The Incarnation is Necessary

Hebrews 2 and the Perfection of Christ Through Suffering

Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2 once again. Hopefully most of you were here this morning. There is a danger I recognize in doing this kind of preaching where the morning service and the evening service are so closely connected when someone hasn't been here in the morning and we're halfway through a text.

I realize that, but at the same time the other cost would be to somewhat artificially divide up the text and try to come up with sort of artificial stopping points. So I try to sort of get everybody back up to speed a little bit while still staying with the text and working through it verse by verse.

If you were not here this morning, we've started at verse 9. We'll go back and begin reading at verse 9. We're going to try to make it through verse 18 this evening. I had honestly, in all sincerity, expected to have done that this morning.

And so obviously we didn't get that far, but hopefully we'll get through the end of the chapter today. Beginning with verse 9, but we see Jesus made for a little while lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that he might, by the grace of God, experience death on behalf of everyone.

For it was appropriate for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things and bring many sons to glory to perfect the pioneer of their salvation by means of suffering. For both the one sanctifying and those who are sanctified are from one source, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will proclaim your name to my brothers.

In the midst of the church I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children God has given me. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself partook of the same, in order that he might destroy the one having the power of death, namely the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives.

For surely he does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers, in order that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest regarding the things of God, so that he might make propitiation for the sins of the people.

For since he himself was tempted in that which he had suffered, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Amen. We finish by looking at a signal text, a tremendously important text, at the end of page 10, verse 10, specifically the assertion that our pioneer, the founder of our salvation, the origin and source of our salvation, has been perfected through sufferings.

And we spent, well, looking at the clock, I believe, 10 -15 minutes just considering that particular phrase and coming to the conclusion that the only way really to understand it was that this perfection of Christ had to do with his suffering in his life so that he fulfills the commandments of God and the righteousness that is imputed to us, the righteousness which is ours by faith, not by anything that we can do, not by fulfilling all the sacraments or beliefs or pilgrimages or anything else that we might add, that that righteousness that is imputed to us solely on the basis of grace through faith is a perfect righteousness.

It is a complete righteousness. It fulfills all the commands of God. It allows us to stand before God, complete and perfect, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. There is nothing that needs to be added to it.

His positive righteousness, the fact that he loved God perfectly, every single day as we are commanded to do, he loved his neighbor as himself, this perfect righteousness is imputed to us. And that is a tremendous truth to hold on to in the midst of life's difficulties.

The Church, Psalm 22, and the Family of God

But then the writer goes into a discussion where, once again, we're going to have to look at the Old Testament. We're going to have to look at it in such a way as to understand its use. For he says, for both the one sanctifying or making holy and those who are being sanctified or made holy literally are from one, are all from one.

And for this reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers. Now, one interesting translation rendered that something along the lines of the consecrating priest and those who are consecrated, because this is a term that, again, remember, this is the book of Hebrews.

And so, when you're looking at how words are used, how would a Jewish person, who maybe had attended temple worship, who knew of the sacrifices of the temple, and there's very good reason to believe this book was written well before the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

So, these things were still going on. The Holy of Holies still exists. And we get later in the book, they're going to talk about the various things that are in the temple and in the holy place and then behind the veil and in the Holy of Holies and so on and so forth.

What would they have understood as one sanctifying or making holy? Well, they probably would have understood the priest who gives the benediction, the priest who sprinkles the blood, that's going to come up later in the book as well.

And so, the idea is the one who is making holy and those who are being made holy are all from one source. They're all of one tribe, one people in essence. That's why he calls them brothers, or later on he's going to use the term children.

This is a community. This is a covenant relationship that in its greatest fulfillment, God has established with his people. And to establish the fact that he is not ashamed to call them brothers, two citations, well technically three, but as we'll see it's primarily two, from the Old Testament are given to us.

The first is from Psalm 22. And of course, the early church, as the New Testament reveals to us, saw the 22nd Psalm as a messianic psalm. A psalm fulfilled in Christ in many ways. Not just in that it starts off, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Not only does it describe the crucifixion, but it goes beyond that. It goes to the victory of the one who has been so shamed. It's got the humiliation and the exaltation. It is a messianic psalm. In that context, I will proclaim your name to my brothers.

