Chapter 6 - Our Perfect Savior (2:9-18)

6 Our Perfect Savior (2:9-18)

But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (2:9-18)

A newspaper article some years ago hailed the arrival of the “Son of God” into the world. This proclaimed savior, called the son of God by his followers, was a thirteen-year-old guru. He took his place in a long line of would-be messiahs, would-be sons of God, would-be saviors of one sort or another. He joined the ranks of men like Simon Magus, who died by allowing himself to be buried so that he could rise again as Jesus did (Encyclopedia Britannica.)—right down to modern saviors such as Hitler and Father Divine. Some of these were more influential and longer-remembered than others, but all failed utterly to live up to their claims. And none could ever atone for sin.

As we study these verses, which continue to show Christ greater than angels, we find ourselves drawn to the perfections of our Savior. And I pray that those who have not received Jesus Christ might be irresistibly drawn to Him as He is seen in His great beauty.

There is only one real Savior, only one perfect Savior. He is Jesus Christ. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). How is it that we know that Jesus Christ is, in fact, the perfect and only Savior? Why should we believe that? What qualifies Him? The answer is given beautifully and completely in Hebrews 2:9-18.

BORN TO DIE

Jews could not comprehend the idea that God would become man. Even less could they understand how, having become man, He could die. How could the anointed of God, the Messiah, be the victim of death? Consequently, wherever the gospel was preached to Jews, as in Acts 17, it was necessary to explain why Christ had to suffer and die (vv. 2-3). The cross was a serious stumbling block to them. Jewish converts even had difficulty with this issue. How could Jesus be greater than angels if angels never die? How could He be a Savior if He Himself were killed? These were lingering questions.

Christ was made for a little while lower than the angels so that He could become a man. He became a man so that He could die. He came to die because His death, and only His death, could accomplish man’s salvation. Those tiny hands fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb were made to take two great nails. Those little feet were made to climb a hill and be nailed to a cross. That sacred head was made to wear a crown of thorns, and that tender body wrapped in swaddling clothes was made to be pierced by a spear. For this Christ came to earth. His death was the furthest thing from an accident. And, despite the malignant evil that crucified Him, His death was the furthest thing from a tragedy. It was God’s ultimate plan for His Son and His ultimate gift for mankind.

God created man in innocence and gave him dominion over the earth. Man sinned and immediately lost his dominion. Jesus Christ came to die to remove the curse so that man could regain dominion; thus His death was the most purposeful in all history. He came to restore the crown to man. But the crown could not be restored until the curse was removed. If He was to remove the curse on man He had to take the place of man by becoming a man Himself. And though, for this purpose, He became lower than angels, He accomplished what no angel ever could have accomplished.

There were actually five accomplishments in this one. Through His death, Jesus Christ became our Substitute, our salvation Author, our Sanctifier, our Satan-Conquerer, and our Sympathizer—the perfect Savior.

OUR SUBSTITUTE

He died that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. He died in your place and in my place; He became our Substitute. No truth is more basic to the gospel. Here is the first and foremost reason for the incarnation: He who is above angels becoming for a little while lower than angels so that He might suffer death on behalf of everyone. Let me briefly rehearse the simple profundity of the gospel.

Ezekiel warned that “the soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). The same truth is explicit in the New Testament: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Sin brings death, inevitably and without exception. Left to his own resources, therefore, man has no prospect but death. But God has another prospect—a Substitute to take the punishment of man on Himself, to die in man’s place. That was His design in sending the second Person of the Trinity. Christ humbled Himself, came to earth, and died in our place. Yet this is the doctrine that liberal theology has always found the most repugnant. Its self-sufficient mancenteredness will not allow a substitute. Jesus’ death can be a beautiful and inspiring example of dying for a cause, of the true martyr; but no one, it insists, can take our place. In Scripture, however, there is no gospel, no good news, apart from the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Apart from His dying, we have no escape from death. Hebrews 2:9 makes that clear.

THE RECIPIENTS OF HIS HUMILIATION

The very heart of the redemption story is God becoming man in order to substitute for man’s death and therefore free man for life with Himself. That is the simplicity of the gospel. It is staggering to realize that the Creator of angels, the Head of angels, the Lord of the angelic hosts, the One worshiped by angels should, for our sakes, for a little time, become lower than the angels. That is supreme humility; and it was experienced in our behalf.

