OPENING COMMENTS
- The theme for this week is being in the image of God.
- Our main message for today (via the interactive sermon) is based on a passage in Hebrews that reminds us of the importance of Man in God’s plan.
- The Lectionary Notes (at the end of the post) orients us to God’s perspective about humanity and hones our focus on the starting point for all relationships.
OPENING SONG
OPENING PRAYER
FIRST MESSAGE
The Book of Hebrews … courtesy of GCI Home Office
Who would you name as the greatest of all time? It may be hard to do with the various arenas of human triumph. In the realm of sports, music, and leadership, we’ve witnessed remarkable feats of human achievement. But none can compare to Jesus, who transcends every category with unparalleled love, boundless mercy, and unmatched power.” He was able to accomplish what no other human could do.
In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is portrayed as superior to all and worthy of all worship and devotion. The author presents numerous examples to elevate Jesus’ greatness and to challenge believers to remain faithful amidst persecution.
Jesus is superior to all other messengers. While the law was given to Moses from an angel, the new commandment comes directly from Jesus, the Son of God.
Jesus is superior to Moses. While Moses built a tent, Jesus built all creation. His power and authority extend far beyond the limits of human understanding.
Jesus is compared to Israelite priests, who were from the line of Aaron. But Jesus, from the line of David, surpasses them all. He is both king and priest, ruling with justice and mercy.
Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. While priests offered daily and yearly offerings, Jesus offered himself once for all, reconciling humanity to God and granting eternal salvation.
Jesus is God’s very Word, the eternal priest, the perfect sacrifice, and the embodiment of truth. In him, all things hold together, and through him, all things are made new.
Amidst trials and tribulations, Hebrews urges believers not to abandon Jesus, but to cling to Him as the anchor of their faith.
He is the source of strength, hope, and eternal life.”
Hebrews 1:3 reminds us: ‘[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Let us worship as we exalt Jesus Christ – the greatest of all time in every aspect.
Let his name be praised, his glory be magnified, and his love be proclaimed to all the nations.
Amen
FIRST READING
1 God, who [a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [b]worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had [c]by Himself [d]purged [e]our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him [a]a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[b]And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have 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. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made [c]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.
10 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. 11 For both He who [d]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
WHAT IS THE PASSAGE SAYING? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR US?
SPECIAL MUSIC
Interactive SERMON
The Gospel in Hebrews 2
| Hebrews 1:1-4 NKJV
God, who [a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [b]worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had [c]by Himself [d]purged [e]our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. |
Hebrews 1:1-4 NRSVue
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,[a] whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains[b] all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for[c] sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. |
| Hebrews 2:5-12 NKJV
For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, 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. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made [c] 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. 10 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. 11 For both He who [d]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
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Hebrews 2:5-12 NRSVue
Now God[a] did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6 But someone has testified somewhere, “What are humans that you are mindful of them[b] or mortals that you care for them?[c] Now in subjecting all things to them, God[f] left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower[g] than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God[h] he might taste death for everyone. 10 It was fitting that God,[i] for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.[j] For this reason Jesus[k] is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
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1 God, who [a]at various times (in many portions) and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [b]worlds (Gr. aiones = ages); 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had [c]by Himself [d]purged (cleansed) [e]our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
The basic idea of this letter is that Jesus Christ alone brings to men the full revelation of God and that he alone enables them to enter into his very presence. The writer begins by contrasting Jesus with the prophets who had gone before. So the writer to the Hebrews says, “The old time is passing away; the age of incompleteness is gone; the time of human guessing and groping is at an end; the new age, the age of God, has dawned in Christ.” He sees the world and the thought of men enter, as it were, into a new beginning with Christ. In Jesus God has entered humanity, etemity has invaded time, and things can never be the same again.
He contrasts Jesus with the prophets, for they were always believed to be in the secret counsels of God. Long ago Amos had said: “The Lord God does nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants the prophets” (Am.3:7). In the end men came to put it in such a way that the prophets had really no more to do with their message than a musical instrument had to do with the music it played or a pen with the message it wrote. God can not reveal more than men can understand. His revelation comes through the minds and the hearts of men. That is exactly what the writer to the Hebrews saw.
He says that the revelation of God which came through the prophets was in many parts (polumeros, GSN4181) and in many ways (polutropos, GSN4187). There are two ideas there.
