Hebrews 2

CHAPTER 2THEME: Humanity of ChristAfter seeing the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 1, we come to the humiliation of Christ in chapter 2. He became a man, and when He did, He became lower than the angels. He was created a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary and took upon Himself our humanity. Therefore, Christ is the revealer of God, and He is the representative of man. We are going to find out two things about Christ in the Book of Hebrews: (1) He reveals God to man; and (2) He represents man before God. I have a representative in heaven; I have someone there who represents me. I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling that in my state capital and in my national capital those who are elected to represent me are not representing me at all. They are all out for themselves and their own little pet programs, and it doesn’t make much difference to them what happens to the public. The only time they are interested in me is when I vote, and then I become the darling of the politicians. Then you and I are the intelligent public who cannot go wrong, provided we vote for them! It is wonderful to have a representative before God, one who does represent us. It is good to know that we have somebody there for us because Scripture tells us that Satan, the accuser of the brethren, has access to God and accuses us before God day and night (see Rev_12:10). Satan could tell God some pretty bad things about us, and so I am thankful I have a representative in heaven. First we saw Christ higher than the angels, because He is God. Now we see Him become lower than the angels. He was made in the likeness of man, and we see here His humanity. There are six danger signals in the Book of Hebrews. They are warnings to the people of Israel that they fail not to enter into the full blessings which God has provided through Christ. These six danger signals can be likened to highway markers to warn the reader. These danger signals are as follows: Peril of drifting, Heb_2:1-4 Peril of doubting, Heb. 3:7-4:2 Peril of dull hearing, Heb_5:11-14 Peril of departing, Heb_6:1-20 Peril of despising, Heb_10:26-39 Peril of denying, Heb_12:15-29 There are two places in which a believer can live. He can live in the desert and have a wilderness experience, or he can enter into the blessings of God by spiritually crossing the Jordan River. We find the example of this in Israel. God warned them at Kadesh-barnea that they would miss His full blessings if they failed to enter into the land. Now I have literally crossed the Jordan River, and it wasn’t pleasant at all. I was on a bus that stopped five times, and by the time we got to the Allenby Bridge I was so disgusted I didn’t know whether I even wanted to cross the Jordan River. As we drove over it, I looked at that little muddy stream and thanked God that I had crossed the spiritual Jordan in Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection. That is, I had been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him in newness of life. That is what is meant by a Christian crossing the Jordan. Joshua literally led the children of Israel across the Jordan. Christ spiritually leads the ones who believe in Him across the Jordan into a newness of life.

Hebrews 2:1

THE FIRST DANGER SIGNAL: PERIL OF DRIFTINGLet’s realize that this is a warning for every child of God in our day also, a warning that there is a danger of drifting. Because this last revelation was superior to the Old Testament dispensation and came from One who is superior to angels, we are to pay particular attention to the warning. The responsibility is now greater. “Let them slip” is drift past them. It indicates neglect, that is all. Neglect in any area of life is tragic, but in the spiritual realm, hearing the gospel message and doing nothing about it is infinitely more tragic. What must I do to be lost? Nothing! The story is told of the man who went to sleep in his boat one night on the Niagara River. Before long his boat drifted down to the rapids and he was caught. It was too late for him to do anything. He went over the falls and was killed. Someone asks the question, “What must I do to be lost?” We are given the answer for “What must I do to be saved?” in Act_16:31: “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved….” But what is the answer for “What must I do to be lost?” Well, the answer is nothing. You and I belong to a lost human family.

We are not on trial. I get a little weary of hearing that God has us on trial. He doesn’t have us on trial; we are lost. Today He is saving somethose who will turn to Christ. The rest are already lost. You don’t do anything to be lost, because that is your natural condition. There is great danger in neglect in every area of life. Many years ago I had a wonderful secretary who developed cancer of the hip. The doctor told her that she must have an operation, but she kept postponing it. Finally the day came when it was too late to do anything. She had been warned, but she just drifted, just neglected taking any action until it was too late. When you move neglect to a higher realm, hearing the gospel message and doing nothing about it is infinitely more tragic. A great many folk hear the gospel and give mental assent to it, but do nothing about it. Some time ago a man said to me, “McGee, some day I am going to take up your offer and accept Christ.” Right now, however, this man is drifting. I don’t know how far along he is, but the day will come when he will be in the rapids, and then it will be too latehe will go over the falls. He may have a heart attack or be in an accident, and his chance to receive Christ will be gone. I would like to get all the folk that hear the gospel into the “now” generation. “Now” is the accepted time. “Now” is the day of salvation. There is a real danger of drifting, and Hebrews warns us about it.

