Today’s Bible Study is on Hebrews 2: 5-18
New Living Translation
God is leading me to continue to study the Book of Hebrews. In this lesson I am studying about Jesus the man. He became human so he could relate to our suffering and fear of death.
Jesus, the Man
5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. 6 For in one place the Scriptures say,
“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,
or a son of man[a] that you should care for him?
7 Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.[b]
8 You gave them authority over all things.”[c]
Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. 9 What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.[d] 12 For he said to God,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.”[e]
13 He also said,
“I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.”[f]
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had[g] the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,[h] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
My thoughts:
Angels will not rule in Heaven. Jesus Christ will.
I am humbled and honored that Christ was willing to live and die as a human in order to save me from the fear of death.
God made us lower than the angels but still gave us dominion over the angels, but eventually we will be above the angels.
Jesus has been crowned with glory and honor because he, as a human, was made perfect due to his suffering.
Jesus is a perfect example for us. He lived without sin.
Jesus thinks of us Christians as his brethren, since we have the same Father.
Teaching Points from https://studyhebrews.com/hebrews2.html
1. Verse 5 – Here is another point which reinforces the author’s point from the last chapter, namely that Christ is superior to the angels. The world was put under Christ’s control. He is ruler over all things.
2. 6-8 Christ for a little while become a man. His position during that time was lower than the angels. Right now the angels’ position is higher than people. They are in heaven. They are more powerful. They are holy, etc. For a short period of time, Christ became a man. This was a major sacrifice on His part. He lowered Himself FAR below what was rightfully His. He left paradise in heaven to come to this sin-cursed earth. He didn’t choose the top palaces to live in, but was even born in a manger. He didn’t come to become king of this earth (the first time), but came as a servant to give His life as a ransom for many. He is our ultimate example of humility. If Christ humbled Himself so radically, surely we can humble ourselves. In the everyday grind of life. We can humble ourselves to empty the trash, to clean the restroom, to get up for the baby in the middle of the night, to not have to have the last word in every discussion/argument, to forgive others’ mistakes even if they keep repeating them, to do the tasks that no one else wants to do, to serve in the background without thought of reward.
3. God has established a principle of exalting those who humble themselves (1 Peter 5:6). Jesus is the ultimate example of that. He humbled Himself more than any person has ever humbled Himself before in all of history. He will be exalted higher than any person will ever be exalted in all of history. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In Philippians it says He will be given the name above every other name. This passage is yet another reminder that Christ is Supreme and pre-eminent. This can remind us that if we humble ourselves, God sees and will reward us at the proper time.
4. Why did Jesus do this? Verse 9. He did it to die for us so that we would not have to. Will we make sacrifices for other people? Will we humble ourselves to serve them even when it is difficult or when we don’t feel like it? Will we do this for people who don’t like us and don’t deserve it?
More Teaching Points from https://studyhebrews.com/hebrews2.html
1. Verse 10 – Everything was made by Him and for Him. This gives a simple answer as to why He created the world. He created it for Himself because it gives Him pleasure and glory. Yet He desires to bring joy and salvation to many others so that we can experience the full joy of knowing and serving God. This shows the harmonious doctrine of why we exist. We exist to glorify God. And as we glorify God we have the most joy possible, hence the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him fully.
2. To perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings – Since Christ’s divine nature was perfect already; it cannot be referring to this. MacArthur says, “His human nature was perfected through obedience, including suffering in order that He might be an understanding High Priest, an example for believers, and establish perfect righteousness.”
3. Verses 11-13 – We are brothers of Christ. We have the same Father. In the Old Testament it says that the Messiah would preach to His brethren. Jesus Himself said that those who obeyed God would be called his brothers and mother (Matthew 12:50, Luke 8:21). This reinforces the truth that everyone who comes to Christ is adopted into God’s family. This is why we call other believers brothers and sisters. How does God adopting us impact us? What does it mean to you that Christ is our brother? Is there anything we need to do because of this truth? Any application we can make?
4. Verses 14-15 – Here we see the doctrine of the incarnation. Jesus became a man. He took on the nature of a human. Why would He do this? He did it so that He could die once for all bringing all men to Himself. Death is the scariest thing awaiting every man. Death always has the last word. Satan’s seeming victory at the Fall ensured that all people would die. Satan thought his greatest victory would be killing Jesus, killing the Son of God. Yet his glee was turned to bitter defeat when Jesus arose from the dead and defeated death once and for all. Because of that, believers do not need to fear death. It is not the end. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:54, “death is swallowed up in victory.” How does knowing that death is not the end, but Christ defeated death affect us here and now before we die?
5. 16-17 – These verses show Christ’s identification with humanity. He became one of us to represent us and to help us. He did not identify in this way with angels.
6. He became like his “brethren.” He became a man. This allowed Him to become our High Priest, our mediator. As a man He could represent us before God. The first man, Adam, brought sin to the whole human race. In a similar way, one man, Christ, would bring salvation to the world (see Romans 5). He could only substitute Himself for us if He was one of us.
7. At the same time, becoming a man also brought with it the temptations that all people face. As God, He certainly knew about these temptations already. But by becoming a man, He could experience them firsthand. As we saw earlier in the chapter, this “perfected” His human side. He could identify with what we were going through. He could give us the perfect example of how to respond to it in action, not just with words. He can empathize with us in a deeper way and intercede for us more personally. So whenever you are tempted, you can look to the example of Christ to see how He responded.
My Question: What should I get from this, Lord?
His answer: Notice that my Son suffered as a mere mortal and He endured to the end. His love for you is unwavering. We love you.
Steve Holder 