They turn in your Bibles to Hebrews, chapter two. Hebrews, chapter two, we're going to focus primarily this evening on verses 14 to 18, the redemptive focus of the incarnation. Christ was incarnate. He came into this world, took on flesh, and he accomplished specific things.
And that's what the Apostle is speaking about here in this particular section, the redemptive focus of the Incarnation. The larger context deals with the superiority of Christ over the angels, chapter 1, verse 4, through chapter 2, verse 18. There are definitive biblical proofs found in chapter 1, verses 5 to 14. Verses 1 to 4 of chapter 2 is a bit of an application for the people of God.
Verses 5 to 9 set forth the authority of Christ over the world to come, specifically the messianic age, both the already and the not yet. Then having spoken of the incarnation, death, and exaltation of Christ in chapter 2, verse 9, the author now expounds the redemptive focus of Christ's incarnation. So I'll just pick up reading at chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
For if the words spoken through angels prove steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him? God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying, What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands. You'll put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him.
But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone, for it was fitting for him. for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you.
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, here am I, and the children of whom God has given me. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Christ's Aid to the Tempted
For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for the scripture.
Thank you for our Lord Jesus, the incarnate word. We thank you for his work on behalf of sinners. We thank you for his work to bring glory and honor to the Father. We thank you that he died and that he rose again, and now he's enthroned at your right hand.
God, we know that he is supreme. He is over all things. He is the one in whom all power and authority resides. We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for so great a salvation.
We thank you for this opportunity to gather to remember in a special way that great transaction by which God has saved his people from their sins. We just pray now that you would guide us in our study. We ask for Jesus sake. Amen.
Introduction
As I said, the author speaking here about Jesus Christ incarnate, Jesus Christ being the soul mate man, ultimately that exercises all authority and all dominion and all power. Christ has authority over the world to come, and then we see that this then flows into this discussion of the incarnation in verse fourteen. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared We'll get to the redemptive focus in just a moment, why he did what he did. But it's important for us to understand this reality, this doctrine, this truth, that Christ, God Most High, came into this world and took on the likeness of sinful flesh. in the language of Romans chapter 8 verse 3.
Now, of course, he himself was not sinful. Philippians 2 sets this forth as well. He humbled himself. He came in the appearance of a man.
He came with our nature. He came with our body. He came with our flesh and our blood, as the Scripture here declares. He himself likewise shared in the same.
There was an early heresy called docetism. Docetism taught that Jesus just appeared to be a man, but that's simply not the case. Jesus was, in fact, Jesus still is man, he is the God-man locally present at the right hand of the Father. When he comes again in glory, we will see the God-man, the glorious one, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle sets this forth so that he can develop this theology and highlight why it is that Christ did what he did. The complete identity of Christ with humanity is set forth repeatedly in this section. The Apostle Paul mentions this same reality in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. He says that Jesus became poor by addition.
He became poor by adding to himself our nature. Second Corinthians chapter eight verse nine. It says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. He was rich as God.
Almighty. He was rich as the second person of the Trinity. He was rich, yet, for your sakes, he became poor. How does Jesus become poor but by taking on our nature?
What is our dignity? What is our excellence? What is our blessedness? For Christ was his poverty.
And the reason for this is set forth at the final end of verse 9. That youth, through his poverty, through his incarnation, through his redemptive work, through his curse bearing, suffering on the cross, that you through his poverty might become rich. He became what he was not in order that we might become what we don't deserve. It is by grace, it is by virtue of Christ's work in the atonement, it is by virtue of Christ's incarnation that He comes and affects the plan of God in the salvation of His people.
The Father chose a great multitude to save. He covenants with the Son. He gives them to the Son. The Son takes on the obligation of being the surety of the new covenant.
The Son comes. in the likeness of flesh, in the full nature of humanity, and he lives, he dies, and he rises again. And this is then what the Apostle brings out in terms of the redemptive focus of the Incarnation.
First Point: Satan's Tyranny Destroyed
Notice first in verse 14. It is the destruction of the devil's tyranny. Verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death, through his death at Calvary, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Now, we might say, well, God is sovereign.