Hebrews 2:2

For example, when the two angels came to Sodom with the announcement that Sodom was to be destroyed, Sodom was destroyed exactly as they said. In fact, whenever an angel brought a message, you could depend on its being carried out just as it was stated. Now notice the question

Hebrews 2:3

A great Welsh preacher began his sermon by saying, “I have a question to ask. I cannot answer it. You cannot answer it. Even God cannot answer it.” Then he gave this as his text: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” And I have a sermon entitled, “A Question that God Cannot Answer.” I do not mean to be irreverent, but God makes it clear that He cannot answer the question, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Do you know a way of escape? The only way is Christ. He said so in Joh_14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” In the Scriptures we also read, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Pro_16:25).

There are many ways that seem right to men. In California you can hear about as many ways as you want to hear. If you are looking for a religion, you will find one in California. If you don’t find one that you like, you can start one, and I will guarantee that you will find some followers who will go along with you. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end are the ways of death. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?

What do you do to be lost? Nothing. You can be lost by neglect. “Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord” is, of course, the Lord Jesus when He was here. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden …” (Mat_11:28) and “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luk_19:10). “And was confirmed unto us by them that heard him,” refers to His disciples and others who heard Him and witnessed His death and resurrectionthen went everywhere preaching the gospel.

Hebrews 2:4

I think the writer of Hebrews has definite reference here to the Day of Pentecost when the gifts of the Holy Spirit were exercised. The gifts, of course, confirmed the message. To whom? To the nation Israel. What tremendous truths we have here in this first danger warning. It is a warning sign, not about speeding up but about driftingjust drifting by these great truths which we may have been taking for granted.

Hebrews 2:5

SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST TO ANGELS IN HIS HUMANITYThe humanity of Christ needs to be emphasized as well as His deity. You see, He brought deity down to this earth, and He took humanity back to heaven. To begin with, let us understand what world the author is talking about. A great many folk think immediately that the “world to come” is heaven. However, the word for “world” in this verse means “inhabited earth” in the Greek. This verse is talking about the people of this earth. It is used in Mat_24:14 which says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world [inhabited earth for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It is also used in Rom_10:18, “But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the [inhabited] earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” The word world could not refer to heaven or to eternity.

It does not refer to this dispensation of grace in which we live today. It speaks of the messianic kingdom, the kingdom that is coming on the earth. Hebrew believers, schooled in the Old Testament, knew that the theme song of that book was the coming kingdom over which one in David’s line would rule. The messianic Kingdom became the theme song of every one of the prophets. “Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come"the millennial Kingdom that is coming upon the earth. Not only have angels not ruled in the past, they will not rule in the future. They have been servants and messengers in the past, and they will continue to be servants in the future. This is the thought expressed here. Now he turns to Psalms 8 and gives us an interpretation of that marvelous psalm which has to do with creation.

Hebrews 2:6

Verses Psa_8:6-8 are a quote from Psa_8:4-6. Let us pause here for just a moment. Who is man anyway? Man is just a small creature on one of the minor planets. Someone put it like this, “Man is a rash on the epidermis of a minor planet.” That really puts man in his place, but I suppose it is more or less accurate. We are very small in God’s universe. Someone else has said, “When you pick up the minutest piece of creation, the parts of an atom, and then you reach out to the largest, man is probably halfway between.” Man stands about halfway in the physical creation, but the important thing is that the Lord of Glory, the second person of the Godhead, became Jesus, a man. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” The answer to that is, “Jesus became a man. He left heaven’s glory, came down to this earth, and He didn’t become an angel.” That is what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is going to tell us. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?” What is man? Of himself, man is nothing. Physically, if you break down the elements of his body into chemical components and put them on the market, at one time he would only have been worth about ninety-eight cents. Today due to inflation man’s worth is a little more than that. But it is not of much value, especially when you think of how much a dollar is worth. So, physically, man is not very valuable. Mentally, man thinks he is something, but he knows very little.

