Our Brother and Champion able to help us when tempted

The reading today is Hebrews chapter 2, verse 5 to 18.

Hebrews 2:5–18

He left nothing outside his control.

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him, for who

a little while was made lower than angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour

because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for

everyone.

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons

to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name

to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation, 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.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of

the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death,

that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong

slavery.

For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a

merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the signs

of the people.

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Well, good morning, everyone.

So, the letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage Christians whose practical experience

of living as Christians was not in any way, shape, or form what they'd expected.

Obviously, the readers, the background of the readers was that they were Jewish.

But they had turned their back on their old, age-old Jewish religion when they had encountered

Jesus.

They were convinced, of course, like all Christians are, that acceptance with God and heaven was

only possible through Jesus.

But all in identification with Jesus had resulted, it would appear, in personal hardship, which was

unexpected and for many unacceptable.

Now, I want you just to come with me for a minute as we try and imagine their excitement

as they come to Jesus.

They've just embraced the concept of once-for-all forgiveness.

New acceptance by God.

A new forever relationship with God.

New certainty of heaven in the future.

And all of that as a free gift of God's generosity to them.

And on top of that, freedom from the day-in, day-out religious rituals that had marked their lives

to that point in time.

It's easy to imagine how they assumed, therefore, in their excitement that that meant being in

Jesus would mean they would live happily ever after.

But their practical experience was very different.

Taking a stand for Jesus, they soon realized, put them at odds with, and even found them excluded

from, their biological family and their wider clan, which was big in a Jewish context.

More than that, they may well have found themselves at odds with or excluded from, their local community.

Life was just getting really hard.

And then out on top of that, Emperor Nero brought in persecution.

From Nero, the Roman Empire tended to blame everything that was wrong in the world on the Christians.

And so, increasingly, Christians were being arrested.

There was already rumors flying around of many having been beaten.

And yes, some even having been killed.

Their property, if not when this was written, certainly a few years after, was being confiscated.

Their right to work was being restricted or removed.

Some of these Christians ended up in poverty.

The result?

We can well understand them saying, hang on a minute.

All that excitement about Jesus, that's wonderful.

But I didn't sign up for this.

New life in Jesus is not what I assumed it would be, is not what I expected it to be.

And probably, if I was being honest in the depth of my soul, is not what I demand it to be.

Now, from that point, if you're with me in the imagination, from that point, it's not hard then to imagine these Christians starting to look for some ways to ease their circumstance.

And obviously, they started to think about toning down their identity in Jesus.

Or some of them might have been starting to think about walking away altogether and walking back into the Jewish religious way of doing it because the Romans were quite happy to accept the Jewish religious system.

They started to think, well, maybe because there's not total disconnection between age-old Jewish religion, Judaism, and Christianity.

Maybe we can work a blend.

Maybe we can do something that we can still hang on to Jesus in a fashion, but will be acceptable with our family again.

Will be acceptable in our local community again.

Will be acceptable in the Roman Empire again.

And life will settle down.

So the challenge of the letter of Hebrews is repeated.

Don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus because serving him in a hostile world is really hard.

And the way I've tried to set up the scenario, you should be able to see what it means to drift away.

It just starts and you think, well, maybe I could do this and that.

And by drifting, you wake up one morning and you find you're kilometers away from where you thought you were or where you started.

And I think in those terms, we understand what it is to drift away from Jesus.

When life gets hard for us, we automatically start thinking about ways we can make life easier.

The writer encourages these anxious believers, and they are anxious.

And you can understand why they're anxious.

You can encourage them to remember who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

In other words, remember what caused you to respond to Jesus in the first place.

And in chapter 1, verse 1 through to chapter 2, verse 4, I'm just going to try and recap and bring the argument forward with me.

The writer walks them through some key elements of Judaism.

Contrasting what Judaism or the old Jewish religious practices offered against Jesus.

And the point is that there's nothing to go back to.

Jesus effectively stamped the old Jewish religion, Judaism.

