Hebrews 2:10-18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)^[1]

10 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. 11 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, 12 saying,

“I will proclaim Your name to My brethren,

In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

13 And again,

“I will put My trust in Him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”

14 Therefore, since 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, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 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.

The Father Sent The Son

Last week we saw that The Father sent Jesus to be a human so He would win victory over sin.  This week we will see that it was necessary for Jesus to be human so He could share this victory with us.

In the preacher’s discussion of Christ’s incarnation he covers 3 primary themes about Jesus.

First he tells us of the appropriateness of His suffering. This suffering culminated with His death on the cross.  We see this in verse 10 in the phrase for it was fitting.

Second he tells us the implications of Christ’s incarnation.  These are the benefits to us as believers.  These benefits are the reason Jesus came.

Third he tells us the necessity of Christ’s incarnation.  Here the preacher stresses the importance that Jesus must be made human in order to complete His task.

The Appropriateness of the Son’s Suffering

Let’s look at the appropriateness of the Son’s suffering in verse 10.

I am going to read this from the Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament.

I think the wording of this translation is a little easier to understand than the NASB.

10 For it was appropriate that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the champion of their salvation perfect through suffering.^[2]

Here we see the Father is bringing many sons to glory.  

The first thing we see here is that the father is restoring us to the position we lost when Adam sinned.  This is an act of restoration that is for many sons not all sons.  In other words this restoration is not for all humankind in general.  It is only available to those who receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.

How does He do this? He does this through Christ’s suffering.

Verse 10 says it was fitting or appropriate that He should make the author or champion of our salvation perfect through suffering.

I want to read 2 quotes from Hebrews: The NIV Application Commentary by George H. Guthrie.

First Quote:

Archegon (rendered “author” by the NIV) can be translated “trailblazer” or “guide,” emphasizing the Son’s role in bringing the new covenant people to glory. However, the word might be translated better by “champion”—the preacher using the idea of the divine hero common in the ancient Greek world. For example, Hercules was called “champion” (archegos) and “savior” (soter). If this is the author’s intention, it is comparable to a modern preacher saying Jesus is “the real superman,” as crass as that might sound. It was simply a way of expressing a meaningful analogy that Jesus has come to our rescue.^[3]

Second Quote:

"In Jewish literature the idea of perfection is applied at times to death as the completion or seal of life. 4 Perfection in Hebrews has to do with fully completing a course, making it to the end of God’s plan. That Jesus was made “perfect through suffering,” therefore, connotes his full obedience to his mission of death on the cross and, perhaps, the adequacy of that act for bringing the children of God to glory."^[4]

So it is appropriate for Jesus to become our guide in life by first becoming fully human and walking in obedience to The Father in everything.  

The Implications of His Incarnation

11 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,

Here the preacher stresses the importance of understanding that the one who sanctifies and the ones sanctified are from 1 source, namely The Father.

In his Sermon in Athens Paul tells them how we all came from one man Adam.

Acts 17:26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,^[5]

In 1 Corinthians 15:45 Paul tells us “So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”^[6]

Even though Jesus existed long before the world began He was not the first man.  Adam was.  And every human being since, came from Adam.  Remember God made Eve from Adam’s rib.  Every other human being had to be born including Jesus.  

That is why we celebrate Christmas.  That is why the preacher says He is not ashamed to call them brethren in verse 10.

So one implication of Christ’s incarnation is we are His brethren that is we have gained a family.

In verses 12 & 13 the preacher quotes Psalm 22:22 and Isaiah 8:17b–18 to support this implication that Jesus came to make us His brethren.

12 saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

Psalm 22:22 says “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.”

Psalm 22 is probably the most powerful and comprehensive of prophecies about the crucifixion.  Here are just a few of the phrases from Psalm 22 that relate to the crucifixion. ^[7]

In Matthew 27:46 Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

Psalm 22:7,8 says: “All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, ‘Commit yourself to the Lord; (O)let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.’” ^[8]  We see these fulfilled in Matthew chapter 27 verses 39 and 43

Psalm 22:16 says “They pierced my hands and my feet.” which we see in John 19:37

When the preacher uses Psalm 22:22 to remind us that Jesus restored us to the family of God he is also picking this verse very carefully to remind us just how much it cost to do this.