And notice in my translation I said, in the midst of the church, I will sing your praise. So why did I say that? Well, most translations in the Old Testament will say congregation. But the reality is that probably one of the reasons that this text has been chosen by the writer is that in the Greek Septuagint, the term that is translated as congregation is ekklesia, the very Greek term for the church.

And so there is this connection that the author is making in regards to this one that's speaking in the 22nd Psalm, which they believe to be Christ. I will proclaim your name to my brothers in the midst of the church, I will sing your praise.

And so there is this reference to this Redeemer in Psalm 22, and he talks about his brothers, and they exist in the midst of the congregation, in the midst of the church. So that's a fairly straightforward citation, this idea that this Redeemer would have a people who are related to him in a special way, as his brothers, his sisters, or later on as the term is going to be used, his children, these family relationships, their personal relationships.

Isaiah 8, the Remnant, and the Children God Has Given Me

But the next chapter is a little tougher. And there is just no way that I could try to end this morning on this particular section, because this is a tough one. So dig in your heels for a moment and see if you can follow along.

The two citations in verse 13 are from two verses in Isaiah chapter 8 in the Greek Septuagint. The context in Isaiah chapter 8 is of the rejection, of course, of Isaiah's message, which God told him from the beginning was going to be the case.

But specifically, Isaiah here begins to speak about his revelation that he has given. And beginning in verse 16, it says, "'Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.'". So Isaiah has some faithful disciples, and he's saying, "'Bind up my teaching, make a record of what I'm teaching, so that when it comes to pass, people will be able to see that I was indeed a true prophet.'".

"'I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.'". So there's the first citation, "'I will hope in him.'". Then verse 18, "'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.'".

So what Isaiah is talking about is the fact that the people of God are rejecting his message. And yet, there is still a remnant. And some will even identify Isaiah as really the beginning of the development of this remnant concept in the Old Testament.

He has disciples who are faithful. They are faithful to his message. They are faithful to what he is proclaiming. They're faithful to the God of Israel. But he also has his family, his children. Remember, his sons are specifically named.

Their names are meant to communicate something to the people of Israel. And so you have this remnant, this family remnant in Isaiah. His disciples and his family. And so it seems the reason that the author cites this text is to point to an individual who was faithful in the household of God and that spoke about a remnant of faithful people who are related, not only to one another, but primarily related to one another by faith and by worship of the one true God.

And he sees this then of this portion of Isaiah's ministry as fulfilled in a greater sense in the person of Jesus Christ and his family, his brothers, his sisters, his children. Remember, elsewhere in Isaiah, you have that beautiful text in Isaiah 53, which we've read so many times at the Lord's Supper.

But it speaks of the fact that he will see his offspring and will be satisfied. Ever thought what that meant? Because clearly Jesus didn't have children. He didn't raise up children and having a wife or something like that.

Well, then what is the fulfillment of that? He will see his offspring. That is, we are his offspring. We are those who have been begotten into the family of God through his work. And so here then is the background of this citation from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8.

The Necessity of the Incarnation and Defeating Death

And so when he speaks of these children that God has given to him, he then says,. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself partook of the same in order that he might destroy the one having the power of death, namely the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives.

Here again, as I mentioned this morning, I emphasize it again. I didn't really expand upon it this morning. This would be the time to do so. Here you have the necessity of the Incarnation. The necessity of the Incarnation related to the saving work of Christ.

Who is to be redeemed? Well, they are children who share in flesh and blood. The follow-up verse after this,. For surely he does not take hold of angels. Christ isn't out to redeem angels. But it is the seed of Abraham.

Who are the seed of Abraham? Those who are of the faith of Abraham, as Paul explains in Romans chapter 4. So, they are human beings who need to be redeemed. And so they need a human redeemer. They need one who partakes of flesh and blood.

Now, I don't know that there really is any emphasis on the part of the original writer in response to any kind of early Gnostic influence amongst these people. But we know that Paul certainly struggled against that.

We know that the Apostle John struggled against those who denied the reality of the Incarnation of Christ. Who thought that Jesus was just a spirit being who pretended to have flesh. But clearly, as inspired Scripture, these words would have a tremendous impact upon anyone who would try to say that the Incarnation is only mythological.

The Incarnation is just the speculation of the early church trying to elevate Jesus to a higher position than he really had. I think most of you know, as I've explained many times in the Adult Sunday School class, that in the large majority of what calls itself scholarship today, it's pretty much an accepted idea that Jesus never viewed himself as being anything like we would view him to be.