In fact, later in the book of Revelation, Jesus has the keys of death and Hades. How is it said that the devil here actually is the one who has authority with reference to this issue of death? John Owen does help us here. He says that the devil was the means of bringing death into the world.
Remember Jesus' statement this morning in the scripture reading? The devil was a murderer from the beginning. It's not precisely what happened in the garden. The devil seized upon the temptation, and he engaged in murder with reference to Adam and Eve.
Owen says, Sin and death being thus entered into the world, and all mankind being guilty of the one and obnoxious unto the other, Satan came thereby to be their prince, as being the prince or author of that state and condition whereinto they are brought. God having passed the sentence of death against sin, it was in the power of Satan to terrify and to fright the consciences of men with the expectation and dread of it, so bringing them into bondage. And God has ordained him to be the executioner of the sentence of death upon stubborn sinners unto all eternity. So one of the primary focuses or foci of Christ's redemptive work is to break the power and tyranny of Satan.
Now, never forget this, Brethren, Jesus does this in his first coming. We're not waiting for Jesus to come and defeat the devil. We're not waiting for Jesus to come and finish the job. The Bible connects Jesus' first advent, his incarnation, his first coming with the breaking of the power of tyranny that the devil exercises over men.
John chapter 12, just rehearsing a few of these passages so that we can praise God. We're not under the devil's tyranny anymore. John chapter twelve and verse thirty one, picking up at verse thirty. Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.
Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself." Notice that Jesus connects the casting out of Satan, not with his second coming in might and power and glory, but with his first coming in death and crucifixion and the ignominy of the cross. It is at that place that Christ is exercising dominion and power and defeat over the devil.
Colossians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul highlights this reality as well. Passages, I hope, that are near and dear to your heart. The devil does roam about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. These texts, hopefully, are in your arsenal to resist him, to resist his temptation, to resist his overtures in your life.
I'm sorry, Colossians chapter 2, beginning in verse 11. In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without ends, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God. who raised him from the dead, and you being dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. I wonder if we meditate upon or focus upon or delight in this truth as we are.
Jesus isn't playing around in John 8 when he says, you are of your father, the devil. Make no mistakes about it, brethren. If you're not in Christ, you are of your father, the devil. That's not the life of liberty, joy, and happiness that they try to promulgate.
You might hear Satanist sometimes and they say things like, oh, this is a life of liberty. It's freedom. There's not all these oppressive rules. There's not all these do's and don'ts received from Sinai that seeks to bind and restrict people.
They somehow think that they have liberty. Well, we know that. And it ought to cause us to pity them and to pray for them and to rejoice in the fact that we are not in that bondage. We have been set free.
We are no longer under the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of disobedience that works in the sons of men. We ought to praise God that he has done this particular activity on our behalf. First John, chapter 3, repeats this blessing. Again, this isn't an isolated theme in the Scripture.
It doesn't just pop up once or twice, but the death of Christ dealt the death blow to Satan and his tyranny. First, John, chapter three, verse seven, little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
For this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. They're great. You have to wait till the second coming. You have to wait for Jesus to come again in glory.
He's done this at the cross. He has destroyed the devil at the cross. All that remains are some mop-up missions. The battle, the war, has been won.
Brethren, be encouraged by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he accomplishes this, as the text specifies, through death. Any bystander on that day unfamiliar with the Scriptures would have thought Jesus the loser in that transaction, would have thought that Jesus had met his match. When Jesus dies on Calvary in the crucifixion, it was the worst form of death, the most shameful way a man could go.
And if you were watching that without any knowledge of the Bible, you probably wouldn't think victory. In fact, when he said, it is finished, you probably wouldn't have connected the dots that it is finished meant the redemption of his people, the glory of his father and the death of the devil himself. Brethren, this is how Jesus affects it. He's incarnate.
He lives in obedience to the law. He offers himself willingly on the cross. And it's through that death he destroys the devil's tyranny.
Second Point: Release of His People
Notice, secondly, a corollary, a result. A benefit, a blessing that flows from this is the release of His people. Notice in verse 15, "...and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." There it is again. I don't know if you've talked to a lot of sinners.
