The writer to the Hebrews has given us an overview of the Father’s plan in chapter 2, for redeemed humans to reign with Jesus forever. Jesus is the head and blueprint of this human family. He became a man and qualified to be an atoning sacrifice for our sin by His perfect obedience to the Father.

Hebrews 2:9-11, 14-15 NIV
[9 “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. [10] In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. [11] Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters…

[14] Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— [15] and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

The writer now begins to unpack the salvation, pictured in the Old Covenant, that prepares His sons and daughters to reign with Jesus.

Step one…Jesus had to be fully human both to qualify as an acceptable sacrifice to pay sin’s debt, and a suitable high priest to support us in our times of weakness and temptation.

Hebrews 2:14, 16-18 NIV
[14] Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—…
[16] For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. [17] For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. [18] Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

The writer affirms Jesus’ true humanity as did John in his first letter. (To deny that Jesus was not human is the spirit of antichrist – 1 John 4:2-3). If Jesus was not truly human like us, He would not be qualified to atone for our sin. The animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, as the writer will go on to explain, have no power to deal with sin and our sin nature. They can only cover ceremonial transgressions. Only the blood of a perfect human can atone for sin.

(How important this is when we consider what other religions offer! Every other religion depends on self-help which can never deal with sin and a guilty conscience. God alone can forgive sin on the basis of the full payment of our debt by a perfect sacrifice).

Step two…Jesus had to suffer to test and prove His perfect obedience to the Father.

Hebrews 2:10 NIV
[10] “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”

Hebrews 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered [9] and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him… “

What was the nature of Jesus’ suffering? Was it the suffering of leaving heaven and the Father to live a human life on a fallen planet? Was it the excruciating physical agony of the cross event?

We find the answer in Isaiah’s prophecy and the affirmation in the prologue to John’s gospel.

Isaiah 53:3 NIV
[3] “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain (Hebrew – “choli”, meaning sickness or grief). Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

John 1:11 NIV
[11]”He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

Rejection… The worst that any human can do to another. The Hebrew word for reject… “chadel”, means lacking or vacant. Empty, unoccupied…imagine calling someone “vacant”! The very people He loved, chose, nurtured, protected and gave a land flowing with milk and honey, rejected Him and eventually killed Him.

Our writer also included the suffering of temptation. How did Jesus suffer through being tempted? The gospel reveals the suffering He experienced when He was tempted to give up and go home.

He was tempted in the wilderness to disobey the Father by acting on His own instead of in union with the Father’s will. He countered the test with, “It is written…”

The pressure of His impending death could have turned Him from obeying the Father…

John 12:23-24, 27 NIV
[23] “Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds…
[27] “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”

Just moments before His arrest and hours before His death, He agonised over the coming horror.

Mark 14:33-36 NIV
[33]”He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. [34] “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” [35] Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. [36] “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

How did Jesus respond to the suffering to which His Father subjected Him?

Isaiah 53:10 NIV
[10] “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer… “

1 Peter 2:23 NIV
[23] “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

No anger, bitterness, hatred, resentment, revenge…only mercy and forgiveness…

Naked, bleeding, nailed to a Roman torture stake for no crime but being the Son of God, He cried out…

Luke 23:34 NIV
[34]… “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

Did Jesus qualify to be God’s perfect sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world? Was He really human? Was He obedient to the Father to His last drop of blood and His final breath?

Scripture heartily affirms and endorses His qualification as does the entire heavenly host.

Revelation 5:2-3, 6-10 NIV
[2] “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” [3] But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it…
[6] Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. [9] And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

To those who were contemplating a return to the old system of animal sacrifices, the writer to the Hebrews pleads, “Don’t do it!” No money or animal blood can forgive sin, restore us to the Father, and rescue us from eternal damnation. Only the blood of Jesus, a lamb without spot or blemish, can atone for and forgive sin, make us clean, righteous, and acceptable to the Father, and deliver us from the penalty, power, and eventually, the presence of sin.

1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV
[18] “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

To be continued…