THE EXTENT OF HIS HUMILIATION

We see the extent of Christ’s humiliation in His death. Angels cannot die; but Jesus came to die. He went so far beneath angels that He did something that they could never do. His death was not easy or costless. It was a suffering death. Christ’s exit from the land of the living was not calm and peaceful, but was accompanied by outward torture and inner agony. The death He tasted was the curse of sin. What Jesus felt while dying on the cross was the total agony of every soul in hell for all eternity put together, suffered in a few hours. All the punishment for all the sin of all time—that was the depth of His death. He was guilty of no sin, yet He suffered for all sin.

THE PURPOSE OF HIS HUMILIATION

God sent His Son, and His Son willingly came, to die to redeem man. “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law” (Gal. 4:4-5). Jesus Christ in His death purposed to die as a substitute for everyone. And it is only by the Son tasting death as a man for man that we are free from death. Historically, kings have had someone taste their food to protect them from possible poisoning. The cup of poison that belonged to us was drained to the dregs by Jesus Christ. He substituted His own death for ours and released us to live with God.

THE MOTIVE OF HIS HUMILIATION

That by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. What moved Jesus Christ to suffer for us? It was grace—free, loving kindness. What we did not deserve (salvation) we received, and what we deserved (death) we did not receive. That is grace. And what prompts grace? Love. Love—unbounded love—prompted Christ’s gracious work on our behalf. Solely on the basis of His own love Jesus died. Not primarily by the hands of men or by the work of Satan, but by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God He died for our sins. “No one has taken [My life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). The Son’s love was one with the Father’s love. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

THE RESULT OF HIS HUMILIATION

The result of Christ’s humiliation was His exaltation. After He accomplished the work of His substitutionary death, He was crowned with glory and honor, exalted to the right hand of the Father. There He sits on a throne from which He reigns and will reign forever. He did not glorify Himself. “No one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee’ ” (Heb. 5:4-5). He has been seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21), and at His name every knee in heaven, earth, and under the earth will one day bow (Phil. 2:10).

So, the writer says to his Jewish readers, and to all others who may be skeptical or scandalized: “We do not apologize for the cross; we do not shove it under the rug, for the cross not only saves us but magnifies the Lord. Far from being anything of which we are ashamed, Christ’s humiliation and death are what we glory in.” He is our great Substitute, whom we will thank and praise throughout all eternity.

OUR SALVATION AUTHOR

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. (2:10)

The phrase it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things refers primarily to God the Father, though it obviously refers to the Son as well. It was fitting means that what God did through Jesus Christ was consistent with His character. It was consistent with God’s wisdom. The cross was a masterpiece of wisdom. God solved the problem which no human or angelic mind could have solved. What He did was also consistent with His holiness, for God showed on the cross His hatred for sin. It was consistent with His power, being the greatest display of power ever manifested. Christ endured for a few hours what will take an eternity for unrepentant sinners to endure. It was consistent with His love, in that He loved the world so much that He gave His only Son for its redemption. Finally, what He did was consistent with His grace, because Christ’s sacrifice was substitutionary. The work of salvation was totally consistent with God’s nature. It was entirely fitting for Him to have done what He did.

What was fitting for the Father was equally fitting for the Son. Christ’s suffering humiliation for the sake of man’s salvation was consistent with His loving and gracious nature. Though all things were both for Him and through Him, He became for a little while lower than the angels in order to bring many sons to glory and become the perfect author of their salvation through sufferings. Here is the second perfection that His humiliation accomplished—Author of salvation. Jesus had to become a man and He had to suffer and die in order to be the perfect provider of salvation.

The Greek word for author is archgos, literally, a “pioneer” or “leader.” In Acts 3:15 and 5:31 the term, used both times of Christ, is translated “Prince.” It always refers to someone who involves others in his endeavor. For example, it is used of a man who starts and heads a family, into which others are born or married. It is used of a man who founds a city, in which others come to live. It was commonly used of a pioneer who blazed a trail for others to follow. The archgos never stood at the rear giving orders. He was always out front, leading and setting the example. As the supreme Archegos, Christ does not stand at the rear giving orders. He is always before us, as perfect Leader and perfect Example.

He lived for us the pattern of perfect obedience. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:8-9). By His own obedience He set the perfect pattern for us. He also set us the pattern for suffering. “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).

For most people, life becomes most anxious and dreadful at the point of death. That is the point beyond which we cannot go a single step by ourselves. But the Author of our salvation promises us that “because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). The world’s ultimate question is: “Has anyone ever cheated death?”—to which the Bible replies: “Yes, Jesus Christ.” The second most important question is: “If He did, did He leave the way open for me?”—to which the Bible also replies, “Yes.” He did leave the way open. All we have to do is put our hand in His hand and He will lead us from one side of death to the other. When we accept Him as our Savior, we can say with the apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).