What does man actually know about this vast universe in which we live? We have spent billions of dollars to send a man to the moon to see if we could find out how it all began. Since our nation doesn’t believe the first chapter of Genesis, we are exploring the moon! Gen_1:1 certainly sounds a lot better than any of man’s theories. Man today isn’t very much physically or mentally. He can’t lift very much, and he can’t do very much.

Man is quite limited. When you take a good look at man, you see that he is a lost sinner. He is in terrible condition. What is man that God was mindful of him? “Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Well, He visited us because He wanted to communicate with us, and He wanted to save us because He saw our lost condition.

Hebrews 2:7

God made man lower than the angels at the time of creation. Psalms 8 makes it abundantly clear that man was made lower than the angels. The One who was superior, higher than the angels, was willing to come down below angels. He became not an angel but a man! Many of us believe that the One called the “angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament is Christ. I went across the Brook Jabbok not long ago (Jabbok is in the kingdom of Jordan) and remembered that somewhere along that little creek (and that is all I would call it) the Angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob. That Angel of the Lord we believe is Christ. We read in the New Testament that when Christ came to earth He became lower than the angels. Apparently angels are the measuring rod; they are the standard of the bureau of standards. Christ was above the angels, but when He became a man, He became lower than the angels. Why did the Lord do it? He did it so that He could reveal God. Also He is the representative of man before God. He brought God to earth and took man back to heaven. If you and I get to heaven it will be because we are in Christ. This is God’s original purpose with man"Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.” Man is going to do something that angels have never been able to do. Angels do not rule God’s universe. They are God’s messengers. There was an angel who attempted to rebel against God. He tried to set up his own kingdom. He attempted to become a ruler. His name was Lucifer, son of the morning. We know him today by the name of Satan, or the Devil. He was an angel of light, but he rebelled and said in his heart, “…I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…. I will be like the most High” (Isa_14:13-14). God does not intend him or any angel to rule; but He has created man to rule. Man, however, as we see him today is not capable of ruling. He is demonstrating this in all the capitals of the worldso much so that it makes me bow my head in shame. Man cannot rule, but he thinks he canhe has adopted Satan’s viewpoint. He is attempting to rule without God. God could bless our nation today, as He blessed it in the past when men recognized their dependence upon God. But man in and of himself is not capable of ruling. Because of making trips to England, I have studied a great deal of English history. I wanted to look at the abbeys, the castles, and the cathedrals with some degree of intelligence as to their background. I did not realize just how bloody the kings of England had been. The minute a man became king, he killed all his relatives so no one could take the throne away from him. If you were a brother or a cousin of a king, you were in trouble. He was apt to take you to the Tower of Londonmany a man lost his head there. Man, regardless of his race, is not capable of ruling this earth as God intended. However, by redemption, God is going to bring man back to the place where he can rule. In Psalms 8 is the statement: “thou …hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands.” Man lost that dominion in the Garden of Eden when he disobeyed God, but Christ has recovered it.

Hebrews 2:8

“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet"whose feet? Christ’snot man’s. “But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Although our earth has not slipped out from under His control, He is not ruling today. When the Lord Jesus does rule on this earth, there will be no need of a hospital or a jail. There will be no crime or poverty. When He rules this earth it will be a millennial paradise. As the writer quotes Psalms 8, he makes it abundantly clear that the psalmist spoke of Christ, and the prediction is not fulfilled up to the present moment. Now we have the very heart of this chapter