That he was just basically a Galilean prophet. And that it was the later generations that expanded upon these things. But here you have, in the very earliest writings of the Christian faith, this assertion that he partook of the same.

He partook of flesh and blood. That's not merely an assertion that, well, he really was a man. Well, yes, he was really a man. There's no question about that. But why even say he partook of flesh and blood?

Why say that he was made for a little while lower than the angels? Because we're talking about someone who clearly is pre-existent. Someone who has been described in just the few sentences before this, in our study months ago now, but in the book of Hebrews just a couple pages ago, back in chapter 1, as the creator of all things.

The one who sustains all things by his powerful word. And so he is the one who is made for a little while lower than the angels. He doesn't cease being God when that happens. And he is the one who partakes of flesh and blood.

He truly became incarnate. Why? In order that he might destroy the one having the power of death, namely the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives. Now, how does that take place?

Well, if he is not truly man, then he cannot break the power of death through his own self-sacrifice. He cannot pay the penalty of sin, and what is the penalty of sin but death, if he is not truly man.

Now, since he is not under the penalty of death, he is not bearing the curse of Adam in and of himself, then he is able to give his life voluntarily. It is very important to emphasize, what did Jesus say?

No one takes my life from me, I give it of myself. Even as he stands before Pilate, you would have no authority over me unless it were given to you. And so Jesus has this authority in and of himself. And so because he is the God-man, and truly man, then he is able to destroy the one who has the power of death, namely the devil.

Now, how does the devil have the power of death? Well, you might argue even against the assertion by saying, well, isn't the wages of sin death, so how could you say the devil has the power of death? Well, what is the devil described as?

He is described as the enemy of the people of God. He is described as the accuser, sort of seen as the prosecuting attorney, shall we say, in the cosmic courtroom. And it is his joy to express his rebellion against God by seeking by all of his power, under the sovereign control of God, obviously, as Job and many other texts would reveal to us, to express his rebellion and to bring others under his sway, which is to experience death.

He wants to see people separated from God. And so he prowls about, as Peter puts it, seeking those whom he may devour. And isn't it interesting, I could not help but think of it earlier today, that those who reject God's law, those who reject God's way, experience separation from God, who is the source of life, and as a result, experience death.

And yet, they rejoice as they experience this separation from God. They have no perspective of eternity. They are unconcerned about the fact that their life is but a vapor. And they rejoice in their rebellion against God.

I don't know if any of you had the unfortunate experience after our service this morning to turn left on Indian School Road. I know Mr. Pierce did. Anybody else turn left up here at 12th Street and go west on Indian School Road?

Did you see some people out there with signs next to the gay bar? Oh, didn't notice them. Lucky. I was in the left-hand lane. There wasn't much traffic around me. And so they took the right lane. And they were out there.

Obviously, I at first thought it was a car wash. I mean, isn't that the only thing people do in the middle of the summer in Phoenix with signs along a major street is have a car wash, right? It wasn't a car wash.

They were homosexuals with disgusting signs standing out in the middle of the street waving them at you. And I guess Mr. Pierce got to see even more than I did, which is really exciting. Here you have people who are so addicted to their rebellion that they are out in the heat celebrating their sinfulness.

And here is a lifestyle that if anyone is even semi-unbiased in their examination of the facts, results in a tremendous decrease of life. I've mentioned it to you before, but the Omega Death Study a number of years ago demonstrated that the average practicing homosexual male in comparison to the average married heterosexual male lives 21 years less.

53. 53 years of age is the average time of death of the practicing homosexual male. 74 for the married heterosexual. That's like smoking about 47 packs a minute. But you can't talk about that. In fact, in some nations in the West, you might get sued for saying it.

In fact, with that camera going on down there, I have to wonder if my YouTube account might not get pulled for even mentioning it. Why? Because mankind, when he's in rebellion against God, is under the power of death.

And the only power that can destroy that power of death is that of Jesus Christ. Why? Because by voluntarily giving himself in death, he becomes the very source and origin of life to those who trust him, who flee to him.

He is able, because of his death, to deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives. Enslaved. Subject to slavery. Their entire lives. Isn't that the description of every single person who by God's Spirit is caused to recognize their own estate?