In verse 13 he continues:

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

This is a quote starting at the last part if Isaiah 8:17 and continuing into the first part of verse 18:I am quoting the New International Version  “I will put my trust in him.  18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.”^[9] 

So we see the cost of suffering to restore us to the family and following is a unity he has with us.  This is a unity of trust because we are the children the Father has given to Christ.

So far the implications of His incarnation are

1 Verse 11: We have gained a family (We are His brethren).

2 Verse 13: We have been given to Christ (The Father has given us to Jesus).

The Necessity of His Incarnation

In verses 14-16 we see the necessity of His incarnation.  As the preacher tells us why it was necessary for Jesus to become human to accomplish His work he will also add to this list of implications he started in verse 11.

14 Therefore, since 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,

Revelation 20: 14 says “14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”^[10]

This is the power of death that the devil has.  The death that means eternal separation from God.  

Hebrews 2:14 says “that is is that Jesus participated in flesh and blood and tasted death for us to render the devil’s grip on us powerless.”^[11]

It is clear here that Christ’s death accomplished this not His resurrection.

In verses 17 and 18 we are going to see that when Jesus died on the cross, He did so to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  This sacrifice was to pay the full price for our sins.  

When we look back at Hebrews 1 and see The Father raising Jesus up and inviting Him to sit at His right hand we see that the Father accepted that sacrifice as payment in full.

Here is another implication of His incarnation.

3 Verse 14: He tasted death for us: (satan no longer has the power of death over us)

Hebrews 2:15 “and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”^[12] 

Hebrews 2:15 lists 2 more implications of His incarnation.

4 Verse 14-15 satan’s power is broken: (we don’t need to fear)

5 Verse 15 We don’t need to fear: (we are no longer slaves)

Hebrews 2:16 “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.”^[13]

I am going to quote from Hebrews: The NIV Application Commentary by George H. Guthrie.

"In 2: 16 the author follows this statement of proclamation with an explanation . The Son helps “Abraham’s descendants ”— not angels. This verse begins with “for surely” (gar depou), meaning something to the effect “for as we well know.” The congregation, having been exposed to early Christian doctrine (6: 1– 3), would have understood that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was not for angels, but for those who inherit the promises of Abraham (6: 13– 17)."^[14]

The word translated descendant in the NASB is sperma or seed so the logic here is by becoming Abraham’s seed He is able to help Abraham’s seed.

Galatians 3:16 says this “ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.”^[15]

There are 2 things going on here.

First: Jesus had to become Abraham’s seed in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham.

Second: Jesus only helps Abraham’s seed or descendants.  There is a very important implication to His incarnation here.

6 Verse 16: He only helps Abraham’s seed: (Therefore he makes us Abraham’s seed when we trust in Him)

The Preacher’s Conclusion

Hebrews 2:17-18 “17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  18 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.”^[16]

Here the preacher is wrapping this all up by saying that Jesus had to be like His brethren in order become a merciful and faithful high priest.

Jesus is the merciful high priest because He became like us to perform the only sacrifice that would be acceptable to the Father.  This sacrifice is what made propition for our sins.

Jesus is the faithful high priest in that He was tempted in all points like us He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Remember He could not come to our aid if He is not risen from the dead.

In closing I want to go over the implications of His incarnation one last time.

1 Verse 11: We have gained a family (We are His brethren).

2 Verse 13: We have been given to Christ (The Father has given us to Jesus).

3 Verse 14: He tasted death for us: (satan no longer has the power of death over us)

4 Verses 14-15 satan’s power is broken: (we don’t need to fear)

5 Verse 15 We don’t need to fear: (we are no longer slaves)

6 Verse 16: He only helps Abraham’s seed: (Therefore he makes us Abraham’s seed when we trust in Him)

7 verses 17-18: We have a merciful and faithful high priest: (He will always help us).