He stamped it past its use by day.

And that he is the key to the good life.

Now, in Judaism, prophets, priests, kings and angels had a huge part in God's plan of salvation.

That's what was worked out in the history of Israel.

But we're led into this argument in Hebrews with the fact that Jesus is God.

And because Jesus is God, he's in a category of his own in terms of status, authority in God's work.

His part in God's salvation plan.

His achievement.

And when you put those things together, Jesus has done more than all of the prophets, all of the priests, all of the kings, all of the angels in some.

That's how unique Jesus is.

That's the argument of Hebrews.

He's the best prophet ever.

Chapter 1, verses 1-4.

He reveals God's word with a clarity and authority like no other prophet before him.

He's the best king ever.

Modeling God's character of justice and mercy and subduing the unruly hearts of his rebellious people like no other king before him.

And he's the best priest ever.

He finally sorts the problems of his people's sin.

He finally makes them acceptable to God.

And then consistently prays for their spiritual well-being, which was one of the key jobs of a priest.

And he does all that like no other priest before him.

The argument continues then, verse 5 through to the end of chapter 1.

He's even in a category of his own in terms of comparison and contrast with angels.

Vastly superior even to angels.

Those incredibly powerful messengers of God tasked with implementing every part of God's salvation plan in history.

Compare and contrast.

Well, they were created beings.

Jesus was their creator.

They followed God's orders in implementing God's purposes.

Jesus gives the orders.

Jesus gives the orders.

Jesus gives the orders.

So, given all that, chapter 2, verses 1-4, given all that, the writer's saying to these anxious Christians,

don't allow yourself to drift away from Jesus.

Remember who he is.

Remember what he's done.

Remember the thing that attracted you to Jesus in the first place.

Don't allow yourself to start thinking that you can blend in with this world.

while still being religious and doing religious things and still hang on to Jesus in some shape or form.

Don't think that you can live a life driven by avoidance of ridicule and hostility.

Don't think that that's preferable to a strong identification with Jesus,

even though the latter will bring you trouble.

It will also bring you life.

And then the writer continues in our section this morning, chapter 2, verses 5-18.

The writer, I think, anticipates the response of his readers at this point in time.

I think it would go something like this.

Now, this is my reading into the text, so if you don't like it, then just ignore it.

But tune in after I finish this, because I do have other things to say.

So, it goes something like this.

Well, thank you very much.

We really appreciate being reminded of how majestic Jesus is.

His unique authority, his power as ruler of God's world.

His centrality to God's big picture salvation plan in history.

We really appreciate all that.

But I'm still stuck on this question.

Does he really understand my daily struggle, my daily suffering as a believer?

Does he understand how hard it is to have all-in identification with Jesus?

Does he care for me?

Now, the next sentence is the big theme.

So, if you don't take anything else away this morning, take this away with you.

His encouragement in these verses is Jesus does know and care.

In fact, the argument is, you guys have been rabbiting on about angels.

Well, let me tell you, Jesus is far more close to us than angels could ever be.

Why?

Because Jesus has shared our situation.

He's shared our humanity.

Therefore, he knows exactly how we feel.

He knows our daily needs.

And he is the best placed person to help us in our struggles.

That's the big picture of where I'm going this morning in the next few minutes.

So, let's jump into verse 5 then.

And it talks there about the world to come.

It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

Now, just a little note there to make sure you're on board on the right page here.

It's the world of which we've been speaking.

That is, not some vague future time, but it's the edge of salvation that has been mentioned in verse 3.

It's the new world order of the gospel, which had already begun in Jesus, described in chapter 1, verse 2, as these last days.

So, what he's about to say now about Jesus, comparison and contrast, that's how the whole letter works, is applicable to us now.

United with Jesus, believers are experiencing now God's future.

And what is that future?

Well, it's created and defined by Jesus' identification with his died-for people.

And that is something far more personal than angels could ever deliver.

Two main points.

Jesus is our purpose-built trailblazer, verses 6 through to 9.