(i) The revelation of the prophets was fragmentary and had to be presented in such a way that the limitations of the time would understand. Each prophet, out of his own experience of life and out of the experience of Israel, had grasped and expressed a fragment of the truth of God. None had grasped the whole round orb of truth; but with Jesus it was different. He was not a fragment of the truth; he was the whole truth. In him God displayed not some part of himself but all of himself.
(ii) The prophets used many methods. They used the method of speech. When speech failed they used the method of dramatic action (Compare 1Kgs.11:29-32; Jer.13:1-9; Jer.27:1-7; Eze.4:1-3; Eze.5:1-4). The prophet had to use human methods to transmit his part of the truth of God. Again, it was different with Jesus. He revealed God by being himself. It was not so much what he said and did that shows us what God is like; it is what he was.
The revelation of the prophets was great and manifold, but it was fragmentary and presented by such methods as they could find to make it effective. The revelation of God in Jesus was complete and was presented in Jesus himself. In a word, the prophets were the friends of God; but Jesus was the Son. The prophets grasped part of the mind of God; but Jesus was that mind. It is to be noted that it is no part of the purpose of the writer to the Hebrews to belittle the prophets; it is his aim to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
The writer says that Jesus was the apaugasma (GSN0541) of God’s glory. Apaugasma (GSN0541) can mean one of two things in Greek. It can mean effulgence, the light which shines forth, or it can mean reflection, the light which is reflected. Here it probably means effulgence. Jesus is the shining of God’s glory among men.
He says that he was the charakter (GSN5481) of God’s very essence. In Greek, charakter (GSN5481) means two things, first, a seal, and, second, the impression that the seal leaves on the wax. The impression has the exact form of the seal. So, when the writer to the Hebrews said that Jesus was the charakter (GSN5481) of the being of God, he meant that he was the exact image of God. Just as when you look at the impression, you see exactly what the seal which made it is like, so when you look at Jesus you see exactly what God is like.
C. J. Vaughan has pointed out that this passage tells us six great things about Jesus:
(i) The original glory of God belongs to him. Here is a wonderful thought. Jesus is God’s glory; therefore, we see with amazing clarity that the glory of God consists not in crushing men and reducing them to abject servitude, but in serving them and loving them and in the end dying for them. It is not the glory of shattering power but the glory of suffering love.
(ii) The destined empire belongs to Jesus. The New Testament writers never doubted his ultimate triumph. Think of it. They were thinking of a Galilaean carpenter who was crucified as a criminal on a cross on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. They themselves faced savage persecution and were the humblest of people. And yet they never doubted the eventual victory. They were quite certain that God’s love was backed by his power and that in the end the kingdoms of the world would be the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ.
(iii) The creative action belongs to Jesus. The early Church held that the Son had been God’s agent in creation, that in some way God had originally created the world through him. They were filled with the thought that the One who had created the world would also be the One who redeemed it.
(iv) The sustaining power belongs to Jesus. These early Christians had a tremendous grip of the doctrine of providence. They did not think of God as creating the world and then leaving it to itself. Somehow and somewhere they saw a power that was carrying the world and each life on to a destined end.
(v) To Jesus belongs the redemptive work. By his sacrifice he paid the price of sin; by his continual presence he liberates from sin.
(vi) To Jesus belongs the mediatorial exaltation. He has taken his place on the right hand of glory; … not as our judge … but as one who makes intercession for us so that … when we enter into the presence of God, we go, not to hear his justice prosecute us but his love plead for us.
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him [a]a little (for a little while) lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[b]And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have 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. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made [c]a little (for a little while) 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.
10 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. 11 For both He who [d]sanctifies (sets apart) and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
From Barclay’s Commentary on Hebrews 2:5-9 …
The writer begins with a quotation from Ps.8:4-6. If we are ever to understand this passage correctly we must understand one thing — the whole reference of Psalm 8 is to man. It sings of the glory that God gave to man. There is no reference to the Messiah.
There is a phrase in the psalm which makes it difficult for us to grasp that. This is “the son of man”. We are so used to hearing that phrase applied to Jesus that we tend always to take it to refer to him. But in Hebrew a son of man always means simply a man. We find, for instance, that in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, more than eighty times God addresses Ezekiel as son of man. “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem” (Eze.21:2). “Son of man, prophesy and say .” (Eze.30:2).