Hebrews 2:9

“But we see Jesus.” Because of what the Lord Jesus has done, we behold Him. We see Jesus. This word see does not mean a casual look. The word means that we look upon Him with understanding. We recognize that in Him is something that our little minds do not grasp. We look upon Him in faith, in trust, in wonder, in awe, and in worship. All of this is wrapped up in the phrase, “We see Jesus.” Do you “see” Him today? Has the Spirit of God taken the veil from your eyes so that you can see Him? “We see Jesus.” Notice that Jesus is His human name. At His conception the angel announced, “…thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat_1:21). “Who was made a little lower than the angels.” The emphasis is not on being made lower than the angels, but upon the word little, and in that word the emphasis is upon time. We could say, “Who was made, for a little time, lower than the angels.” For that brief time that He was upon earth (thirty-three years) He was made lower than the angels. “For the suffering of death"rather, because of the suffering of death. Christ alone could redeem man, and He could do it only by dying upon the Cross. It was the only way. “Crowned with glory and honor.” He wasn’t crowned with glory and honour by His death but because He came to this earth and died on the Cross for you and for me. Let me emphasize again and again that there is a Man in the glory. He wasn’t there some twenty-five hundred years ago. Instead He was the second Person of the Godheadlet’s call Him Jehovah, for Jesus is Jehovah. And He was and is God, very God of very God. But today He is also very man of very man. He took upon Himself humanity, and because He did this, He was given glory and honor in heaven that wasn’t there before. “Should taste death for every man” means that He not only experienced the pangs of death, but He had the experience of what death really isthe very fullest depth of it. He drank the cup of death. That bitter cup was pressed to His lips, and He drank every bit of it. He did this for you and me. “By the grace of God.” He did this by the grace of Godthat God could be gracious to you and to me today and save us.

Hebrews 2:10

Jesus was not a man in whom God did something. The humanity of Jesus doesn’t mean that He was a religious genius. It doesn’t mean that He was a martyr to a clause. It doesn’t mean that He was setting a good example. Christ’s humiliation accomplished two things: (1) It brought glory and honor to the person of Christ; and (2) it procured man’s salvation by making man’s salvation possible. Christ took humanity to heaven, and there is not only a Man in glory, but there is a glory in that Man which was not there before. “It became” simply means that it was fitting for Himit was harmonious and consistent with His Person and purpose to bring many sons unto glory in this way. “It became him [the Lord Jesus] for whom are all things, and by whom are all things.” He made all things, and they were for Him. If you want to know why this universe exists, it is because Jesus wanted it; it was His will. That is the origin of this universeit began in the mind of Christ. “In bringing many sons unto glory” is God’s present purpose. God also has a future purpose of putting His King on His holy hill of Zion (see Ps. 2). God is moving forward with that program, but right now He is calling out a people for His name; He is bringing many sons home to glory. I read a letter a few moments ago from a young man who had sunk as low as one can go on dope and had spent time in prison. Now the Lord Jesus has saved him. We are seeing this happening all over the world. God is still calling out people for His name, bringing many sons unto glory. “To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” The word captain, translated “author,” appears again in chapter 12, verse Heb_12:2. The same word is translated “prince” in Act_3:15. It means “originator or leader.” A captain is one who initiates and carries through. In other words, the Lord Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of everything. He is the beginning and the ending. He starts it, and He completes it.

He is the Captain. He originated our salvation, and He consummated it. How did He do it? He did it by coming down to this earth and taking upon Himself our humanity. What did He do when He came to earth? He tasted death for every man.

He came to redeem mankind and to procure man’s salvation. He revealed God on earth, and today He represents man in heaven. We will see that when we get to the subject of His priesthood. “Perfect through suffering.” He was made perfect in the sense of being made complete. “Perfect” is from the Greek word teleioo, meaning “to carry to the goal; consummate; complete.” He was made perfect through suffering. Although He was the Son of God, and though He was God Himself, His perfect life does not save us. His virgin birth does not save us. Actually, His teaching does not save us. His miracles do not save us, nor does His example save us. But it is His death upon the Cross that saves us.