Now, a trailblazer, for those who, it's very obvious, I think, from the word itself.

A trailblazer is someone who sort of pushes into uncharted territory, wilderness territory,

and does the hard work of cutting out a track.

So, before there's just jungle, impenetrable, scary, darkness, lostness,

trailblazer goes through and cuts a track.

And there it is.

The comparison is so clear, isn't it?

And everyone then who follows the trailblazer

can, on the one hand, be perfectly thankful

for the one who's gone ahead of them and done all the hard work.

But they can be perfectly thankful also because they get the benefits of that hard work

and the safety of following a clear-cut track.

Well, Jesus is our trailblazer.

He came into our world as an image-bearer or a human like us.

Now, there's lots I could do with that verse,

but I'm just going to have to keep moving and just do a sort of summary.

What does that mean?

Well, it means that nobody understands us better than one who's like us.

Jesus isn't just as it were talking down to us from up there.

He's actually been down and dirty with us.

Nobody understands us better than Jesus.

Our feelings, our fears, our specific needs

as we struggle to serve Him daily.

And angels, again, by contrast,

angels for all their involvement in God's world,

and it was clear that they had a massive involvement in God's world.

But they cannot feel for God's people as Jesus feels for them.

Why?

Because angels, in a sense, have only observed God's world from the outside.

They've not experienced it from the inside, as has Jesus.

Nobody, therefore, can have more empathy towards us

or for us, however empathy is expressed, than Jesus.

He lived as a true image bearer or human for us.

So He came to be like us, and then He lived for us.

He actually did perfectly what God always intended His image bearers to do,

but were never able to do because of sin.

Humans were created to rule over God's world

as God's representative,

as expressed in the theology of Psalm 8,

which is quoted here.

But sin or rebellion just never, ever happened as God intended.

Not even close.

Well, Jesus fulfilled God's original intention

in terms of His image bearers, His humankind.

He models perfectly how to live in God's world.

Even more, He models perfectly how to live in a rebellious world.

A hostile world.

He models how to live as God intended us

to live as His image bearers.

And the third thing Jesus does,

He restored true image-bearing humanity in us.

So He's like us.

He's lived for us.

But He does more than just model the good life to us.

He transforms our humanity.

Jesus renews us from the inside out,

putting His Spirit within us.

It's mentioned in chapter 2.

At the end of chapter 1, right?

Chapter 1, verse...

It's mentioned in chapter 2, verse 4.

Somewhere before, anyway.

He puts His Spirit within us

to enable us to live the good life of obedience.

And He gives us the privilege in Him

as a true humanity

of sharing in the rule of God's world with Him.

And also, verse 8 and 9,

also sharing in the reward of glory and honor

in heaven forever.

Remember...

That's who Jesus is.

That's what Jesus has done for us

and is doing in us.

And here's the application.

And all of that,

behind the scenes, as it were,

because it's not all evident

in our daily circumstances,

but all of that is true.

All of that is happening.

All of that has already happened

in the background,

if you want to put it in those terms.

Even as the world despises,

rejects, and ridicules us

for our identification in Jesus.

There's the contrast.

When we feel so abandoned,

so alone, so cut off for Jesus,

we need to remind ourselves

that it's not possible

to be closer to Him

than what we are.

Second point,

Jesus is our personal champion.

Verses 10 through to verse 18.

Verse 11,

He's described there,

it's one of the lovely verses

in the Bible.

Verse 10, it is.

For it was fitting that He,

that's Jesus,

for whom and by whom

all things exist

in bringing many sons to glory,

should make the founder

of their salvation

perfect through suffering.

So I read that long.

For it was He,

that is God,

the Father,

for whom and by whom

all things exist

in bringing many sons to glory,

should make the founder

of their salvation

perfect through suffering.

Jesus is described

as the founder

of our salvation.

Other words that could be used

there would be

the author of our salvation.

Some translations use that word.

Personally,

I like the idea

of the word champion.

And it fits

with the semantics

of the word.

To be someone's champion

is to be totally

identified with them.

