Jesus’ Full Humanity – Part I
HEBREWS 2:11-18
OUR PASSAGE THIS WEEK TO BEGIN TO STUDY…
NAS Hebrews 2:11-18 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 Thy name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” 13 And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” 14 Since then 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 deliver 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, 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.
IN LAST’S WEEK’S STUDY WE READ THAT THE REDEEMED ARE “SONS OF GOD”…
NAS Hebrews 2:10 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.
IN THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE WE SEE OUR INCREDIBLE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD ALMIGHTY FURTHER DESCRIBED: ASTONISHINGLY, WE LEARN THAT AS SPIRITUAL SONS OF THE SAME SPIRITUAL FATHER, WE ARE BROTHERS WITH CHRIST!
I MUST TELL YOU, THIS PASSAGE TOOK ME BY SURPRISE. All my years study in the book of Hebrews did not fully prepare me for the considerable and lasting impact I received when I studied the passage again. I should not have been surprised. Such is the nature of regular Bible study. I should have expected to be so blessed.
VERSE 11, WHEN THOUGHT THROUGH IN ITS ENTIRETY IS STUNNING AS IT CAPTURES IN WORDS THE SCOPE OF JESUS’ FULL HUMANITY. I particularly find Montefiore’s paragraph provocative. This excellent writer has chosen to interpret the Greek word ἁγιάζων (ha-gee-odd-zo), which our English Bibles have translated “sanctifies,” “consecrates,” and which is perfectly allowable linguistically. Both words convey the ideas of setting apart, making holy. Montefiore writes…
“CONSECRATION IS A SACRIFICIAL TERM WHICH SIGNIFIES THE RESULT RATHER THAN THE MODE OF SACRIFICE. Consecration by Christ means man’s sanctification and restoration to God through the removal by Christ of impurity brought by sin. A timeless present tense is used here to describe those who are consecrated, including the saints of the old dispensation as well as Christians of the new dispensation. Jesus is here exercising a divine function since, according to the Old Testament, it is God who consecrates. He and those whom He consecrates ‘have a common parent.’”
I FIND MONTEFIORE’S COMMENTARY TO BE MOST INSIGHTFUL IN HEBREWS 2, so much so that I intend to use it almost exclusively throughout this blog.
ANYTIME YOU ARE USING THE TERM “SONS OF GOD,” OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL not to imply that every human being is a “son of god,” that the universal fatherhood of God is the reality, as our modern culture now wrongly, ignorantly, and arrogantly assumes. The truth is only genuine believers are legitimately sons of God.
“JESUS TOO IS THE SON OF GOD, BUT IN A SPECIAL SENSE. He has a special and unique relationship with His Father.” – Montefiore
UPON HEARING IN HEBREWS 11 BELIEVERS BEING REFERRED AS BROTHERS OF THE LORD MAY THINK RIGHTLY THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME. In the gospels, for instance, there are two memorable passages…
NAS Matthew 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.”
NAS John 20:17 Jesus said to her (Mary Magdalene, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'”
THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS, HOWEVER, CHOOSES TO MAKE HIS POINT ABOUT JESUS AND HIS BRETHREN NOT FROM THE GOSPELS BUT FROM THE INSPIRED WORDS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Learning as we are how very Jewish the book of Hebrews is should not surprise us. Here he has chosen Psalm 22:23 as his proof text:
NAS Psalm 22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
“THIS PSALM HAS LEFT A VERY DEEP IMPRESSION UPON THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Originally it was applied to the to the passion of Jesus, and the gospel accounts of the distribution of Jesus’ clothes at Calvary, the attitude of the onlookers and the taunts, which were thrown at Him all bear the marks of Psalm 22’s influence. Later in this Epistle Psalm 22:5 may have influenced the descript of Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane (v. 7). The writer of Hebrews has no qualms in assigning the words of this messianic psalm to Jesus, and in this he follows the tradition of the early church.” – Montefiore
PSALM 22 STARTS WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A RIGHTEOUS MARTYR, AND GOES ON TO DESCRIBE THE VINDICATION THAT HE RECEIVES AT GOD’S HANDS. Jesus is quoted as saying in Hebrews 2:12,
NAS Hebrews 2:12 saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.”
