THE GLORIES OF CHRIST

HEBREWS 2:10–13

Both the One who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers

(Hebrews 2:11).

Jesus suffered and died, and then was glorified. He did not need to do this. He was already eternally glorified at the Father’s right hand before He was born into this world. Why did He do it? To save us, and to bring us to glory. We are His reward. We are His bride.

Hebrews 2 does not employ the bride analogy; rather, it calls us Jesus’ brothers. We are the weaker brothers in the family. Under the law, if a man fell into poverty, or was sold into slavery, his brother was to redeem him. Jesus is the stronger brother who redeems us.

What we lost when we fell into debt was holiness. Holiness is an attribute of God and of His people. Basically, holiness means integrity. We speak of a loss of integrity when we do something immoral, and also when a boundary is breached. The biblical concept of holiness, as laid out in Leviticus, has to do with both ethics and boundaries. Jesus restores our holiness ethically and also restores our boundaries by giving us dominion once again.

Psalm 22:22 is cited in Hebrews 2:12. Psalm 22 describes the sufferings of Christ on the cross. As we read this psalm, we see that the goal of Christ’s sufferings was to bring a great host to salvation, and to praise the Father in the midst of that redeemed host. It is a host of men, not of angels. The fallen angels are not redeemed. Fallen humanity is.

Isaiah 8:17–18 is cited in Hebrews 2:13. Isaiah makes the point that he trusts God, even when God hides His face from Israel. Isaiah also says that God has given children to him to stand with him (see Isaiah 8:1–4). The family of Isaiah is a sign to Israel, a sign of grace to those who believe and of coming destruction to those who rebel (Isaiah 8:18).

Jesus is the Greater Isaiah, the Prophet Foretold. He and His children fulfill that sign function in the greatest degree. Hebrews is saying that Christians gathered around Christ are a sign to the Jews of salvation to those who repent and of the coming destruction of Israel in a.d. 70 for those who rebel. He says that Christians must trust God even when He hides His face.

CORAM DEO

Proverbs 7–9

WEEKEND

Proverbs 10–15

Jesus trusted God when God hid His face from Him on the cross. When we seem to go through lesser trials, we must do the same. Such trust is the mark of a converted person. As you or ones you know face trials now or in the future, show your trust in God through heartfelt worship.

For further study: Psalm 22 • Isaiah 8:16–18 • 1 John 3:1–10

WEEKEND