Totally committed

to their well-being.

and acting

for their good

no matter

the personal cost.

These anxious Christians

need to remember

that Jesus

is their champion.

Not just

a majestic king

and lord

and ruler of the world,

but He is their

personal champion.

He's bringing

all His power,

all His knowledge,

all His love

to bear

on their circumstances

for their good.

He's got a single-minded

focus

on family.

It's in there.

What's His purpose

in coming into this world?

To bring many sons

to glory.

I love that phrase.

When Jesus

came into the world

on His

salvation rescue mission,

it was never

just a job.

It was never

just a formal

assignment.

For Jesus,

it was personal.

It was family

who were in trouble,

and it was

family

in trouble

that He came

to help.

And it was family

He determined

to renew

so that He could

set them apart

for lives

lived for God

as they were

intended to be lived.

It was for family

that Jesus

took upon Himself

huge cost

even to death.

confidence

confident

that God

would reward

His actions

by opening

the door of heaven

to all His

died-for people.

So the champion,

as it were,

if you could visualize this,

would march in

with all those

people He championed

following in His wake.

And three passages

from the Old Testament

pick that up.

There's a whole

bit to say

about how the

writer to the Hebrew

actually uses

those passages

from the Old Testament,

but there's too much

to talk about that

here now.

I can talk to you

about that some other

time if you want to.

Essentially,

there's three passages

here from the Old Testament

used by the writer

of the letter

to the Hebrews

that picks up

the family nature

of Jesus' focus.

Sons,

daughters,

children.

Friends,

you can't get

a closer connection

than a family connection.

Some would argue

you can't get

a greater concern

than a broad-based

family concern.

We often say

that a mom or a dad

would do anything

to protect their child

and to keep them safe.

We know that

has its limits

in human terms,

but it's a good picture

here, isn't it?

Jesus was prepared

to do what was

necessary to be done

for the family,

his family.

nobody is more committed

to the well-being

of his people

than Jesus.

Not sparing himself

because he wanted

to free them

from fear.

We'll say a little bit more

about that in a minute.

Fear from,

fear of death.

He wanted to guarantee

that they'll get home

to heaven.

He wanted them

to rest in that security,

in the toughness

of life,

to just be able

to say,

to settle their anxiety,

he will bring me

as his son

home to glory.

He will bring me

as his daughter

home to glory.

And friends,

all that proves

that Jesus

is perfectly

skipped a point,

I have to go back.

Jesus was uniquely

qualified to fight

and defeat

our key enemies,

verses 14 through to 17.

Rebellion reduces,

or rebellion or sin,

reduces people

to being helpless,

terrified victims

of Satan

or the devil.

That's picked up

in these verses

14 onwards.

Now here's how it works.

Death is a direct

consequence

of sin.

God said,

where a person sins,

a person has to die.

Satan

gladly plays

on that reality

in a way

that enslaves

people to fear

for the whole

of their life.

Fear of what?

Fear of death,

which is fear

of God's wrath

and that final

accounting,

fear of condemnation.

Determined to rescue

his people,

that is,

covering all those

bases I've just mentioned,

determined to shield

his people

from God's wrath,

determined to pay

the penalty

of their rebellion

in full,

so that Satan

could no longer

accuse them

of being guilty,

guilty,

guilty.

And giving his people

the righteousness

they need

to be acceptable

to God,

so that God

looks at them

and says,

yes,

you are perfectly

righteous,

you are welcome

into my heaven

forever.

to be able

to do that,

the argument here

for the writer

of Hebrews

is that Jesus

had to become

like his guilty

people in every

way,

in every respect,

verse 17.

Why?

Well,

only a sinless

person could

step in

as a champion

and act

on behalf

of sinful

people.

The same

idea

is also

in verse 10.

Jesus

was made

perfect,

not in the

sense that

he was

imperfect

beforehand,

as it's

something

deficient

in Jesus,

but he was

made perfect

in the sense

that he

needed to

become a

true human

experiencing

life,

temptation

to disobedience,

suffering.