In the psalm quoted here the two parallel phrases: “What is man that you remember him?” and “Or the son of man that you visit him?” are different ways of saying exactly the same thing. The psalm is a great lyric cry of the glory of man as God meant it to be. It is in fact an expansion of the great promise of God at creation in Gen.1:28, when he said to man: “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
The glory of man, incidentally, is even greater than the King James Version would lead us to understand. It has: “Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels” (Ps.8:5). That is a correct translation of the Greek … but not of the original Hebrew. In the original Hebrew it is said that man is made a little lower than the ‘Elohiym (GSN0430); and ‘Elohiym is the regular word for “God.” What the psalmist wrote about man really was: “Thou hast made him little less than God,” which, in fact, is the translation of the Revised Standard Version. So then this psalm sings of the glory of man, who was made little less than divine and whom God meant to have dominion over everything in the world.
But, the writer to the Hebrews goes on, the situation with which we are confronted is very different. Man was meant to have dominion over everything but he has not. He is a creature who is frustrated by his circumstances, defeated by his temptations, girt about with his own weakness. He who should be free is bound; he who should be a king is a slave. As G. K. Chesterton said, whatever else is or is not true, this one thing is certain — man is not what he was meant to be.
The writer to the Hebrews goes further on. Into this situation came Jesus Christ. He suffered and he died, and because he suffered and died, he entered into glory. And that suffering and death and glory are all for man, because he died to make man what he ought to be. He died to rid man of his frustration and his bondage and his weakness and to give him the dominion he ought to have. He died to recreate man until he became what he was originally created to be.
In this passage there are three basic ideas.
(i) God created man, only a little less than himself, to have the mastery over all things.
(ii) Man through his sin entered into defeat instead of mastery.
(iii) Into this state of defeat came Jesus Christ in order that by his life and death and glory he might make man what he was meant to be.
We may put it another way. The writer to the Hebrews shows us three things.
(i) He shows us the ideal of what man should be — kin to God and master of the universe.
(ii) He shows us the actual state of man — the frustration instead of the mastery, the failure instead of the glory.
(iii) He shows us how the actual can be changed into the ideal through Christ. The writer to the Hebrews sees in Christ the One, who by his sufferings and his glory can make, man what he was meant to be and what, without him, he could never be.
From Barclay’s Commentary on Hebrews 2:10-18 …
Here the writer to the Hebrews calls Jesus the pioneer (archegos) of glory. The same word is used of Jesus in Ac.3:15; Ac.5:31; Heb.12:2. At its simplest it means head or chief. So Zeus is the head of the gods and a general is the head of his army. It can mean a founder or originator. So it is used of the founder of a city or of a family or of a philosophic school. It can be used in the sense of source or origin. So a good governor is said to be the archegos (GSN0747) of peace and a bad governor the archegos (GSN0747) of confusion.
One basic idea clings to the word in all its uses. An archegos (GSN0747) is one who begins something in order that others may enter into it. He begins a family that some day others may be born into it; he founds a city in order that others may some day dwell in it; he founds a philosophic school that others may follow him into the truth and the peace that he himself has discovered; he is the author of blessings into which others may also enter. An archegos is one who blazes a trail for others to follow. Someone has used this analogy. Suppose a ship is on the rocks and the only way to rescue is for someone to swim ashore with a line in order that, once the line is secured, others might follow. The one who is first to swim ashore will be the archegos of the safety of the others. This is what the writer to the Hebrews means when he says that Jesus is the archegos (GSN0747) of our salvation. Jesus has blazed the trail to God for us to follow.
How was he enabled to become such? The King James and Revised Standard Versions say that God made him perfect through suffering. The verb translated make perfect is teleioun, which comes from the adjective teleios which is usually translated “perfect.” But in the New Testament teleios has a very special meaning. It is used, for instance, of a human being or an animal who is full grown; of a Christian who is no longer on the fringe of the Church but who is baptized. The basic meaning of teleios is always that the thing or person so described fully carries out the purpose for which designed. Therefore the verb teleioun will mean not so much to make perfect as to make fully adequate for the task for which designed. So, then, what the writer to the Hebrews is saying is that through suffering Jesus was made fully able for the task of being the pioneer of our salvation.