If you've talked to a lot of unconverted people, they think their life is one of freedom. It's just a crazy thing, isn't it? It's just a crazy turnaround way to live. They think they're the free ones.
You tell them, yeah, I'm a Christian. Oh, you've got those Ten Commandments, those horrible, wretched commandments. I don't know if they say wretched. That's pretty much just a Reformed word used mostly to describe ourselves.
It's always funny when the kids are at school and they say wretched. Teachers go, what? And they say magistrate. I mean, I think that's the only language that Reformed people use. magistrate, wretched, there's a whole vocabulary.
We have been released from bondage, just go back there for a moment, Pastor Kim read it this morning, and I think it's important because it's what we're considering now. John, chapter eight, verse thirty one. Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. That's the Bible's commentary.
That's the Bible's report. Men may think themselves free. Men may think themselves liberated. Men may think themselves arrived.
But men, apart from Jesus Christ, are slaves to sin. They don't even know it. They're not even aware of it. They deceive themselves that in their slavery they're actually free men.
Absolutely baffling. But Jesus goes on to say, a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, notice the language, you shall be free indeed. We are free from this bondage.
We have been released. We have been brought out of darkness in the marvelous light. And specifically in the text, in verse 15, it says, release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. People are afraid to die.
I suspect that any Christian in here isn't afraid to die. You might be afraid of how you die. You might be afraid of the pain associated with your eventual demise. But the fact of leaving this world and entering into the presence of Christ, that shouldn't scare you.
You should take 599 and sing it with gusto. The bride eyes, not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my king of grace, not at the crown he gifted, but on his pierced hand. The land is all the glory of Emmanuel's land.
There ought to be no fear of death in the believer. Again, hear me. There's fear of bears that might kill you. There's fear of pathogens that might kill you.
There's fear of bullets that might kill you. The actual transaction of closing one's eyes and death to pass into the presence of the Lord ought to be the believer's hope and encouragement and joy. There's no more fear of death. Doesn't Paul do this in 1 Corinthians 15?
Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? It's gone because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we pass into the presence of the Lord, we have the certain knowledge that on that final day, God will indeed raise up our bodies, reunite body and soul, and fit us together to serve him forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.
How can you be afraid? Here's what Calvin and Luther said. He who fears death, this is Luther, or is not willing to die is not sufficiently Christian. As yet such people lack faith in the resurrection and love this life more than the life to come.
Calvin says, for though we are not now freed from death, yet in life and in death we have peace and safety when we have Christ going before us. But if anyone cannot pacify his mind by disregarding death, let him know that he has made but very little proficiency in the faith of Christ. This ought to be something dying in the believer, this fear of death. Christ has defanged it.
Christ has taken the sting out of it. Christ has stripped it of its power. Death for us now is simply the passageway into blessed eternal life. That's good news.
Do we sufficiently meditate on it? I think we'd have bigger smiles on our faces if we thought about this. I think this is how Paul functioned. Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
We're going to kill you, Paul. Great. I get more Jesus. We're going to let you live, Paul.
Great. I get to go preach Jesus. We're going to throw you in a prison, Paul. Great.
I just want my book so I can write letters to the churches and individuals about Jesus. This Paul is hard to deal with, right? You can't hurt him. When he's beaten in the marketplace in Acts 16, they're brought into the jailer's place, their feet are placed into stocks, and at midnight they're singing hymns of praise to God.
How does a man do that? Stoic resignation. He's mastered his flesh. No, he's a believer in Jesus.
He's a believer in Jesus. Even if the feet are in the stocks, the heart is in heaven. One of the church fathers said that. We can praise the Lord for that.
The release of his people.
Third Point: Christ as Covenant Mediator
Third aspect of this redemptive focus of the incarnation. It puts Jesus into the role of covenant mediator. Notice in verse 16, for indeed, he does not give aid to angels. The emphasis in verse 16 is not on the help that Jesus gives.
He does give help. We'll see that in verse 18. The King James actually translates this more appropriately. For verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
When we read the seed of Abraham in New Testament documents, hopefully our minds go back the promise made to Abraham. Hopefully, our minds go back to that glorious doctrine of covenant. Hopefully, our minds attach themselves to the promise God made to Abraham that in his seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed. The apostle tells us in verse 16, for indeed, or for verily, took not on him the nature of angels.
