Jesus Christ, the Man.
Source Scripture: Heb 2: 5-18
Introduction:
The story is told of Jeff who was accused of breaching an important bit of the Universal Human Right Law. The penalty for this breach is capital – Life! Jeff could not defend himself in court. He hired a Lawyer that: knows the judge personally (they share some sort of kinship); he knows the Human Right Declaration like the back of his hand (he was part of the committee that drafted it); and he was levied with the exact same allegation a few years ago (a case he won definitively, making it precedent for this one). The Lawyer represented Jeff in this case par excellence, and won the case for Jeff.
That analogy, though inadequate, shows what Jesus did for us when He became Man. We were far removed and out of the league of a righteous, transcendent God, condemned to destruction. Left to ourselves, we can not make a winning case before God. Jesus Christ – a type of Jeff’s Lawyer – who shares divinity with God, became Man to present the perfect representation of the human condition before God the Father.
Jesus Christ is fully God. That truth is very real to us (every Christian believes this!). Jesus Christ is also fully Man. That truth we do not take to heart as closely (I’m not sure some of you didn’t flinch when I said Jesus is Man). What I intend to focus on today is the Manhood of Jesus. Why did He become Man? And what benefits accrue to us by His remaining a Man?
Background:
Hebrews was written at about AD60s. The author is not known. Some bible scholars believe it to be Paul, others think it Apollo. Certainly, though, it was written to the Jews – people very conversant with the Old Testament and Judaist practices. This is obvious in the extensive quotation of OT passages, and use of OT examples: Covenants (8:1-13), Tabernacle (9:1-10), Priestly Duties (4:14-5:10; 7:1-26), etc.
Central theme of the letter to the Hebrews is the supremacy of Jesus Christ: How He is the ultimate revelation of God (1:3); how He perfects our salvation (10:14); and how in comparison with all the potential perks of the Jewish tradition, God worked out a better, far better deal in Jesus Christ. The author considered Jesus Christ and carefully, through reasoned arguments, demonstrated that He is better than: angels (1:5-13), Moses (3:1-6), Aaron (natural priest order, 8:6), etc.
Chapter 1 established that Jesus is a revelation of God (1:2, 3), He is God (1:8), and He is superior to angels (1:7); Chapter 2 then proceeds to establish His humanity (2:14)!
Message:
1. Jesus, the man (2:5-9)
In this section, Jesus is presented as a man.
v7: Jesus was made a little lower than angels (and note that it has “for a little while” in the margins) in that when he carried the sins of the world on himself at Calvary and was separated from the Father, he shared in the ‘fallen’ nature of Humanity and was in that state lower than the angels. And in v9: Jesus is now crowned with glory and honour and everything is under His feet. Phil 2:6-11 corroborates this exalted nature of Jesus Christ following His obedience unto death.
Verses 5-9 present a familiar psalm of David that addresses Man in his pristine, God’s-original-intention status, and shows that Jesus was that Man, the Son of Man, who fulfils that description (not Man in his present state v8b – we do not yet see everything subject to him). The writer then goes further to demonstrate that Jesus in his Humanity fulfils the prophecy of the Psalm – with everything, absolutely everything, being put under His feet, even Death! Paul in 1Cor 15:20-27 also corroborates this point: it is in the Man, Jesus, that God fulfills this prophecy, ‘putting everything under His feet.’
2. Why did He become Man (2:10-18)?
According to this text, I submit to you a global reason why he came – and three subsets of that global reason.
v11 ‘In bringing many Sons to Glory…’ – That is the ultimate reason God sent Jesus as a Man into this world.
To bring many sons into glory; to reconnect us with the Father; to provide a template for Man as God originally designed him to be; to glorify God by fulfilling His will and establishing His kingdom on this earth.
2Cor 5:19 said it the best for me: God, in Christ Jesus, was reconciling the world to Himself. A picture of reconnecting us to Himself – gradually adding color to the draft on his paint canvas, until a fabulous picture of His perfect purpose for creation unravels: (Rev. 21:1-5 – a new heaven, a new earth, a redeemed, transformed people, and God dwelling in the midst of them – pretty much a new Eden!)
That is the overarching reason Jesus became Man.
