power in His Hands –
everything He does and wills comes to pass exactly as He plans. And all of His Plans are pure wisdom and
goodness and truth. As Nebuchadnezzar
prayed, “At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven,
and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and
honored him who lives forever, ‘for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and
his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the
earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the
host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his
hand or say to him, “What have you done?”’” (Daniel 4:34-35, ESV).
So, it is not possible that God made
a mistake in the Incarnation. God did
not miscalculate and find Himself stuck suffering and dying for the salvation
of His people. No, God’s plan was always
from before Creation that God would come to earth in the Person of Jesus and
suffer and die in His Flesh.
Second, we’re told that a reason for
God’s Plan to be that He would come to earth in the Person of Jesus and suffer
and die in the flesh – and that reason is that God chose to bring “many sons to
glory.” God chose, out of all of
humanity – who had – as one – rejected God and hated God – and sinned against
Him – God chose to save some people throughout time and space – for God’s
reasons.
We are not told why God chose to
save any people, only that it pleased Him to do so. And in saving us from the Wrath of God that
we deserved for our sins, God did not merely forgive our sins, He did not
merely make us innocent, He did not even just make us holy – and in the process
of sanctification – in the process of becoming holy, but God chose to bring
some people into His Very Glory.
God – for reasons which have nothing
to do with what you do or what I do – for God’s Reasons and according to God’s
Good Pleasure, God chose to take some people – all those who ever believe in Jesus
Alone for salvation – and make us – finally – at Jesus’ Return – like Jesus in
perfectly portraying the Glory of God before Him. We will be sinless – unable to sin –
perfectly reflecting the Glory of God to Him in eternal worship.
Third, we are brought into Glory
through following Jesus – our Leader, our Captain, the Pioneer of our
Faith. We are brought into Glory as we
fully conform to the Image of Jesus by the Grace of the Holy Spirit Who works
in us and through us to make us sons and daughters of God.
Fourth, Jesus was made perfect – as our
Leader – through suffering, which we now take part in through a brotherhood –
and sisterhood – of suffering. Jesus
became our Perfect Leader through His suffering and death in the flesh; Jesus
did not become less than God through His suffering and death in the flesh. On the contrary, He became able to save us
because He did suffer and die in the flesh.
And now, for the sake of the Gospel, we are called to suffer – and even
die – in the flesh, for the sake of Christ.
The author of Hebrews is saying that
it would not be possible for Jesus to save His people if He did not suffer and
die in the flesh. Why not?
Paul tells us: “For the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23,
ESV). God’s Law says, if you sin – any
sin at all – you must die – and the death you die will fit the crime: if we sin against the Almighty and Infinite
God – and all sin is against God – we will suffer infinitely – eternally. The punishment fits the crime. The debt for sin must be paid. The problem humans have is that we are unable
to pay God back infinity. On our best
day, we still sin and add to our debt to God.
The only other option is that
Someone else would be willing to pay our debt.
The only Person Who could pay an infinite debt is God. However, God cannot pay our debt; a human
must pay the debt for a human. So, the
only option would be if God could and would come to earth as a real human being
and pay our debt.
In
order to survive payment for our debt – which would be a payment of infinite
Hell, He would have to be truly, wholly God.
In order to take the place of a human being, He would have to be truly,
wholly human.
This is what God has done in coming
to earth in the Person of Jesus. We’ve
noted before that the author of Hebrews writes, “[we ought to be] looking to
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right
hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV).
Jesus is the Founder and Perfecter
and Captain of our faith. He despised
what He endured in His Life and Death at the hands of sinful humans, but now He
is returned to His Throne where He reigns over all of Creation. What did we miss? It was for the joy that was set before Him
that He endured the cross. Jesus was
willing to endure crucifixion because the joy of the results of going through
with God’s Plan was greater than the suffering.
“For
he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.”
Then,
we see that God sanctifies His people.
Because Jesus suffered and died in the flesh, God makes His people holy.
And,
we see that God and God’s people “have one source.” What does this mean?
First,
it means that there is a parallel relationship between Jesus and His
people. Jesus and His people are brought
into Glory together. Jesus will not
stand for His Holy Head to be attached to a rotting corpse. Jesus is Holy, and He makes us holy, and then
He brings us into His Glory with Him.
Second,
it means that there is a physical relationship between Jesus and His
people. God came to earth in a real
human body with a real human nature. God
perfectly understands what it is to be a human – though not to sin – and He can
now understand our weaknesses. This is
why Jesus is not the Savior of the angels – angels do not have a human body and
nature.
The
author of Hebrews goes on to say, “For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been
tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV).
Third,
it means that just as Jesus suffered and died and physically rose from the
dead, so shall His people suffer and die and physically rise from the dead.