He needed

to experience

all of that

to be

properly

qualified

for every

aspect of

his rescue

mission.

And such

is his

commitment

to his

people

that he

willingly

took all

of that

shame

and humiliation

on,

ultimately

to take

sin itself

upon his

shoulders

and become

sin,

so his

people could

be freed

from

infernal

accusations

of guilt

and lifetime

slavery

to fear

of having

to face

God's

accusations

and condemnations

when we die.

It's all been

dealt with.

There is no

fear.

And all of that

proves that

Jesus is

perfectly

qualified to

help us

and represent

us before

God

in the last

two verses.

Now,

priests

had two

jobs.

One was

to offer

sacrifice

for sin,

to make

sure that

the relationship

between God

and his

dirty people

was continuous.

Another really

important job

that often

doesn't get

mentioned

is that the

priest was

responsible to

pray for his

people and

advocate for

them before

God.

He was

to pray for

them in

their struggle

to live

faithfully

because he

knew as a

priest that

he'd be doing

more sacrifices

tomorrow for

the same sins

as he did

sacrifices for

yesterday.

Nobody knows

the power of

temptation.

temptation to

turn away

from obedience

and find an

easier pathway

in life

more than

Jesus.

Just think

of Jesus

in the

garden

on the

eve of

his

crucifixion.

Nobody knows

the debilitating

fear that

comes with

the prospect

of suffering

and cruel

torturous

death

better than

Jesus.

Jesus'

own encounter

with a

sinful

hostile

world and

the suffering

of death

means he

is perfectly

placed to

understand,

to pray

for,

and to

help you

and me

in our

daily

struggles.

He knows

what it's

like and

he cares.

So,

I wrap up

with just

a thought

to challenge

you for

the week

ahead.

What have

you been

saying to

yourself

as you

face your

situation

each day?

Paul Tripp

and others

use this

idea so

it's not,

I'm not

claiming it's

new to me.

The point is

this,

each of us

is constantly

in conversation

with ourselves.

We tell

ourselves how

to think,

how to feel,

how to react

to external

circumstances.

So,

what have you

been saying

to yourself

on the one

hand about

your circumstances

and on the

other hand

what have you

been saying

to yourself

about Jesus?

And what have

you been saying

to yourself

in terms

of bringing

those two

together?

What have

you been

saying to

yourself

about who

Jesus is?

What have

you been

saying to

yourself

about the

value of

identifying

with him

even if it

brings hostility

and rejection

and ridicule?

Each of us

preach some

sort of

gospel to

ourselves

every day.

Have you

been preaching

a gospel

to yourself

that heightens

your fear

and encourages

you to

distance yourself

from Jesus

thinking,

well,

okay,

if I can

just keep

my head

down,

if I can

just blend

in,

then life

will be

good.

Or have

you been

preaching

the gospel

of Jesus

who's been

there before

you,

who's blazed

the trail

of suffering

and death,

who knows

how you

feel,

who's

committed

to helping

you because

he wants

to make

sure he

brings you

home to

glory.

A gospel

like that

which gives

courage,

trust,

confidence,

and hope

to step

in

to

trouble.

Have you

been preaching

a gospel

to yourself

in which

Jesus is

remote,

perhaps

unaware of

your situation

or aware

but uncaring

of your

situation?

Have you

been preaching

that sort of

gospel to

yourself or

have you been

preaching the

gospel of

Jesus who

is closer

to you,

more committed

to you,

more active

for you

than anyone

or anything

else in this

world because

he's taken

you as a

son or

daughter home

to glory.

This week,

like last

week,

when it

feels as if

nobody

understands

your fears,

failures,

if they

were known

by those

around you,

would just

destroy you,

when your

pain just

rises up

and grabs

you around

the throat

and threatens

to throttle

you,

will you

preach

the Jesus

of Hebrews

such that

you rest

in him

rather than

panic.

Well,

thank you

very much

for listening

to me.

Thank you.