Hebrews 2:1-18.  In yesterday’s reading we were introduced to the powerful “Son of God”.  The author used several Old Testament quotations to show his readers that this person was promised in the Jewish “Bible” and also to show that he was indeed God though also a man.  He also implied how important believers are to God, even angles are supposed to serve “serve those who will inherit salvation.”

In today’s reading the author hits the next point pretty hard to.  He continues talking about salvation and tells his readers to pay attention and not neglect what they have heard about salvation.  This message about how God would deal with the sin problem (See “The Old Testament Connection”) came to the us directly from Jesus (the “Lord” in verse 3) and was confirmed through “signs, wonders, miracles,” and the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers.  Verse 5 tells us that this message about salvation and the coming kingdom (remember the Jews were looking for a promised kingdom of which the Messiah or chosen one would be the forever king) was not entrusted to angles.  In continuing the contrast between the “Son of God” and angles the author uses another Old Testament quotation this time from Psalms 8:4-6.  In that Psalm, David is amazed that God cares at all about mankind.  In a twist the author of Hebrews applies the quotation to the ultimate son of man, Jesus (see Matthew 8:20 and Hebrew 2:9).   The author wonders, “Hey if everything was placed under the authority of the son of man how come we don’t see that.”  And remember he is talking about the promise of a coming kingdom where the Messiah will be the supreme ruler.  And if you read the “Intro to Hebrews” you might remember that the Jewish people of Jesus day were looking for the promised kingdom.  In fact at the time of the writing of this letter the Jewish people were engaged in a war against the most powerful empire on the planet, a war they would lose.  So this would be a very troubling time to any one who was born a Jew.  Maybe the Jewish Christians were starting to doubt their faith in Jesus, after all it had been more than 30 years since the resurrection.

Verse 9 gives the answer.  The truth is that Jesus did humble himself by taking the form of a man and dying on a cross (Philippians 2:8).  But that very action proved that he was God and was worth of the throne of the eternal kingdom upon which he was seated (See Philippians 2;9-11; Hebrews 1:3; 2:7,9).  The reason the physical kingdom was waiting is hinted at in verse 9.  He tasted death for everyone.  Peter told us in 2 Peter 3:9 that God want people to turn back to him and john told us in 1 John 2:2 that Jesus death was for all people.  Not all people will turn back we see that in the book of Revelation but that is what God is waiting for.  I think it was an old time pastor named J. Vernon McGee that said that God was waiting for the last person to get on the bus [to Heaven].

Verse 10 has sort of a double meaning to me.  In that verse we see the suffering of Jesus on the cross as proof of who he is, an idea we have already seen in Hebrew 1:4 where his actions proved that he was living up to his “name”.  But it also shows a link between us and Jesus.  In Philippians 2:7 we learn that Jesus set aside his divine power for a while and took the form of a human being (a form which he now has permanently).  In that form he died on a cross.  So we see a sort of second meaning, Jesus can relate to us and we can relate to him, we share in suffering.  Since Jesus lives in a flesh and blood existence he can relate to us and calls us “brothers.

Verses 12-14 are kind of interesting to me.  Years ago I asked a question in a Bible study and was basically told that it was too hard and not relevant.  I wanted to know if Jesus used his own divine power to live a sinless life or if he relied on the power of the Holy Spirit.  Actually either answer would be OK with me but since that time I have come to the conclusion that Jesus relied on the power of the Holy Spirit.  It’s not that he isn’t God it’s just that he used the same resource that he now offers to us.  Verse 12-13 seem to say the same kind of thing to me, “Hey look God took care of me, you trust him too.”  In verse 14 he even reaffirms that he is here for us.

Verses 14-15 further explain how Jesus had to become one of us to help us.  Verse 14 tells us that as a the perfect God-man he died in our place and verse 15 tells me that he not only paid the price but he did it in such a way that I could trust him.  Verse 16 tells me two things, Jesus death was for human beings alone and that it was for those human being who could be considered descendants of Abraham.  Romans 9:8 tells me that this is not about flesh and blood descendants but about people who believe like Abraham did.

Verses 17-18 make clear what I have already seen in the other verses.  Jesus became a man because only as a man could he pay the price for others; human death (death means separation and Jesus suffered both a physical death (separation of his body and soul) and spiritual death (his spirit from God the father)).  In verse 17 we see the mention of the high priest.  The high Priest was a guy under the Law of Moses who made and animal sacrifice once a year to “pay” for the sins of the Israelites.  If you read the “Intro to Hebrews” you might remember that this was only a symbol of the price for sin.  This sort of language would be very encouraging if the original readers were former Jewish priest being pressured to forget about Jesus and become good Jews again.  To know that Jesus was the fulfillment of everything their life had been about would be helpful.  Verse 18 goes beyond the mechanical paying for our sins to God though.  In that verse we learn that Jesus can “feel with us.”  That’s so cool Jesus not only paid for us but he cares about our feelings.

Again in a letter mainly to some religious Jewish leaders who had turned to Jesus we can find hope too.  God paid for all our sins.  This salvation that we are not to neglect was not to physical descendants of Abraham but it was to all who pay attention and do not neglect to respond to the story.  Anyone who believes in who Jesus is and what he has done is a child of Abraham and is a brother of Jesus.  Heaven is there for all who believe to inherit.  And when we are given trouble for following Jesus we can be sure he understands our pain.  He knows, he care, and he will help us through to the end.