As the great Pioneer of redemption, He blazed the trail through death and resurrection. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). God made Christ for a little while lower than the angels so that He could come down to us, be our Archegos—our spiritual Pioneer and Example—and bring us to the Father.

OUR SANCTIFIER

For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” (2:11-13)

In addition to becoming our Substitute and Author of salvation, He became our Sanctifier, the One who makes us holy. From our own perspective and experience, of course, it is difficult to think of ourselves as holy. Sin is too much with us. In thought and practice we are far from holy. But in the new nature we are perfectly holy. Before God, those who are in His Son are holy. We may not act holy, but we are holy—just as a child who often does not act like his father or please his father is still his father’s child. We are holy in the sense that before God the righteousness of Christ has been applied and imputed in our behalf. “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). We were made holy through His sacrifice, and have become those who are sanctified.

Christ has removed the possibility of positional sinfulness. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). We are therefore as pure positionally as God is pure, as righteous positionally as Christ is righteous, and we are entitled to be called a brother of Jesus Christ because we now share in His righteousness. Such are the wonder and kindness of God’s grace. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

The Sanctifier and the sanctified now have one Father, and the Sanctifier is not ashamed to call the sanctified His brothers. What an overwhelming truth! How humbling to have the Son of God call us brothers and not to be ashamed of it. Conquering sin through His death, He broke sin’s mastery over us and placed His eternal righteousness on us. We are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17) because His holiness is now our holiness. His righteousness not only makes us holy but makes us His brothers. This is the only way a person can become a brother of Christ, and therefore a child of God. We are not born into the divine family, only reborn into it.

The practical experience of a Christian’s life, of course, includes sin; but the positional reality of his new nature is holiness. “In Him [we] have been made complete” (Col. 2:10), positionally and in nature perfect. The basic, overriding purpose of our lives now is to become in practice what we are in that new perfection and position. Now that we are Christ’s brothers, God’s children, we should live like it.

Can you imagine God’s being happy to be called the God of you? Yet He is—not because of who you are in yourself, but because of who you are in Christ. The writer of Hebrews says of believers later in the epistle, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb. 11:16). When we realize that Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and that God is not ashamed to say, “I am their God,” it should thrill our hearts. And it should make us all the more conscious that it is in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we stand and not in our own, which at best is “like a filthy garment” (Isa. 64:6). Yet how strange and sad that, though God is never ashamed to call us His, we are so often ashamed to call Him ours. How often are we honestly able to say with Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel”?

BROTHERHOOD BEGAN AFTER THE CROSS

The Lord Jesus never called His people brothers on the other side of the cross. Before Calvary He called them disciples or friends or sheep, but never brothers. Why? Because they could not truly be brothers until after the cross, when their sin was paid for and His righteousness was imputed to them. Only then did they become spiritual brothers of the Lord. As soon as Jesus was risen from the dead, He said to Mary, “Go to My brethren.” For the first time He called His disciples brothers.

And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” (2:13)

Jesus, when He was in this world, learned the obedience of faith, and thereby became the perfect Savior. Even the Old Testament revealed that Christ would put His trust in the Father. In the same passage it was also revealed that His brothers would do the same: Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me. Jesus Christ is not our Brother because of our common nature, since He is divine and we are human. For the same reason He is not our Brother because of common wisdom or power. He is our Brother because of common righteousness and common faith in the Father.

What a wonderful thing to realize that when we are called to walk by faith, to submit ourselves to God and to live in total dependence on Him, we are called to follow the path that Jesus walked. That is exactly what He did. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19). Brotherhood with Jesus means that we possess His righteousness and that we walk by faith as He did.

OUR SATAN-CONQUEROR

Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (2:14-15)

Share is from the Greek koinnia, meaning to have fellowship, communion, or partnership. It involves having something in common with others. All human beings have flesh and blood. In this we are all alike. It is our common nature. But partook is from a very different word, metech, which has to do with taking hold of something that is not naturally one’s own kind. We by nature are flesh and blood; Christ was not. Yet He willingly took hold of something which did not naturally belong to Him. He added to Himself our nature in order that He might die in our place, and that we might take hold of the divine nature that did not belong to us (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).