You see, sometimes people look at that. Well, that's everybody. Everybody is, through fear of death, enslaved their entire lives. Yes, but only those who have been awakened to their plight care. Those who continue in love with their sin, continue in the darkness of their unregenerate life, they're not willing to turn to God for life.

They'll blame God for their difficulties in life, but they won't turn to him in repentance and faith. And so he is able to deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives.

Well, does that mean he delivers everyone? Again, it's been my experience. You have two possible interpretations when it comes to these texts. You either have to be reformed and recognize the sovereignty of God in the group called the elect, or you've got to be a universalist.

Those people in between just play fast and loose with the text. It says he is able to deliver all those who through fear of death. He had a purpose. The purpose he takes on flesh he might destroy, and he might deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives.

Now, I truly believe that Christ has the power, and if it were God's will to not reveal his wrath and his judgment, his holiness against sin, God could have saved everyone if he so chose to do so. There's no limitation upon the power of Christ's sacrifice.

The issue is, what is God's intention? But there is no question about the fact that Christ has the power to deliver any person who through fear of death was enslaved their entire lives, but who is it who will turn to him?

That's the wonderful thing about accepting everything the Bible teaches. I can offer that promise to anybody. The Hyper-Calvinist says you can't offer that promise to anybody until you see evidence that they've been regenerated, as if somehow I can put on special glasses and tell that.

The Hyper-Calvinist is wrong there. But the Arminian, who thinks he has this freedom, oh, yeah, I can tell everyone God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. But the Arminian doesn't want to admit, as he also has to say, but God's already doing his best, so you're going to have to make up the rest.

He's already given you all the grace he can. Now it's all up to you. The biblical presentation is we have a Savior who can save, a deliverer who can actually deliver. And so he takes on flesh and blood, so that for the purpose that he might deliver all those who through fear of death were enslaved their entire lives.

For surely he does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the offspring of Abraham. He is not just an angelic creature. The object of the redemptive purpose is the offspring of Abraham, human beings, not just Jews, who are the offspring of Abraham according to the New Testament.

What did Paul say in Philippians? We are the true circumcision who worship God in spirit and in truth. Who are the true children of Abraham? Even as Jesus taught. You claim to be the children of Abraham.

I know that genealogically you are, but you don't do the works of Abraham. Who are the children of Abraham? Those of the same faith as Abraham, as Paul explained in Romans chapter 4. Therefore, most translations say he had to be made like his brothers.

Literally, it was necessary. This isn't just a, you know, well, you know, this is how we just chose to do it. It's no big deal. No. Literally, he had to be made. He ought. There is the concept of necessity there.

He had to be made like his brothers in order that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest regarding the things of God, so that he might make propitiation for the sins of the people. Now, once again, we're now starting to touch on, and it's been there before, but it's going to become just the regular language of Hebrews as we work through it.

We start touching on words like propitiation, sacrifice, priesthood, and here we have Jesus being introduced as this priest, a merciful and faithful high priest. It was necessary that he be made like his brothers.

Why? Why does he have to do this? In order that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. Now, again, this is all meant to evoke all sorts of images and understandings from the Old Testament that very frequently we don't possess.

The idea of the high priest, for example. You know, we might think back to Sunday school and we might think back to the pictures where we've looked at the tabernacle or we've looked at the temple and we see someone in this very peculiar dress, this very special dress.

They have the urim and the thummim and God gave the exact way in which the high priest was to be robed and how he was to wash and things like this. And we know that on the day of atonement, the high priest would go into the holiest place in the temple and he would sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat.

And this only happened on that one day and everybody outside is waiting to see if God would accept the sacrifice and all these things are extremely important. But the high priest, there was only supposed to be one at a time.

We realize during the New Testament there was more than one because the Romans were in charge and it had become a politicized position and so when one got in charge the Romans didn't really like, they'd take him out while he was still alive and put somebody else in that place.

And so there was a situation in essence in existence that was not commensurate with God's word, but the Romans weren't overly concerned about things like that. They were concerned about keeping people in there that would help to keep control over the people.

And so there was a high priest and remember, what's Hebrew's about? Come back to the old ways, come back to the old ways. Make sacrifice. Deny that Jesus and make sacrifice. Look at the high priest. Look how beautifully, resplendently he's clothed.

So the book of Hebrews is going to talk about the high priest. There's going to be a lot of comparison and contrast between that high priest who could die of disease tomorrow, get run over by a Roman centurion on his horse today, and an abiding high priest who never has to be replaced because he has an indestructible life.

