Hebrews 2: God’s Answer to a Fallen World

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God’s Answer to a Fallen World (Hebrews 2)

A Picture of Seeing God in Bible Study

Introduction: Our study has two purposes: (1) to give us hope in a world that is not only fallen and corrupt, but actually becoming frightening. As the Hebrew Christians of the 1st century, we desperately need to see our future. We do that by “seeing Jesus.” (2) This sermon is a follow up from last week’s explanation of why it is important to “pursue God in our Bible study.” In preaching, teaching, and especially in personal Bible study we need to “hear his voice, see him form, and have his word abiding in us.” Hebrews 2 is an excellent text to illustrate for us how to truly study a text properly in order to discover the beauty of God. For God to just tell us his message is one thing, but for him to show us his message in vibrant pictures will bring us to the goal of hearing his voice and seeing his form.

1. Hebrews 2: Answering Man’s Problem
   1. In 10:36 Paul gives us the key to the purpose of Hebrews: “for you have need of endurance.” These Jews have been Christians longer than any others, and yet they have found themselves disappointed. They were taught that Jesus is reigning as King, but the world they are living in has no semblance of justice and righteousness. In fact, ill-treatment, persecution, and the corruption of society has only become worse. We feel this today! What is the answer?
   2. In the Hebrews’ text there are two worlds. There is the “world to come” (2:5), and there is the “present” world (2:8). The present world in which we live has no semblance to the world to come. Man seems to be in control of nothing but his own destruction. To what can you proclaim control in this present world? Nothing! Ecclesiastes bemoans that point.
   3. As we observe a rising swell of aggressive attack against our faith and our country, we are confronted with the fact that whatever we had hoped for in this present world is being dashed to pieces. As these events unfold we find ourselves under greater stress and discouragement, and we can even expect so much out of each other that we miss the the One on whom our eyes are to dwell.
   4. Thus the aim of Hebrews from start to finish is to show us Jesus as the answer, the one who reclaims what mankind was created to be and to do.
2. Hebrews 2:5-13 – Reading to See Jesus – an Example
   1. Vs. 5-8 The world to come is subjected to man
      1. First, we note the origin of the quotation from Psalm 8. It is clear that David said that God crowned man with glory and honor and put all things under his feet. That reminds us of Genesis 1, where God stated some of those same things upon creating man. However, even as we read those words, we are rightly puzzled because it obvious we are not crowned with glory and honor nor are all things subject to us. 
      2. Fortunately, the Hebrew writer clears that up for us at the end of verse 8 by telling us, “at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” Ah, the statement by David in the Psalm has not yet been accomplished, and though God spoke of this in Genesis, we fractured that hope through our sin.
      3. Therefore, why is it that though Jesus has conquered and is reigning that we still see the world in such a mess and we often must endure great suffering? It is because Jesus has not yet completed his work. Verse 5 reminds us, it is “the world to come” that is to be subjected to us.
   2. Vs. 9 But we see Jesus… 
      1. Notice that the nearly exact words of Psalm 8 have been accomplished by Jesus. Jesus was made a little lower than the angels and has been crowned with glory and honor. Therefore, Jesus has accomplished what we have not yet attained.
      2. But notice how Jesus did this. He did it by the suffering of death so that by God’s grace he might taste death for every one. Why is that important? Because it is that curse of death that is keeping us from being crowned with glory and honor and having the world to come in subjection to us.
      3. But notice also, it was through suffering that he attained to glory and honor. The reason he brings up the suffering is because we later learn in chapter 10 that his Hebrew audience is in need of endurance. They have suffered from the beginning of the gospel and they are in danger of giving up. Their suffering is not just from persecution, but from tribulation in general, which is what we all must face. They may have been surprised that as Paul said, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Therefore, the writer has set up the reason for Jesus as our high priest and the path to glory.
   3. Vs. 10-11 Our trailblazer
      1. Please notice the beginning of verse 10: “he, for whom and by whom all things exist…” The writer calls our minds back to 1:2-3. This is the one who will bring many sons to glory is “the heir of all things” and “the radiance of the glory of God.” He is the one for whom all things exist. Jesus will complete his purpose for creating all things for himself. 
      2. Notice in verse 10, it was appropriate for Jesus to be made perfect through suffering because in so doing he could bring many sons to glory. Notice the phrase, “founder of our salvation” (ESV). NIV translates “pioneer” and NET notes explains the Greek as a “trailblazer; one who breaks through to new ground.” In other words, there is only one path to glory and that is through suffering. Therefore Jesus became our pioneer blazing the trail through suffering in order to bring us to glory.
      3. Verse 11-12 confirms this point. By us following him through suffering to the same glory he has attained, we have become one with him with one “source” or “Father,” and can therefore be called his brothers.
      4. But before we go on, ask the question, “Why is the emphasis on the one who sanctifies and the one who is sanctified having one source or being of one family? It has to do with “sanctifies” and “sanctified.” These words stand for being made holy and living holy. Jesus and us are one family, we are “brothers” because of holiness. 