Obviously Satan’s power over us had to be broken in order for us to be brought to God. Satan’s primary power over man and supreme weapon against him is death. Sin, of course, gives Satan his power over us; but the power itself is death.

So in this regard, why did Christ become man? Why did He die? That through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. The only way to destroy Satan was to rob him of his weapon, death—physical death, spiritual death, eternal death. Satan knew that God required death for us because of sin. Death had become the most certain fact of life. Satan knew that men, if they remained as they were, would die and go out of God’s presence into hell forever. Satan wants to hold onto men until they die, because once they are dead the opportunity for salvation is gone forever. Men cannot escape after death. So God had to wrest from Satan the power of death. And for just that purpose Jesus came.

If you have a more powerful weapon than your enemy, his weapon becomes useless. You cannot fight against a machine gun with a bow and arrow. Satan’s weapon is extremely powerful. But God has a weapon even more powerful—eternal life—and with it Jesus destroyed death. The way to eternal life is through resurrection, but the way to resurrection is through death. So Jesus had to experience death before He could be resurrected and thereby give us life. Jesus’ dying destroyed death. How? He went into death, through death, and came out on the other side, thereby conquering it. Then He could say, “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the believer with eternal life. It is the only thing that could ever have done it. Death is the power of Satan’s dominion, and when Jesus shattered Satan’s power He also shattered his dominion.

And might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (2:15)

The thing that terrifies people more than anything else is death. It is a horrible fear, the king of terrors. But when we receive Jesus Christ, death holds no more fear. We have been released from bondage to the fear of death, and, instead, actually look forward to it. We say with Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21) and “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). Death no longer holds any fear, for it simply releases us into the presence of our Lord. Why? Because we have placed our hands into the hands of the Conqueror of death, and He will lead us into one side of the grave and out the other. He never could have done it if He had not become for a little while lower than the angels.

OUR SYMPATHIZER

For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (2:16-18)

Christ did not come to redeem angels but men. So He took on Himself the form of Abraham’s descendants and became a Jew. “How odd of God to choose the Jews,” someone has quipped. We wonder why He chose them and not some other race or nation on whom to show His special favor. But if He had chosen some other group, we would ask the same question about them. He simply chose them in His sovereign will out of love. “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers” (Deut. 7:7-8).

Again the writer answers the question, “If Jesus is God, why did He become a man?” He came to substitute for men, to reconcile men to God, to fit them for God’s presence and to destroy death. But beyond that He also came to help the reconciled when they are tempted. He wanted to feel everything we feel so that He could be a merciful and understanding, as well as a faithful, high priest. He came not only to save us but to sympathize with us.

In his letters to Timothy, Paul gave words of counsel and encouragement to his young friend about many things—his health, his critics, his moral and spiritual welfare. But all of his counsel could perhaps be summed up in these words in the second letter: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David” (2 Tim. 2:8). Paul was saying, in effect, “Remember Jesus Christ in His humanity, Timothy. Remember that, wherever you may go, He has been there before you. You can get down on your knees when the going gets tough and you can pray, ‘Lord, You know what You went through when You were here. I’m going through it now.’ And He will say, ‘Yes, I know.’ ”

When you have a problem, it is wonderful to be able to talk with the divine One who has already experienced it and come through successfully. Other people may be understanding, but they cannot fully understand. Jesus came to identify with us, to experience what we experience. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He became our Sympathizer, a merciful and faithful high priest. He was hungry, He was thirsty, He was overcome with fatigue, He slept, He was taught, He grew, He loved, He was astonished, He was glad, He was angry, He was indignant, He was sarcastic, He was grieved, He was troubled, He was overcome by future events, He exercised faith, He read the Scriptures, He prayed, He sighed in His heart when He saw another man in illness, and He cried when His heart ached.

Jesus felt everything we will ever feel—and more. For example, He felt temptation to a degree that we could not possibly experience. Most of us never know the full degree of resistible temptation, simply because we usually succumb long before that degree is reached. But since Jesus never sinned, He took the full measure of every temptation that came to Him. And He was victorious in every trial.

Why did He go through that? He did it so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest who could sympathize with our weaknesses and who could come to the aid of those who are tempted. Ours is not a cosmic God, powerful and holy, but indifferent. He knows where we hurt, where we are weak, and where we are tempted. He is the God we can go to not only for salvation but for sympathy.

This is our Savior. The perfect Savior. Our Substitute, our salvation Author, our Sanctifier, our Satan-Conqueror, and our Sympathizer. What a Savior He is. There is no other.