This global reason is outworked in three secondary reasons:
a. v14-15 Jesus, by His death, destroyed him that holds the power of death and frees those who are held in slavery by their fear of death.
Death, as the reward of Sin, was the ultimate punishment Man got at the fall – an eternal separation from God. Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, defeated the devil (the son of God came to destroy the works of the devil, 1Jn 3:8), freed us from the power of sin (we are no longer slaves to sin, Rom 6:17-18), and granted us eternal life by His Spirit (You granted Him authority… that He might give eternal life to all You gave Him, Jn 17:2)
b. v17 Jesus is our merciful and faithful high priest, and he made atonement for our sins.
As a priest he goes into the Father’s presence to represent us – similar to the role of the High Priest when He goes into the Most Holy Place once a year, on atonement day, to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people.
Merciful because he identifies with us and understands us; in mercy and with empathy he performs his priestly duties; Faithful because He absolutely, without fail, fulfils all the requirements of his priestly office.
‘…He made atonement for our sins.’ He was the sacrifice, his blood the agent of the remission of our sins. In the OT, the high priest goes in with a spotless lamb which he kills to shed its blood… Jesus doubled both as the high priest and the lamb that was slain!!
By making atonement for our sins (a version said, turning aside the wrath of God) we are reconnected back the Father – in that way, this tie back to the global reason: “bringing sons to glory.”
c. v18 Jesus, because of his experience, can help those who are being tempted
Job experience is a concept that took on a fresh meaning for me in this country. Your professional worth is equal to your level of experience at the task. Funnily, even for menial jobs like house cleaning and kitchen potter, you’re expected to have experience.
And they are not far off mark. Any woman can mentally relate to the pain of losing a child; a young woman who actually lost a child just a few years ago can more closely feel the pain of a grieving lady in a similar situation today. Any psychologist can theorize about the pains of child abuse; but a psychologist that was himself abused as a child can give a more personal help to a child going through abuse at present. Any good Lawyer could have represented Jeff at court, but can you imagine the additional boost his defense got because his counsel had himself, a few years ago, been in a similar situation? You catch the drift? It is an additional insight into, a better understanding of, the situation, and consequently a better ability to handle recurrences, that derives from experience. Jesus having gone through the things we are going through now – and he suffered at it (‘suffered’ to underscore that he actually felt the pain, and didn’t just breeze through it like a ‘superman’) – he’s able to offer us the best help possible during our trying times.
Jesus’ help in this passage is a continuous thing (“He’s able to help those who are being tempted”, and according to Heb 10: 14 “He made perfect forever those who are being made holy”). This is an ongoing work – we’re being transformed into His likeness, from glory to glory (2Cor 3:18), that ties it back to the global reason: “bringing many sons to glory.”
Conclusion:
What does this mean for us?
1. This freedom we get in Christ (freedom from death) releases us to a fulfilling life for Him. We are no longer held back by the fear of sin (v.15) because: a. His perfect Love for us cast out fear (1Jn4:18); and b. we are dead to this world already, the life we now live is Jesus’ (Gal 2:20). It’s a life not bound by fear, but one where, in the liberty bequeathed to us by grace, we can live for His glory
2. Because Jesus Christ was the atonement for our sins, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:18). Our sins have been forgiven – all of it, the ones we’ve committed and the ones we are yet to commit. So there’s no place for trying to add to the work of the cross (through self flagellation, legalistic ‘holiness’, community service, or any other well-meaning ‘religious’ activity). It is finished, and we are complete in Christ Jesus. This does not obviate the imperative to add good works to our faith (Jas 2:20, Ti 3:8), of course, but the motivation is gratitude, rather than legalism.
3. Because Jesus suffered when He was tempted, he’s able to help us in our temptation. Jesus can help in your own situation. For me, as a young male professional, Jesus identifies with me in my struggles against ambition, lust, greed, doubt about the future, etc, and He can help. That is a comforting feeling – at the very least, by implication, I am not alone in what I am going through. You can put your situation too in this context… Whatever it is, Jesus understands – like they say, He’s been there, done that, and got the T-shirt.
Response:
Heb 4:14-16
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Let us come to Him; he offers mercy and grace, and he can help whatever the situation is!
Seun Olowojebutu
Jan 30, 2010
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