COMPARE THIS TO PSALM 22:22…
NAS Psalm 22:22 I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee.
THERE IS ALSO AN ILLUMINATING O.T. CONNECTION FROM HEBREWS 2:12-13 TO ISAIAH 8:17…
NAS Isaiah 8:17 And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.
“I WILL WAIT” IS AN EXPRESSION OF FAITH. In the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, v. 2, we read this about Jesus and faith…
NAS Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“FAITH IMPLIES HUMAN FRAILTY; IT SIGNIFIES DEPENDENCE, and Jesus shows His kinship (His full humanity – TAR) with His brethren by declaring His faith in God,” – Montefiore
NAS Hebrews 2:13 And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”
IN HEBREWS 2:13 ISAIAH 8:18 IS ALSO QUOTED…
NAS Isaiah 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
THE COMMENTATOR MONTEFIORE RIGHTLY POINTS OUT THAT THIS VERSE IS A TEXT THAT CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS’ JESUS’ KINSHIP WITH HIS FOLLOWERS: “The Son of God is regarded as the speaker; and in His keeping are placed the children of God. The Son and the children are both members to the same family.”
PSALM 22 IS SO CENTRAL TO THIS PASSAGE IN HEBREWS 2, SUCH A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING JUST WHO THIS JESUS OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS IS, THAT I HAVE QUOTED IT IN FULL…
NAS Psalm 22:1-31 For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David . My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. 2 O my God, I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. 3 Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 4 In Thee our fathers trusted; They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. 5 To Thee they cried out, and were delivered; In Thee they trusted, and were not disappointed. 6 But I am a worm, and not a man, A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, 8 “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.” 9 Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. 10 Upn Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother’s womb. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 13 They open wide their mouth at me, As a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And Thou dost lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; 18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But Thou, O LORD, be not far off; O Thou my help, hasten to my assistance. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion’s mouth; And from the horns of the wild oxen Thou dost answer me. 22 I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. 25 From Thee comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s, And He rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive. 30 Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. 31 They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
THESE OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES IN HEBREWS 2 SERVE, “SAYS LANE, ‘TO STRESS THAT JESUS IDENTIFIES HIMSELF WITH THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH IN HIS ABSOLUTE TRUST AND DEPENDENCE UPON GOD,’ a thought calculated to assure afflicted believers that they too could ‘trust God in difficult circumstances’”. – Andrews
DRAWING UPON THE HISTORICAL SITUATION AT THE TIME, THIS INCREDIBLE PASSAGE IN HEBREWS SPEAKS TO US TODAY OF THE CHANGELESS INTIMACY WE SHARE WITH OUR LORD.
DIVINE PROPHECY OF A LOVING GOD BECOMING MAN IN FULL HUMANITY TO DIE FOR HIS BRETHREN – US! Stunning to behold from the pages of Scripture and our own thoughts…
I CAME ACROSS THIS LINE IN MY READING TODAY THAT SPEAKS BEAUTIFULLY OF THIS CHANGELESS INTIMACY: “Like an elder brother in the midst of a circle of younger children, the Captain of their salvation can teach them the lessons of faith along the pathway of suffering.” – Zane Hodges
“JESUS IS NOW THE REPRESENTATIVE HEAD OF A NEW HUMANITY WHICH IS BEING LED TO GLORY THROUGH SUFFERING, Although the concept of the people of God as ‘the children’ of the exalted son is not found elsewhere in the NT, the image of the family suggests an intimacy of relationship and a tenderness that broadens the concept of solidarity.” – Lane
NAS Hebrews 2:14-15 Since then 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 deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
MACARTHUR IS ONE COMMENTATOR THAT POINTS OUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD “SHARE” IN V. 14. It is such a perfect word in this passage of brotherhood. I think MacArthur’s comments here are excellent. He writes, “It is from the Greek κοινωνέω (koi-no-nee-ah), meaning to have fellowship, communion, or partnership. It involves having something in common with others. All human beings have flesh and blood. In this we are all alike. It is our common nature. But ‘partook’ is from a very different word, μετέσχεν (may-tes-ken), which has to do with taking hold of something that is not naturally one’s own kind. We by nature are flesh and blood; Christ was not. Yet He willingly took hold of something which did not naturally belong to Him. He added to Himself our nature in order that He might die in our place, and that we might take hold of the divine nature that did not belong to us (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).”