Why should that be?
(i) It was through his sufferings that he was really identified with men. The writer to the Hebrews quotes three Old Testament texts as forecasts of this identity with men — Ps.22:22; Isa.8:17; Isa.8:18. If Jesus had come into this world in a form in which he could never have suffered, he would have been quite different from men and so no Saviour for them. As Jeremy Taylor said: “When God would save men, he did it by way of a man.” It is, in fact, this identification with men which is the essence of the Christian idea of God. The basis of the Greek idea of God was detachment; the basis of the Christian idea is identity. Through his sufferings Jesus Christ identified himself with man.
(ii) Through this identity Jesus Christ sympathizes with man. He literally feels with them. It is almost impossible to understand another person’s sorrows and sufferings unless we have been through them. A person without a trace of nerves has no conception of the tortures of nervousness. A person who is perfectly physically fit has no conception of the weariness of the person who is easily tired or the pain of the person who is never free from pain. A person who learns easily often cannot understand why someone who is slow finds things so difficult. A person who has never sorrowed cannot understand the pain at the heart of the person into whose life grief has come. A person who has never loved can never understand either the sudden glory or the aching loneliness in the lover’s heart. Before we can have sympathy we must go through the same things as the other person has gone through — and that is precisely what Jesus did.
(iii) Because he sympathizes, Jesus can really help. He has met our sorrows; he has faced our temptations. As a result he knows exactly what help we need; and he can give it.
WHAT, for you, IS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY? What message could you pass on?
For me … it’s the Gospel message in Hebrews 2:5-12 …
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 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.
8 You have 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. 9 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.
10 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. 11 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, 12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
- Hebrews 2:6-8 …. God’s PURPOSE … relationship … stewardship … Genesis 1:26-28
- Hebrews 2:8c ….. Man’s PROBLEM … Not where he was meant to be … could do nothing about it
- Hebrews 2:9-11 … God’s PROVISION … Jesus Christ … made like us … to die for us
CLOSING SONG
Lectionary Notes
You Are Here
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 (NRSVUE)
Can anybody guess where the biggest shopping mall in the US is located? [wait for responses] If you thought about the Mall of America, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, you would be right. It opened in 1992 with more than 5.6 million square feet, and it has more than 520 restaurants and shops.
If you ever go to a large shopping mall, one that you’re not familiar with, what do you look for first so you can locate the store you want to go to? [wait for responses] That’s right – you look for a directory. Some malls have typical map directories, and some have digital touch screens to search for the store you want. But one thing they all have is the notation, with a big star – “You Are Here.”
Our sermon text today, from Hebrews, is like that spot on a mall map that tells us “You Are Here.” Just as the mall map shows us where we are in relationship to our shopping reality, so the book of Hebrews reveals that our starting point is Jesus Christ, where humanity is positioned securely within the divine in relationship and grows into the maturity of Christ.
Our sermon text reveals “You Are Here,” explaining how we are included in the loving relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let’s read it together.
1 God, who [a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the [b]worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had [c]by Himself [d]purged [e]our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him [a]a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[b]And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have 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. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made [c]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.
10 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. 11 For both He who [d]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
The Context of Hebrews
The author of Hebrews is unknown and is writing to Jewish Christians who were missing the rituals and connection with their Jewish relatives and friends. It’s been suggested that some were thinking about returning to Judaism, and the writer of Hebrews is making an argument, a sermon really, that emphasizes Christ’s superiority to the old Mosaic Covenant. Barclay’s Commentary says this: “The basic idea of this letter is that Jesus Christ alone brings to men the full revelation of God.”
Theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a king who fell in love with a servant girl. He didn’t want his position as king to require her to marry him, so he decided to live in a nearby village as a peasant, wearing peasant clothing and living a peasant life, so that she could get to know him and maybe willingly fall in love with him, too. After courting her for a while, the servant girl did fall in love with this man whom she thought was a peasant. He finally told her who he was, but because she knew his character and his loving qualities, she could respond freely and willingly to his desire to marry her. She understood who he was, regardless of his title or position.
In this same way, the author of Hebrews is asking us to think about the qualities Jesus exhibited during his life on earth and what those qualities reveal about the deep love of the Triune God for humankind.