Jesus thank you for caring.  Thank you for becoming like me so you could take the punishment that I deserved.  I know you know, help me hang in there.  Help me honor you with my life. 

Hebrews 1:1-14.  Although this is a letter it doesn’t start out like a typical New Testament letter with a greeting and address.  For more on who, when, and where check out the “Intro to Hebrews” page.  For the short version it was probably written by Luke to a group of Jewish Christian priests living in the city of Antioch in Syria.  It was probably written around the time of Paul’s execution (67 AD) from Rome.  The times were very troubling for both Jews and Christians and probably more so for a Jewish Christian who had been a Jewish priest.

Verses 1-4, way to jump right in there.  Since the book is full of Old Testament quotes and references who ever is reading this letter had a great deal of respect for the authority of the Old Testament and for the God of the Bible.  In verse 2 we learn that the message that began in the Old Testament is continued in the New Testament and that it involves Jesus.  The author doesn’t bring up Jesus until tomorrows reading but that is who the son of God is (See Mark 1:1, but all of the gospels use this term for Jesus).  Not only does the author tell us that Jesus is bringing us the rest of the story, we learn that he is the author of the story.  Jesus is described as the creator of the world, the exact representation of God’s nature, and he is the one who maintains the existence of the universe.  This powerful God-Man is also the one who has cleaned up the sin problem.  In verse 3 the word purification would have meant a lot to the original Jewish readers if they were priests because that was part of their duty in the Temple (See the “Intro to Hebrews”), to symbolically wash away sins.  So Jesus is more that the storyteller and the author of the story he is the one who makes the story work.

We see in verse 2 that he is the heir.  That means that ultimately everything god owns will be in Jesus’ power.  Jesus not only is the son of God in name, he has proved his sonship by his actions in saving us.  The word for angel in Greek (Greek is the language that the New Testament was written in) means “messenger”.  Often in the Bible we see the angles as messengers from God.  Here we see that Jesus has a higher position that, he is a messenger, but he is more and that is shown by his actions which prove he is the Son of God.

In verses 5-17 we have a bunch of quotations from the Old Testament that are being credited to God the Father (See “Three or One?”) about Jesus.  These quotations are used by the author to prove the superiority of Jesus.  God never calls angles his son.  As a group they are sometimes called “sons of God” but never individually.  And the “begotten” part, in this verse, has nothing to do with physical birth.  The idea is of bringing into his proper place.  Jesus was brought into his proper place by being ht savior of the world.  That action proved that Jesus was God and proves God’s love for mankind.  The second part of verse 2 continues to show the relationship between God the Father and Jesus.  It is just more proof of the position and power of Jesus.  Verses 6 would be proof enough to any Jew that Jesus was God.  Only god was to be worshipped under their law (the Law of Moses, see Exodus 20:3-5).  Verse 7 quotes Psalm 104:4 but it kind of reverses it.  In the Psalm God’s greatness is seen in his use of wind and fire to send a message but in Hebrews 1:7 the angles are compared to the wind and fire.  The implication is that the angles are temporary and under God’s control as they function as his messengers.  In contrast verses 8-9 display Jesus (the son) as permanent and in control.  Theses verses area quote for Psalm 45:6-7 which were sung at a kings wedding.  While the wedding was perhaps the happiest day for the king for the Son of God it was the day he secured a place for his bride through his death on the cross (See Ephesians 5:25).  Verses 10-11 are a quote of Psalm 102:25-27.  This is especially important because in that Psalm the personal name of God, Yahweh is used.  And it is applied directly to Jesus, sorry Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is Yahweh (or Jehovah as some people transliterate the Hebrew).  It’s too bad that the author didn’t quote the last line of that Psalm; it would have been pretty comforting to any one who considered themselves servants of God.  Psalms 102:28 tells us that God’s servants (well actually it says their children) will continue “forever”.   Over all the quotation assures anyone who is following Jesus that they have put their trust in someone who will last forever.  The final quotation in verse 13 is from Psalm 110:1.  In Matthew 22:41-46 Jesus quotes this same Psalm (See also Luke 20:39-44).  Jesus is asking about the promised coming one, the Messiah.  He quotes the Psalm and asks the leaders whose son the Messiah is.  The reply that he will be a “son” (descendant) of David.  Jesus then wants to know why David called the Messiah his lord.  That would never be a way to speak about a descendant if you were Jewish.  The point is that this physical descendant of David was somehow more and superior to David.  The link here in Hebrews back to verse 3 seems pretty obvious; this Son of God in Hebrews one is the son of David from Psalm 110.  The solution that the religious leaders did not want to admit was that the descendant of David would be more that a mere mortal.  In contrast the author of Hebrews again references the angles and calls them ministering or serving spirits.  And we see that they are to serve people who have put their faith in Jesus (compare Hebrews 1:14 with John 1:12).

Altogether this chapter is a fitting beginning for any Jewish person who was being pressured about becoming a Christian.  It is clear that the “Son of God”, the Messiah, Jesus, was the right person to put their faith in, and it was clear from their own scriptures or writings from God.  Although we do not have the same frame of reference as those early Jewish Christians we too need to remember who Jesus is and what he has and will do.  We need to see Jesus as supreme.  It is comforting to know that he is God, he is powerful, he is in control, and that he cares about his people (look again at verse 14 where he uses the angles to serve us).

God thank you for caring about me.  Thank you for making me your bride.  I am glad that you are glad about my existence (v. 9).  Let my life be pleasing to you and help me stay faithful to you no matter what comes along.