THAT’S HEAVY! THAT’S BEAUTIFUL!
NAS 2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE. Before Christ we were slaves of Satan. In order for us to be brought to God, Satan’s power over us had to be broken. Only God through Christ could break that power. What was Satan’s main power? Death. What about sin, you ask? Sin only gives Satan his power over us; the power itself is death.
NAS 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
“THROUGH HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION CHRIST HAS ROBBED THE DEVIL OF HIS POWER TO CONTROL THE DESTINIES OF THE ELECT.” – Andrews
NAS Colossians 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
HOW CAN CHRIST, WHO IS GOD, DIE?
“THAT IS A PUZZLE WHICH EVEN THE ANGELS COULD NOT SOLVE. BUT THE SON OF GOD SOLVED IT BY BECOMING FLESH AND BLOOD. He took upon Himself our humanity which, even in perfection, was doomed to die (as happened to Adam and Eve).” – Steadman
“’TIS MYSTERY ALL, THE IMMORTAL DIES!
WHO CAN EXPLORE THAT STRANGE DESIGN?
IN VAIN THE FIRST-BORN SERAPH TRIES
TO SOUND THE DEPTHS OF LOVE DIVINE!” – Charles Wesley (“And Can It Be?”)
THE FINAL VERSE WE WILL LOOK AT IN THIS BLOG IS V. 16…
NAS Hebrews 2:16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.
AS THIS VERSE CLEARLY STATES, CHRIST DID NOT ASSUME FULL HUMANITY IN ORDER TO HELP ANGELS BUT MEN.
“WHEN THE SON OF GOD, THE CREATOR AND LORD OF ANGELS, HUMBLED HIMSELF, HE PASSED OVER THE ANGELIC ESTATE AND STOOPED LOWER STILL, BECOMING MAN FOR MEN’S SALVATION.
“NOT OF ANGELS BUT OF MEN DOES HE TAKE HOLD; the Greek verb is the same as that used in Ch. 8:9, where God recalls how He ‘took hold’ of His people Israel by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, and in both places the ‘taking hold’ carries with it the idea of help and deliverance.” – Bruce
NAS Hebrews 8:9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
THE REPEATED MENTION OF ANGELS IN THE OPENING CHAPTERS OF HEBREWS BEARS WITNESS TO THE POINT THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE, namely, that the Jews possessed an exalted opinion of angels, an opinion that exceeded even the high station given them by the Scriptures.
“CHRIST DID NOT COME TO REDEEM ANGELS BUT MEN. SO HE TOOK ON HIMSELF THE FORM OF ABRAHAM’S DESCENDENTS AND BECAME A JEW. ‘How odd of God to choose the Jews, someone has quipped. We wonder why He chose them and not some other race or nation on whom to show His special favor. But if He had chosen some other group, we would ask the same question about them. He simply chose them in His sovereign will out of love,” – MacArthur
NAS Deuteronomy 7:7-8 “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
IN THESE FINAL VERSES OF HEBREWS 2 I WOULD HUMBLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU NOTE ESPECIALLY THE SEEMINGLY MUNDANE WORDS “THAT,” “IN ORDER TO,” AND “FOR,” conjunctions and a preposition in the Greek text that point to and underscore Jesus’ loving purpose in assuming His full humanity. He was born as a sacrifice to die for us, His brethren, that we might live! This is the message of chapter 2, verses 11-18.
PRAISE HIS BLESSED NAME!
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