Let’s look at some of the qualities of Jesus found in Hebrews 1:1-4:
Reflection of God’s glory
Not only is Jesus the very light of God’s glory shining forth, he reflects God’s glory. In his interactions with people during his thirty-three years of human life before his ascension, this glory is expressed by serving them, loving them, and ultimately, allowing them to kill him. This was because of Jesus’ nonviolent resistance to his opponents while preparing his people for the gospel of salvation. We often speak of God as omnipotent or “all powerful,” yet we forget that Jesus showed this glory and power in ways that contrast with what human beings typically think of as power and glory.
Rather than omnipotent, theologian Thomas Jay Oord offers the idea of “amipotence.” It’s a word he coined to stress the priority of love over power that we see in Jesus.
An amipotent God is active, but not a dictator. Amipotence is receptive but not overwhelmed. It engages without domineering, is generous but not pushy, and invites without monopolizing. Amipotence is divine strength working positively at all times and places. The power of an amipotent God is the power of love. (Open and Relational Theology: An Introduction to Life-Changing Ideas).
Jesus reflects this type of “divine strength working positively at all times and places.” This helps us to understand God’s loving character that refuses to force us to love in return, much the same way as the king in Kierkegaard’s story refused to use his title to require the servant girl he loved to marry him.
Creator of the world
The early church held the opinion that since the Son of God had been the creator of the world, he also would be the Redeemer who restored it. This is illustrated by a passage in Colossians:
For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17, NRSVUE)
As an “heir” of this creation (Hebrews 1:2b), Jesus seeks to restore the world to its intended wholeness.
Sustainer of everything
Jesus, as the living Word, not only has created everything but continues to sustain it. The Word was with God, and the Word was God:
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John 1:3-4, NRSVUE)
Redeemer of the broken
As human beings, we recognize that despite our best efforts, we still fall short. We accept our human imperfection and acknowledge our need for grace, even as we live in the “You are Here” in Christ. Today’s text reminds us:
“When he [Jesus] had made purification for [our] sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3, NRSVUE)
The author of Hebrews uses the imagery with which the reading audience would be familiar: that of the old Mosaic Covenant and Levitical rituals. However, redemption implies freedom, whether from guilt or disappointment in oneself and others. Freedom to live in this grace is an ongoing blessing. Barclay writes that “by his [Jesus’] continual presence he liberates from sin.”
If we defined sin as the ways we see ourselves as separate from God, Jesus offers us freedom from this self-absorbed and exhausting mindset, making intercession for us. “You are Here” reminds us we have been set free from our brokenness and held fast in the grace-filled arms of the triune God.
As we continue with our sermon text, Hebrews 2:5-12 explains humanity’s precious position in God’s sight:
Crowned with glory and honor
By referring to Psalm 8, the author of Hebrews applies a Christ-centered filter to the passage:
But someone has testified somewhere, “What are humans that you are mindful of them or mortals that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.” (Hebrews 2:6-8, NRSVUE)
Hebrews 2:8 reveals how humanity’s reality does not match the vision God intended:
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them.” (Hebrews 2:8, NRSVUE)
Barclay further describes this paradox:
So then this psalm sings of the glory of man, who was made little less than divine and whom God meant to have dominion over everything in the world. But, the writer to the Hebrews goes on, the situation with which we are confronted is very different. Man was meant to have dominion over everything, but he has not. He is a creature who is frustrated by his circumstances, defeated by his temptations, girt about with his own weakness. He who should be free is bound; he who should be a king is a slave.
While we still see our proclivity for sin (i.e., “we do not yet see everything in subjection to them” in v.8), Jesus’ self-emptying attitude shows that God’s grace has covered us all:
But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” (Hebrews 2: 9-11, NRSVUE)
CONCLUSION
According to Hebrews, Jesus’ suffering and death began our liberation from brokenness and our restoration into love. As the sermon text from Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 concludes, we can see how God has spoken lovingly to us through Jesus. Similar to Kierkegaard’s story, God becoming flesh made it possible for us to know how deeply we are loved. Jesus is our starting and ending point and he continually reminds us “You Are Here,” held securely in the embrace of a loving Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Call to Action: This week, consider taking a walk in nature, noticing the beauty around you. Think about how Jesus sustains his creation through each season, and then contemplate how Jesus is sustaining you through the changing seasons of your life.