The Incomprehensible Sympathetic Savior (Hebrews 2:14-18)
Christmas is in a few weeks and our minds have turned to that great topic. And it is a topic that, though we celebrate with all our hearts, is a staggering concept to consider. I was floored when I read J.I. Packer say that the most staggering of Christian claims was the Incarnation, or the birth of Christ.
“The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man—that the second person of the Godhead became the ‘second man’ (1 Corinthians 15:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that He took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly divine as He was human. Here are two mysteries for the price of one—the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus. It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. ‘The Word was made flesh’ (John 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And here was no illusion or deception in this; the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation.”[1]
This is by no means, easily understood, and this has been an area where heresy has arisen time and time again in the Church. So, as confusing as this may be, it is something that we stand in awe of as believers. For it is through this marvelous work that salvation came.
God the Son came from Heaven and dwelt among us. God who was far from us has come to us to redeem us. Jesus was born in to die as our sympathetic Savior. In his book, “On the Incarnation”, Athanasius, who led the fight for biblical orthodoxy with regard to the nature of Christ in the 300’s points out how wonderful this thought is.
“You must understand why it is that the Word of the Father, so great and so high, has been made manifest in bodily form. He has not assumed a body as proper to His own nature, far from it, for as the Word He is without body. He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men.”[2]
This is what we celebrate at Christmas each year. God the Son became flesh to die as our sympathetic Savior. And we see this spelled out plainly in Hebrews 2:14-18.
Jesus Added To Himself Human Nature For The Redemption Of Mankind (Hebrews 2:14-17)
God the Son added human nature to Himself. He did not become less God, or some mixture of the two. He was completely God and completely man. We share in flesh and blood and He took those things upon Himself (Hebrews 2:14). He left the glories of Heaven to take human nature upon Himself. The transcendent became immanent. God who is far from us, came near to us in human flesh. What was the purpose of that?
God the Son did this so 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.” (Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV)
He took on human flesh to destroy Satan.
Now, Satan isn’t discussed a whole lot today. In fact, it is oftentimes the case that we avoid discussing Satan or the works of Satan. I’m not certain why exactly, but it does seem to be the case. But our text tonight informs us that Christ came to destroy Satan. Satan was there in Genesis 3 as he helped to bring corruption to mankind. It was mankind’s fault, but he tempted Adam and Eve into sin. Satan is at work holding people captive under the blindness of sin and fear of death even today. And God the Son took on human flesh to destroy Satan and his work.
Through Christ taking on human flesh, dying on the cross and paying the punishment for sin, and rising from the grave He was able to conquer Satan and his work. Satan tempted Adam and Eve and Christ redeems people from the damage that did. Through this act Satan brought death into the world, Jesus brought life. Through Satan’s temptation corruption of the Earth and mankind began, but through the redemption of Christ all will be made new. And one day Christ will rule and reign and cast Satan and his minions into that place of everlasting torment where he will never cause damage to anyone or anything again. God the Son came to destroy Satan.
And God the Son came to free those who are captive to Satan. We are told in the text today that mankind is “subject to lifelong slavery…through fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15 ESV).
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ESV)
Through His own death, God the Son would be able to set the captives free. Through His perfect life, death, and resurrection those blinded by Satan are given sight and life. Notice the words of Jesus as he read from Isaiah.
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”” (Luke 4:16-21 ESV)
God the Son took on human flesh to free those held captive. And that is everyone. That is all of us. When Adam ate the fruit, all of creation was thrown into decay and death. Death is the punishment for sin (Ezekiel 18:20). And, we are born in bondage to sin (Romans 6:6). When we put all of this together, we understand something clearly. God the Son took on human flesh to destroy the power of death.
In his commentary over this text, John Calvin wrote about Jesus.
“he hath so delivered us from the tyranny of the devil, that we are rendered safe, and that he hath so redeemed us from death, that it is no longer to be dreaded.”-John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries
Through the work of Christ we are freed from Satan, freed from death, and freed from bondage. God the Son took on human flesh and was made able to die, hung on a cross and paid the punishment for sin. He rose from the grave three days later. And His work was complete. Jesus rescued us fully and completely that we cry out.
“”O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”” (1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV)
Jesus Left The Glories Of Heaven To Be Our Faithful High Priest (Hebrews 2:17)
God the Son was born in a manger for our redemption. He became our High Priest “made like his brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” (Hebrews 2:17 ESV). He was going to represent people to God, therefore He needed to be like us in every respect, except He was without sin.
The role of the High Priest was to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Day after day lambs were slaughtered as sacrifices for sins. They bore the wrath of God in place of needy sinners. But they didn’t do it in reality. They were but a picture of what was to come. They pictured the sacrifice that Jesus would one day make of Himself.
God the Son left the glories of Heaven to die as the perfect sacrifice. He made a one time offering of His life that led to peace with God. He offered Himself and God poured His wrath and justice out upon Him in place of all who would ever believe.
If you are not a believer, then God’s wrath and anger still hang over your head. You have earned God’s wrath and justice, but the good news is that you can have peace with God through Christ and Christ alone. He has accomplished it all through His work as High Priest. And your response is to repent and believe.
If you are a believer then God has already accepted you into His family, not through anything that you have done, but through the finished work of Christ. He, as our Great High Priest has accomplished it all.
God The Son Left The Glories Of Heaven To Be Sympathetic To Your Temptation And Suffering (Hebrews 2:18)
By taking on human flesh, Jesus Christ became sympathetic to your temptation and suffering. God the Son was born into humble means, became thirsty and hungry, was tempted, was not believed by His family for a while, was abandoned by His best friends, was falsely accused of crimes, was beaten nearly to death, was humiliated as he hung naked on a cross, and He was left their to die. No matter your hardships, we read here that Jesus is sympathetic to your plight.
But there is something that should be mentioned here because modern man has a way of confusing things in a mighty way. Jesus never sinned when he faced temptation and he never sinned when he faced suffering. He underwent all of the trials of life without failing. You and I fail, but He did not.
No matter your hardship, Jesus is sympathetic to your plight. You may feel that you are the only one on Earth that understands what you are going through but it is not true. Christ your sympathetic High Priest understands what you are going through. And in the One who made the perfect offering for your sin, you can find comfort and peace.
“Therefore whenever any evils pass over us, let it ever occur to us, that nothing happens to us but what the Son of God has Himself experienced in order that He might sympathize with us; nor let us doubt that he is at present with us as though he suffered with us.”-John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries
But we must always remember that Jesus’s experience as not exactly as our own. We are tempted and often fail. He was tempted and succeeded where we fail. And because of this He is our Sympathetic Savior.
Conclusion
Christmas is a time where we celebrate the unthinkable. God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. The more we ponder it, the more fantastic it becomes. But this was done, in history, for our redemption. God the Son took on human flesh and became our sympathetic Savior.
Think on that throughout the Christmas Season as you sing, “Away in a Manger” and “Little Town of Bethlehem”.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] J.I. Packer, “Knowing God”; Intervarsity Press; Downers Grove, Illinois; 1973, p. 46.
[2] Athanasius, “On The Incarnation, The Treatise De Incarnatione Verbi Dei”; St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 1977; p. 26.