The focus of his redeeming work was not on angels. There were elect angels that didn't fall. There were non-elect angels that fell. They're not in the scheme of redemption.
They don't get saved. The fallen angels remained damned. No redemption for a fallen angel. But for fallen man, for sinners like us, Christ takes on the nature of man.
Christ takes on that nature in order to bless the seed of Abraham. Christ lays hold of and appropriates, that is to say, he assumes human nature and makes it his own. The present tense, one commentator says, underlines the permanence of this union on earth and in heaven. He's still highlighting this reality of the incarnation, to be sure.
He's still arguing against this idea that Jesus only appeared to be a human. But he is also calling in to his use this idea of what he will develop later in terms of the covenant, in terms of Christ being the surety of a better covenant. This idea, this relationship, this calling to attention, the fact that he takes on or he does take on this nature in order to give aid to the seed of Abraham helps us with that. Let me just read Hughes.
He comments this way. The mention of Abrahamic ancestry here. however, denotes something more than that Christ was a Jew by birth. In taking to himself the seed of Abraham, he shows not only that he belongs to, but also that he is the fulfillment of the line of the covenant. Thus, in saying that Christ took to himself the seed of Abraham, our author places the incarnation within the perspective of the covenant.
It's developmental. It is what he's doing. He's expounding what we find beginning in Genesis 315. This amplifies, it's filling in, it's commenting, it's theological interpretation.
It's highlighting the unity and the blessedness of Scripture and showing us God's redemptive plan. It didn't happen in a vacuum. It wasn't a plan B. He didn't respond.
He rather decreed all things. From the very beginning, he began to reveal these things. And in the fullness of the times, Christ comes as the seed of Abraham to effect that promise. That's what he wants you to get there.
Again, he's going to develop this later in chapter 7 and 8 and 9 and 10. It's the surety of what? Of a better covenant, founded on better promises with a better hope. Not because the old one was bad, but because the old one had built into it obsolescence.
God had purposed that the old would give way to the new. That there would be this blessed one who would come to effect all of the promises of God. They are yea and amen in him. Again, Hughes, thus in saying that Christ took to himself the seed of Abraham, our author places the incarnation within the perspective of the covenant of which the incarnate son is the focal point.
He is the covenantal seed of Abraham and his people are one with him by spiritual incorporation into that same seed without respect to race or culture. In him, they are the many sons who are being brought to glory. Verse 10. Whom he is not ashamed to call brethren, verse 11.
The children God has given him, verse 13. Delivered by him from bondage and death, verse 15. Those namely, who having received and believed in his name, he has given the power to become children of God. That's the reference there for us with reference to Abraham.
Just by way of an aside, Sinclair Ferguson has a message called Christ the Worship Leader. Christ, the worship leader. It's it's blessed. Guess what his text is, verse 12, chapter two.
He develops this theme. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will sing praise to you. That's Christ.
Where do we see Christ in the book of Revelation? He's in the midst of the lampstands. He's a participant with his people. Christ the prophet, Christ the priest, Christ the king is with his people, aiding and assisting by his spirit so they may approach God with reverence and joy and may honor and worship him.
When we come to church, it's primarily because we get to meet with Christ. Isn't that it? You've got to say, I love you, brethren. It's great to come here and see you.
It's great to shake hands and talk and catch up and all of that. The primary reason why we assemble, though, is for Jesus. I imagine the Moose Lodge. I don't know if there's a Moose Lodge in Canada.
Maybe because they're a hunting animal, there's not a Moose Lodge. In America, there's a Moose Lodge, and there's an Elk Lodge. All these sort of prey animals here. Maybe they don't have the consistent things here.
But they all probably rejoice in the social element. I'm sure that's one of the things that would, you know, commend being a Lions Club member. I know there's a Lions Club. I pass by their thrift store every day.
I'm sure that element is quite wonderful within the Lions. We get to be with each other, to hang out with each other, get to see one another, get to shake hands, get to get away for a little while and just be with people like us, fellow Lions. Kind of an interesting concept, but There's something more in the church, something deeper, there's something more vital, something more living, something more valuable. Christ says, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly.