He was made complete; He reached completeness by dying on the Cross. If you could convince me that God has decided to remain aloof from man, and all He did for this lost world was to pitch the Bible down here, and as He sits in heaven, He looks down on man and says, “It’s too bad you are in such a mess; here is a Book, and I hope you can work your way out,” then I am prepared to turn my back upon Him. But that is not what God did. He came down to earth and took upon Himself our humanity. Because He suffered and died upon the Cross, I am prepared to trust in Him. I am prepared to love Him because of what He has done for me and all lost mankind.

Hebrews 2:11

“He that sanctifieth"to be sanctified doesn’t mean what the average person thinks it means. For many years I thought it meant to be a nice, sweet, little boy. Well, sanctification when it is used in connection with the Holy Spirit has to do with the work of God in us, to make us the kind of representative He wants down here on this earth. It is the work of the Spirit of God in the heart of the redeemed. However, sanctification when it is used in connection with the person of Christ (as in this Epistle to the Hebrews) is not purification. It is not a condition but a position that we have in Christ. He was the Just One who took the place of the unjust that He might bring us to God. And He has brought us now into the family of God. “For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” In the family of God, He is not ashamed to call us brothers. Now, of course, I would not dare call Him brother, but He has brought us into the family of God. He is the firstborn among many brethren; He is the head of the family, and He calls us brethren because we all become sons of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. My friend, this makes it very clear that the heresy about the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man is entirely false. It is probably the most damnable doctrine there is abroad today.

Hebrews 2:12

This verse is a quotation from Psalms 22, the great psalm of the Cross. The first part of Psalm 22 denotes the humiliation of Christ, and you actually are given the seven last words of Christ on the Cross. Beginning with verse 22 of the psalm you have the exaltation of Christ: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee” (Psa_22:22). I am of the opinion that we could restrict this verse to the Hebrew brethren because it was written to the Jews. “In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” The word church is “congregation” rather than the technical meaning of the word church. Now here is another quotation from the Old Testament, Isa_8:17-18.

Hebrews 2:13

This verse reveals how the Holy Spirit interprets Scripture. There are those today who try to give an interpretation of the prophets that eliminates any reference to Jesus Christ at all. In fact, when I read Isa_8:17-18, it seems that the writer is talking about the sons of Isaiah, at least that is the way I understand it. But here in verse Heb_2:13 the Holy Spirit of God interprets that reference in Isaiah in such a way that it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone today who attempts to eliminate the Lord Jesus from the prophets, therefore, is contradicting the interpretation that the Holy Spirit has given in the New Testament. You will remember that when the Lord Jesus came back from the dead He said, “…go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Joh_20:17). When Jesus said, “Go to my brethren,” He was referring to His apostles at that particular time, and they were, of course, all Jewish. I emphasize this because I think it is very important to keep before us the ones to whom this epistle was written. It will enable me to give a correct interpretation that, I trust, might lead to an application to your heart and to my heart.

Hebrews 2:14

This statement emphasizes the Lord’s incarnation. “As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.” Christ came in a way they were not expecting Him to come. However, they should have known, because the prophets had made clear the way He would come to earth the first time. As George Macdonald put it: They were looking for a King To slay their foes and lift them high; Thou cam’st, a little baby thing That made a woman cry. Because we were made of flesh and blood, He took upon Himself flesh and blood. And He came into this world by human birth just like you and I came into the world. “That through death he might destroy him.” Christ Jesus came not only through birthHis birth didn’t save anyonebut through death. It is by His death He saves us, not by His birth or by His life. His death brought to us salvation and deliverance from spiritual and eternal death.

Hebrews 2:15

In my opinion, E. Schuyler English (Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 82) has the correct interpretation of this verse: The Law of God demanded and does demand death for sin. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “The wages of sin is death.” Satan was the cause of man’s sin in the first place and, even though he is a usurper, he can claim, justly so in a sense, that the sinner must die. He had the power, the authority to demand that every sinner should pay sin’s penalty. And on account of this all men, because all are sinners, were fearful of death and subject to bondage, because of sin, to serve it and thus serve Satan.

Hebrews 2:16

In the Old Testament Christ took on the nature of angels. He did that when He appeared as the Angel of the Lord, and these Hebrews understood that. When Christ left heaven and came to earth, He came past the angels and came to fallen man. He took on Him the seed of Abraham. He came in the line of Abraham. God began the preparation at the very beginning with Adam and Eve.