      5. The typical aspiration even of Christians is material gain with the time to enjoy it. But we have a higher and more wonderful calling. The primary aspiration of the Christian life is growth in holiness. Cf. Eph. 1:4; Heb. 12:14.
      6. This is the reason he is not ashamed to call us brothers.
   4. Vs. 12-13 Now we come to the part where our writer gives us a “picture” of what he is talking about. The picture will give us strong encouragement. It is a picture of God taken from the OT. However, this is the very part we so often miss. We are so intent on understanding the details of the text that we think the OT quote is nothing more than confirmation of what we have been reading. Not so!
      1. The quotation comes from Psalm 22:22. Obviously, to understand the purpose of the quote and therefore the picture of God, we need to know the entire context. Psalm 22 is the psalm Jesus quoted while on the cross. It is a picture of David and later Jesus enduring suffering while God seems to be ignoring their pleas. The psalmist is puzzled because God had always been with the faithful and had always been with him. In his prayer, he explains to God the urgency of needing help. Suddenly in verse 21b, the psalmist exclaims that God has rescued him and saved him from “the horns of the wild oxen.”
      2. As with so many of David’s psalms, once he is rescued, the rest of the psalm is praise and evangelizing everyone about the great deliverance of God. That is what you see in verses 22ff. Notice especially 23-24. Contrary to popular belief, God did not turn his face away from David at his darkest hour and neither did God turn his face away from Jesus. Therefore, this becomes a critical quote in the Hebrew letter! Neither will God turn his face away from you at your darkest hour.
      3. Why does the Hebrew writer quote this? To assure all his brothers that God will never desert them during their suffering. We may feel alone. We may wonder if God is listening. But we are his brothers, and even through death God will not turn his face away. He will never abandon us!
   5. The Hebrew writer follows with quotations from Isaiah 8:17-18. This quote comes from an even more complicated context that extends from Isaiah 7-9. Without an understanding of that context, we cannot see the picture of God our writer intends. To save time, let me tell you the story.
      1. Isaiah 7: Judah is being threatened by a coalition of Syria and Israel when Ahaz was the wicked king of Judah. God assured Ahaz that these two nations would not be able to touch him and told Ahaz to ask for a sign for confirmation. Ahaz refused to ask for the sign and therefore God gave him the sign of a young woman giving birth [quoted in Matthew 1 as a virgin] and before the child was grown, the two nations who were threatening Judah would be gone.
      2. Isaiah 8 offers the fulfillment when Isaiah’s wife conceives and bears a son named Maher-shalal-hash-baz (“the spoil speeds, the prey hastens”). The meaning of his name is given in 8:4, “Before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” As a reminder, Isaiah had already had a son named, “Shear-jashub” (“a remnant will return, but only a remnant”). 
      3. Therefore, the context for our quote from Isaiah 8:17-18 is the two children of Isaiah, the first son promising that after the Assyrian invasion, a remnant will be spared, and the second son promising that Syria and Israel will be taken away by Assyria before they can ever attack Judah.
      4. Therefore, Isaiah 8:17-18 referred to Isaiah’s children as reminders, object lessons, and visual signs before Judah that those who trust in the Lord will be delivered. “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” 
      5. When the Hebrew writer quotes these verses, he is now referring to what Jesus has done for us. He became a sign of deliverance when he was born of a virgin. In his death and resurrection, he produced us as his offspring (Isaiah 53:10). We as his offspring have now become signs to the world of hope and a similar deliverance just as Isaiah’s children were signs of hope and deliverance to Judah.
3. Our Merciful & Faithful High Priest (2:14-18)
   1. Therefore, our trailblazer is also our deliverer. Jesus, as our trailblazer became like the children sharing in flesh and blood so that he might destroy the power of death and deliver us from the lifelong slavery of the fear of death. This fact alone emboldens us to following Jesus through whatever persecution and tribulation that comes our way because we have been delivered from the fear of death.
   2. Therefore, the writer assures us by the fact that we have a merciful and faithful high priest that since he suffered when tempted (temptation & trial), he can help us through the same temptations and trials.
   3. Therefore, when trials come, when suffering seems beyond your endurance, look to Jesus. The suffering may feel like a terrible loss of joy, fulfillment, and contentment. It is not! This “brief” moment is bringing you to glory. And in glory there is an eternity of joy, fulfillment, and contentment. This is not a loss!

Conclusion: The pictures of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 7-8 go beyond just statements of Jesus bringing us to glory. They give us a greater basis for our assurance and greater strength during our trials. God never turned his face away from David or Jesus. Therefore, he will not turn his face away from us, Jesus’ brothers when we go through similar trials. Further, just as Isaiah’s children were signs of God’s deliverance and signs that we do not need to fear in the midst of threats, so now Jesus being born of a virgin and producing us as his children are signs to a lost world that they also can be delivered from the judgment to come and no longer live under the slavery of the fear of death.

The pictures I have given you are only one of thousands of pictures God alludes to throughout Old and New Testaments in order for us to truly “hear God’s voice and see his form” so that we can truly know him and grow in steadfast love for him.

Berry Kercheville