I will sing praise to you. Christ is with his people. aiding us and strengthening us and encouraging us and filling us with His Spirit so that we may approach the Father and engage in triune worship, coming to the Father through the mediation of the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what I think Paul develops in Ephesians chapter 2. We are the temple.
We are the ones where God reigns, where God is in the midst of His people. That's blessed. You wake up on a Sunday morning, you don't feel like coming. Think about this.
Christ is there. Jesus is present. Jesus is in the midst of the assembly. Whether we think it or feel it or not, the Bible declares it.
We need to go with what's written. We need to go with what's stated for us. So that's the covenant nature, the covenant rule of Christ.
Fourth Point: Christ as High Priest
And fourthly and finally, the redemptive focus of the incarnation is so Christ could serve in the office of high priest. 217 and 18, 217 and 18. It's a lot here. We'll just skim the surface. One commentator, Ellingworth, says this verse is the nerve center of the epistle, summing up its first clause, the discussion since verse 10 and announcing in the following subordinate clauses.
I know that's a lot of highfalutin language, but the idea is that this verse summarizes the argument up to this point. and then sort of foreshadows what is to follow in terms of Christ's work on behalf of his people.
Merciful and Faithful High Priest
Notice his role as a priest. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God. Faithful and merciful high priest. He's faithful in his execution of duties toward God, he's merciful to his gracious to his people.
He's kind to his people. How does Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executes the office of a priest in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God and in making continual intercession for us. That's what a priest does.
He does two things. He provides sacrifice and he intercedes, right? I mean, I'm sure he does a few other things along the way. That's the job description for the priest.
Sacrifice, intercession. Sacrifice, intercession. What's the book of Hebrews taken up with? Sacrifice of Christ, intercession of Christ.
His work as high priest for the people of God. Why was he incarnate? Why did he come into this world? Yes, to reign and be a king.
He says that in John 18, 37. Pilate says, are you a king then? He says, for this cause, I was born. Only reference in John's gospel to the birth of Christ has to do with his crown, has to do with his royal office.
For this cause, I was born. He says that to Pilate, a two-bit governor in a small province. So yes, certainly. Within the scope of this particular passage, the Incarnation brought forth Christ.
Christ was brought forth in the Incarnation to serve and function as a high priest. Again, Philip Hughes says, the Son could not have represented men before God, offering as their high priest the sacrifice of himself on their behalf and in their place, had he not first become their fellow man. Representation requires identification. It's why the high priest on the Day of Atonement lays his hands on the scapegoat.
He's identifying with it. He's confessing Israel's sin. And then he sends it out into the wilderness to expiate or remove that sin. Christ identifies with his people in order to represent us.
He says, accordingly, the author or our author adds this further explanation that the son assumed human nature so that he might become what otherwise he could not be a high priest. By the incarnation, he becomes man. But his becoming man is also the prerequisite for his becoming a high priest. Praise God for that redemptive focus of the Lord Jesus.
And then notice how he executes his task or his function as a high priest. Verse 17. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God.
Propitiation: Bearing the Wrath of God
Notice to make propitiation for the sins of the people. This is focusing on the element of sacrifice. In Christ's sacrifice, not only does He redeem us from the curse of sin, not only does He reconcile us unto His Father, not only does He provide salvation for us and the grand bigness of it, but He provides propitiation. Someday I want to do this.
Have a piece of paper and ask you to write down what propitiation means. It has to do with wrath. It has to do with wrath. Christ is our propitiation.
Paul uses this in Romans 3, 25, and 26. John uses it in 1 John 2 and in 1 John 4. Here it is again in Hebrews 2, verse 17. The idea is simple.
We deserve God's wrath. We deserve God's fury. We deserve God's anger. Whenever you start feeling pretty puffed up in how good you are, just think about what you really deserve in a moral universe governed by a holy God.
If you ever start feeling puffed up, read through the chapter 5 of the Sermon on the Mount. Ask yourself, have I never looked upon a woman or a man to lust? Have I never murdered in my heart? Have I never called someone a fool or raka or engaged in character assassination?