At that time God said that there would come the seed of the woman (see Gen_3:15). Then God said He would come in the line of Abraham, and a little farther along we learn that He would be born in the tribe of Judah, of the family of David, of the nation Israel. He was to be born of a virgin. The Lord put up enough highway markers so that everybodynot only wise men, but everybodyshould have found their way to Bethlehem when Jesus was born.

Hebrews 2:17

The Lord Jesus came down to earth in the likeness of men. In Php_2:7 we read, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” It was a real likeness to men. This likeness, Vincent tells us, is “closest where the traces of the curse of sin were more apparentin poverty, temptation, and violent and unmerited death.” Christ could have been born in the palace of Caesar, but He was born in real poverty, in a stable behind an inn. Why? So that He could know something of the effect of sin on humanity. Where do you see it? You see it in poverty. You see it in temptation. You see it in violent and unmerited death. That is where you see sin manifested. I think it is tragic when innocent people suffer. Some time ago in Pasadena a dear, talented, Christian woman, an outstanding artist up in her 80s, was followed home by a teenager who cruelly and brutally murdered her. How terrible it was! And nothing was done about it. Thank God, He is going to make things right some day. When Christ came to earth, He knew what real poverty was. During World War II, I went through El Paso, Texas, on the train. Before the train pulled into the station, the conductor came by and said, “Don’t get off the train because there are people in this station who have been there for a week and cannot get out. They are desperate. If you leave your seat, one of them will take it and you will never get it back. Stay right where you are.” We did what he said, but once the train started its journey again, I searched out the conductor and asked him what it was all about.

He told me that many of those people were camping in the station, waiting for a seat on a train. Remember, this was during the war, and many men were being shipped overseas. One young woman told the conductor that her husband had been shipped out and she was stranded. She couldn’t get back to her people; so she was just waiting in the station. He also told me that a little boy had been born in that station the other night. Imagine being born in a station!

The little fellow is a great big fellow now, and I sure hope someone has told him about Jesus, because He also was born in a crush like that when there was a great movement of humanity. You recall that it was Caesar who made a tax bill requiring that every person under the domain of Rome be enrolled in their hometown for taxing. Mary had to go to Bethlehem although it was near the time for her baby to be born. When she got to Bethlehem, there was no room in the inn, and so the Lord Jesus Christ was born in a stable. He could sympathize with that baby born in El Paso’s Union Station, couldn’t He? The Lord Jesus came to earth and took on a human body. He is able to sympathize with you and me. I don’t care who you are or where you are, He knows you and He understands younot just because He is God, but because He became a man. He knows exactly what you and I are going through today. At the time this book is being written there is a great deal of poverty in the Middle East, especially among the Arabs. My heart goes out to the refugees there. We cannot condone their rash acts and murder which they have committed, but do you know that some of them have been living in those wretched camps since 1948? Their living conditions are absolutely horrible. Even their own brethren, the other Arabs, have not permitted them to integrate among their people. They have been confined to these camps.

Well, there was wretched poverty in the Middle East when Jesus lived there. And “it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.” He came in poverty. The poverty of Jesus’ family is almost unspeakable. He was born into a race that was under the heel of Rome; they were in subjection to Rome. He wasn’t born in a palace; He was born in a stable. He was in all points made like unto His brethren.

He became one of them. If you had seen that little boy playing in Bethlehem, wearing a little ragged garment, you would not have known who He was. When the artist paints Him, He stands out like a bright cameo, but He was probably just a dirty-faced little boy, not any different in appearance from His playmates. He was made like unto His brethren. In emphasizing the deity of Christ there is a danger of underestimating His humanity. I am happy that I was not born in Bethlehem. I am delighted that I was not raised in Nazareth. I want to tell you that even today the children in those towns don’t have much of a chance. Just think of what it was like in Jesus’ day! Jesus Christ became a real human being, and He came out of that background. He was a root out of a dry ground. You have never had a thought nor have you ever suffered anything that He doesn’t already know about. For this reason He can be a merciful and faithful High Priest. “That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” It is more accurate to say “to make propitiation,” rather than “reconciliation.” Christ made a mercy seat for you and me to come to. And, my friend, what we need is mercy. God has a great deal of it available to us because Jesus made a mercy seat, and you can go there and get all you need. I don’t know about you, but I need a whole lot of it, and after I have used up a great deal of it, there is still plenty of it for you today. Christ made a mercy seat for the sins of the people, and that is the only place you can get God’s mercy.

