Hebrews 2:9-18

only 4 days behind...haha! ...

Hebrews 2:9-18

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, 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 to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists,* should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 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. 12 He says,

"I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your
praises."+

13 And again,

"I will put my trust in him."+

And again he says,

"Here am I, and the children God has given me."+

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity* so that by his death he might destroy* 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. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers* 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.*

*2:9 = Ac 3:13 - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

*2:9 = Php 2:7-9 - but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

*2:10 = Ro 11:36 - For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

+2:12 = Psalm 22:22 - I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

+2:13 = Isaiah 8:17 - I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

+ 2:13 = Isaiah 8:18 - Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

*2:14 = Jn 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

*2:14 = 1Co 15:54-57 - When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

*2:14 = 1Jn 3:8 - He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

*2:17 = Php 2:7 - but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

*2:17 = Heb 4:14-15 - Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

+2:17 = Or and that he might turn aside God's wrath, taking away

*2:18 = Heb 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

oddly, the thing the jumps out to me first of all is that fact that Jesus was made "a little lower than the angels" (v9)...keyword, LOWER than the angels...meaning the human spirit is a lesser spirit than the angelic spirit...the human form is not as brilliant or as powerful as the angelic form...but for some reason, God created humanity in His own image, and desired connexion and fellowship with this creation...who knows when and where He created the angels?...it doesn't really matter, because even if He had some kind of discourse or connexion with the angels, He still wanted US!...and even when we slipped, even when we committed the SAME ACT THAT EARNED LUCIFER HIS EXPULSION FROM HEAVEN!!! THE VERY SAME ACT OF PRIDE AND WILLFULNESS THAT RESULTED IN THE MORNING-STAR BEING CAST FROM THE CELESTIAL HOME OF GOD!!!, He still cared enough to send a Savior who would be lessened, humbled by His existence as a human to act as a death-double for our entire race...to make sure that the sacrifice would fully realize the conditions of God's justice and righteousness and holiness, Jesus had to be completely and fully man...

wow...

and we take it for granted...even among Christians, we let this become something we fail to marvel at...we let it become a rote statement of our religion, but we forget that it is one of the most basic principle of our FAITH...

guilty as charged here, too...don't think that i'm ranting against all "other" Christians...i've slipped into this mentality of comfort regarding the absolute shrunkenness of Jesus' Spirit as he became fully human...

it's absolutely mind-blowing, and we just kinda - get over it...

let's not...let's remember...let's allow ourselves to be fully cognizant of the shift that God instigated from the blood sacrifice and yearly intercessors to a single perfect specimen, slaughtered...

as through perfectly created Adam from God's hand sin entered, so also through perfectly created Jesus from God's own self sin was conquered...

let's remember this...

amen...