So here Jesus is described as our high priest, but what kind of a high priest is he? He is merciful and faithful. Merciful and faithful. He is merciful. He doesn't have to be. He could simply bring down the law.

But he is merciful. He has experienced what we have experienced. Now I'm not saying he grades on a curve, but he, as the God-man, is able to express the essential nature of God being merciful. He is able to express this attribute of God, His mercy.

And He does so as a high priest. As we will see, He's not only the high priest, He's also the sacrifice that is offered. He's prophet. He's priest. He's king. He is the sacrifice Himself. He is the fulfillment of all of these things.

That is who Jesus is. So He partakes of flesh and blood. He's made like His brothers so that He might be a merciful high priest, an approachable high priest. But He's also a faithful one. Unlike the ones established by the Romans who could be very often politically oriented, He's faithful to His calling.

He never oversleeps. He's never weak because of the flesh. He's faithful regarding the things of God. He fulfills His duty to perfection. Remember, it will be He as this high priest who enters into the holy place in Hebrews chapter 9 to make intercession for us.

Aren't you glad that He's faithful? Would you want anyone else there? Can you think of anyone else that you would want to intercede before God for you? Anybody I can think of. The best person I know of.

They're still imperfect. They're going to be those times and they're not going to be perfectly faithful, but not Jesus. He is merciful. He is faithful as a high priest regarding the things of God. And so, He makes propitiation for the sins of the people.

That's what the high priest did. When He entered into that holy place and He sprinkled that blood upon the altar, kaphar, to propitiate, to cover. To cover over that mercy seat with blood. To cover, make propitiation for the sins of the people so that the wrath of God could be removed.

It was clearly but a picture. For every time that priest went in, every year, what did he see? But the blood that was there dried and crusted from the year before. If it was still there, why do I have to come back?

Why over and over again do I have to offer the same sacrifice? That will become one of the main themes of chapter 10. It was meant to be a picture. But He is the high priest. Since He is merciful, since He is faithful, He is able to make propitiation, a sacrifice of atonement that removes the wrath of God.

For whom? The sins of the people. When Christ is high priest, there is propitiation. Not the possibility of propitiation, but real propitiation. A real atonement. When the high priest went in the Old Testament, the Egyptians, only a few hundred miles away, was He making propitiation for them?

The Babylonians to the north, the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Moabites, the Philistines. God said, draw near. Come to My temple. Those who drew near to worship, those are the ones, the people, the congregation, the ecclesia, they are the ones whose sins are covered and propitiated.

He makes propitiation for the sins of the people. He is our faithful and merciful high priest. Very quickly, for since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

There's where His mercy is seen. That's why He is approachable. That's why the people of God can come to Him. They're not approaching some celestial being that has no concept of what our life is like.

Yes, they are approaching One who is holy and just, but He is also merciful. And because He has partaken of flesh and blood, He has met us where we are. We saw His love. We saw His patience, not only during His life, but we saw it especially in His death where He who commanded the very legions of angels restrained that power and allowed Himself to be treated as mankind treated the very sinless Son of God.

So since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tempted. We have a faithful and merciful high priest to whom we can turn for assistance and aid in time of need.

These are just the first times that the writer is going to introduce these concepts. He's going to expand upon every one. But hopefully you're beginning to see how the writer of the Hebrews takes the challenge straight on.

You want to go back to the old ways? Let me show you that the old ways, all of them, pointed to a greater fulfillment. The reason God did the things He did in those days, the way He did it was to point to a fulfillment.

And the fulfillment has come. There's nothing left to go back to. That becomes the message of this wonderful book that reveals so much to us about why it is we can truly have peace with God through what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Gospel and God's Faithfulness

Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we do indeed thank You for this tremendous revelation from Your Word. And we are so thankful that it reveals to us the harmony and consistency and beauty of Your Scriptures.

That all the way back in the days of Moses, You were laying out Your law. You were laying out the ceremonies that would point us forward to a fulfillment. And now in our day, give us evidence that You were always active in forming Your people and bringing about the Gospel by which we stand this day.

We thank You for the Gospel. We thank You for the power that it has, the message that You have preserved over all of these generations. May we live in light of its truth this week. May we live as those who truly understand the price that was paid for our redemption.

May our hearts be filled with thanksgiving. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.