Hebrews 2:18

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted"the word should be tested. The Lord Jesus was tested, not only for forty days (that was a testing in a particular way), but during His entire life He was tested. I want to look closely at this verse because some of you are going to disagree with what I am going to say about it. The question is asked concerning the testing of Jesus, “Could He have succumbed to the temptation? Could He have fallen?” The answer is no. When we speak of being tempted to do something wrong, what we actually mean is that we have the opportunity to do wrong, and we want to do it. Now the opportunity was the testing, but the desire to do wrong was sin, and a sinful desire is itself sin. The Lord Jesus never had that sinful desire.

He was not a sinner, but He certainly had the opportunity. Knowing how hungry and weak He was from going without food for forty days, Satan began his temptation by saying, “Why don’t you make these rocks into bread?” If you have been to that land, you know that there are a whole lot of rocks there! That was the temptation. He could have made stones into bread, but He didn’t. His test was greater than mine. I want you to know that if I could make stones into bread I’d be in the bakery business!

He could have, but He didn’t. He had the opportunity to do it, and that is the test. He did not yield to it. He did not desire to yield to the test; and he could not so desire because of the very fact that He was God. Again I ask the question: Could Jesus have sinned? The answer is no, He could not have sinned. What then was the purpose of the testing? I feel that I can answer that best with an illustration. When I was a boy, I lived in West Texas on the east fork of the Brazos River. In the summertime there wasn’t enough water in the river to rust a shingle nail, but in the wintertime you could have floated a battleship down there. The little town has disappeared now, but when I lived there, the Santa Fe Railroad went through it and across the Brazos River. One winter we had a flood that washed out the railroad bridgeit was a wooden bridge. So the railroad company came in and replaced it with a steel bridge. When it was completed, they brought two engines to our town, stopped them on top of the new bridge, and tied down their whistles.

Well, nobody in our little town had ever heard two whistles at one time, so we all rushed down to the bridgeall twenty-seven of us. We stood there watching, and one of the extroverts of our town asked the engineer, “What are you doing?” He said, “We are testing the bridge.” So he asked, “Do you think it will fall down?” With a sneer, the engineer said, “Of course it won’t fall down!” “Then why are you doing this?” This was the engineer’s answer: “We are putting these two engines there to prove that it won’t fall down.” Jesus, you see, was tested to prove that He was who He claimed to be. That is very important. Actually, if Jesus of Nazareth had sinned, it would not have proven that God in the flesh could sin. Rather, it would have proven that Jesus of Nazareth was not God in the flesh. The testing proved that He was God in the flesh. Because of who He is, He cannot sin. And the writer of the Hebrew epistle adds that He was tested in all points like we are, yet was without sin (see Heb_4:15). “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” The word succour means, of course, “to come to the aid of, help, assist.” Because He suffered being tempted, He is able to help others who are tested. As we get further along in this epistle, we will be studying the priesthood of God. We will see that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to help those who are tested. If there is one thing I hope this study in the Book of Hebrews will achieve, it is to make you and me very conscious that we have a High Priest. He is alive at this moment. He is at God’s right hand, and, best of all, He is available to us.

When I wake up in the dark watches of the night and toss and turn, as I sometimes do, with some burden on my heart, I can look up. My High Priest is up there. He knows me, He understands, and I can take my burden to Him. When that dark moment comes, and you and I go down into the valley of the shadow of death, we have a great High Priest up yonder who will help us. No matter what happens, no matter what the test, He is able to help us. I am afraid that we do not use His services as we should.

We forget about Him and try to fight our battles alone. My friend, He is available. He wants you to come to Him.