Have I really loved my enemies? Do I pray for them? Do I bless them? Do I do good to them?
Whenever you're feeling proud, brethren, a good dose of God's law will hopefully humble you. And hopefully it will illustrate for you the demerit that sin deserves. The wrath and fury and anger and hatred of God most high is due us for our sin. We deserve the wrath and yet Christ comes and stands in our place.
It's about right now we should all just do a backflip in our seat and say praise God. He took our wrath. He took our punishment. He took our judgment.
On the cross, Jesus Christ suffered hell in our place. On the cross, God poured out his wrath. God poured out his anger, his vengeance, and his judgment due sinners. Christ propitiated it.
Christ took it in himself. He didn't deflect it. He didn't send it away. He didn't put it on hold.
He didn't hit the delete button, but rather he took it in himself. The father's fury, wrath and anger is poured out upon the son. It is due for us, but we have a substitute. See why we talk about substitutionary atonement.
See what happens if you take substitution out of the gospel, you take substitution out of the cross. That's one of the aspects of its glory. Christ stood where we belong and he took the wrath of God on our behalf. That's what the apostle is getting at here.
It is important for us to remember this aspect of the atoning work of Christ, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He functions as high priest in that capacity, and then real practically, verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. He deals with the cross of Christ. He deals with that propitiating act of Christ at Calvary.
He deals with the Godward reference. And now he says that our high priest is able to come to the aid of his people. It's amazing. We go from the heights of glorious theology in terms of propitiation and Jesus suffering the wrath of God on our behalf to our living rooms, to our workplaces, to our society, to our churches.
In that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. He's able to come to our rescue. John Owen says the great duty of tempted souls is to cry out unto the Lord Christ for help and relief. That's what the apostle is getting at.
That's what the apostle wants to call attention to. Incarnation produces a glorious savior. A covenant mediator, the one in whom all the promises of God are, yea and amen. He functions as a high priest.
He's faithful to God. Faithful in executing the obligations in terms of the covenant. He does everything he is supposed to do. He even says, it is my delight to do your will.
Doesn't just go through it, but he does it delightfully. He does it joyfully. He sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, Luke chapter nine. It's an amazing section of scripture, Luke chapter nine, the apostles, and they're coming to him and they're saying, Lord, Lord, Lord, you know, we want to be preeminent in your kingdom.
He says, I have to go to Jerusalem. I got to be tried. I got to suffer. I got to die.
It's an amazing juxtaposition of the way man thinks. Jesus sets his face like a flint, goes to Jerusalem. He does what God calls him to do in terms of his faithfulness, in terms of his mercifulness. He is able to aid those who are tempted.
He's able to assist you in your daily life. He's able to come to your rescue. He's able to give the grace that you need. He's able to supply the spirit.
He is there with you in the midst of trial and difficulty. That's what the book of Hebrews will develop as well. We get to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. What do we see?
By faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, they did these things. They weren't better. They weren't more miraculous. They weren't more excellent.
There was nothing intrinsically better about these men. It was by faith. They engaged in mighty exploits, they did these mighty deeds, they suffered horrible things by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the emphasis?
That is the way we ought to live as well.
Application
Well, brethren, we have a great high priest. The incarnation is something that undoubtedly we think of at this time of the year. We ought to appreciate in its biblical context. But to appreciate why it is that Jesus came as he did, we ought to appreciate the redemption was his particular goal.
It wasn't just to make us happy or make us warm or make us feel good. It was to redeem us from the curse of the law. Well, praise God for his son. Praise God for this high priest and praise God that he paid it off.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for redemption in him. Thank you for propitiation and the fact that he has dealt with the wrath of God due for us. We praise you, Lord, that he said, why have you forsaken me in the ultimate sacrifice of himself on our behalf?
Help us not to forget these things, God. Help us not to only think of them once a month at the Lord's table. But God, help us to recall these things each and every day. To realize that Jesus does give aid, that Jesus is a merciful high priest, that Jesus does intercede for us, that he has, in fact, destroyed the tyrant, the devil, that he has released us from bondage, that he has brought us into that blessed state of being sons and daughters of God Most High.
We pray in his blessed name. Amen.