As
Paul wrote, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old
self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to
nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died
has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will
never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died
he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you
also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans
6:5-11, ESV).
And
we might ask how that is fair? Why do we
have to suffer if Jesus has already taken our place and suffered and died for
us? Why is it necessary?
Jesus
said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you
are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than
his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept
my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:18-20, ESV).
If
we are truly brothers and sisters of Jesus, we will be hated by the world
because the world hates Him. And we need
to ask ourselves whether it is worth it?
Are you and I willing to endure – whatever – for the sake of the
salvation that we have in Jesus? Are we willing
to be denied anything and everything and suffer anything and everything – for
the joy of the call that we have to be brothers and sisters of Jesus?
John thought so, as he wrote, “See
what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children
of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did
not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not
yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we
shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as
he is pure” (1
John 3:1-3, ESV).
As did Peter, “For this is a
gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering
unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you
endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a
gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because
Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow
in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When
he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not
threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself
bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like
sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1
Peter 2:19-25, ESV).
And Paul wrote “Indeed, I count
everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the
resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11, ESV).
We’re never told that we are to
enjoy suffering. But since we are one
with and in Jesus – since He has the same physical body and nature that we do
and can understand everything we go through and everything we are tempted, “That
is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,”
Jesus is not ashamed to call us
brothers and sisters because He is making us holy and bringing us into Glory
with Him. Jesus is not ashamed to call
us brothers and sisters – being in the flesh is not a lesser state or something
to desire to be forever rid of – the body is good and Jesus saves our bodies as
well as our souls – Jesus save whole, real, human beings, like Him.
Then, the author of Hebrews gives
the witness of three Old Testament quotes:
“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.”
These three quotations are put into
the mouth of Jesus to be fulfilled, so He confesses that He is one physically
and morally with His people – He physically joins with them in worship, in
trust of God, and in being the Father of His people – His Children.
He sums up, writing, “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.”
The only way we could be saved from
God’s Wrath for our sin was for God to take our place as a human being, because
only a human being can take the place of a human being. So, God came to earth in the Person of Jesus
– sharing in our flesh and blood – sharing in every joy and struggle and temptation
that we have – excepting sin.
In doing this – in coming to earth
as a real human being, God did not become less than God, and since His death
was not for His sin – since Jesus did not sin – Jesus freed His people from the
power of death and the devil and from the fear of death.
As brothers and sisters of Jesus –
we are delivered from death. Death
cannot hold us – we will physically rise from the dead, just as Jesus
physically rose from the dead. Jesus
defeated the devil, and so we ought not to fear the devil – he is a fallen
enemy. We have no need to listen to him
or submit to him. And death – for the
Christian – is passage into fuller life.
God promised, as He cursed the serpent
in the Garden of Eden, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all
livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and
dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis
3:14b-15, ESV). Jesus fulfilled this
promise.
God
did not come to earth in the Peron of Jesus to save angels: “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 sins of the people.
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who
are being tempted.”
Jesus does not seek to save the
angels, but the humans He came to save.
That’s why He had to be made like us in every respect – excepting sin – so
He could stand as one of us under God’s Law, both keeping the Law and being
punished on our behalf for our breaking the Law
Since He did that, He is able to
choose to be merciful and gracious to us , “showing kindness and compassion towards
we who do not deserve it, having mercy on us, pardoning us, forgiving us, bringing
about our reconciliation with God” (Bible
Windows, alt.).
. So, we see:
Since God is the Almighty and
All-Knowing God, the Plan that He set forth for the Incarnation and the salvation
of a people for Himself could not fail.
Jesus became the Founder of our
faith – our Leader – the One Whom we ought to imitate and strive to become like
– by being the First and Only One Who could stand in our place in the judgment
and survive. In His Godhood, Holy Jesus endured
the Wrath of God and survived; in His Humanity, Jesus suffered and died from
the horrific and torturous way in which He was killed. But since, He is both wholly and completely God
and Human, He physically rose from the death and ascended back to His Throne.
There is a parallel relationship
between Jesus and His people: we are
glorified together, and as we live for Him and become more like Him through
sanctification – through God making us holy, we will also suffer for Him, and
after we have died, we will physically rise from the dead like Him.
Jesus is not ashamed of you or me –
to call us brothers and sisters, because He has a real, human body and nature,
and He lived perfectly that He might be our Substitute before God and pay our
debt and make us like Him, and He now, tenderly and compassionately seeks to
lead us and aid us in our sanctification.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, as we seek to
understand Your Incarnation and what You have done for us in salvation, we ask
that the Holy Spirit would instruct us and help us to understand and
believe. We thank You for choosing to
become one of us, while remaining God, that You would be able not merely to be
our God and King, but our Savior and brother.
Help us to take comfort in Your Victory through suffering and death and
bear whatever befalls us here in the joy our our salvation. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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