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Here are a few teaching points that might be helpful in approaching the second chapter of Hebrews.
This chapter builds on the end of chapter one, in which Jesus is demonstrated by a string of OT quotations to be superior to angels. Chapter 2 opens by fleshing out the intended consequences of that argument.
In this part of the letter, the writer is arguing for Jesus’ superiority over the angels because of the similar function that he shares with them. They are both messengers, carriers of God’s word. The importance of angels was not based on their own authority, but a messengers of God. the message that Jesus carries, should be given even greater weight because it is delivered not by a third party, a created being, but by God’s son, who himself is “the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his being” 1:3. so the argument about Jesus’ superiority is not purely academic, but has implications for how important the message he carries is to be regarded. How dare we ignore something so great in importance that it has been spoken to us by God’s very Son? The argument is pressed even further by acknowledging that the truth of the message has also been confirmed by the activity of the Holy Spirit. The message of salvation that comes through Jesus is divine! We must, as 2:1 says, pay very careful attention to what we’ve heard.
A second consequence of the argument about Jesus’ superiority over angels begins in 2:5. Jesus is superior in that he has been given authority over the world to come. Interestingly, this is a good example of Hebrews reappropriating OT material, reinterpreting it for his own purposes. The writer quotes Psalm 8, which seems to refer to all of humanity, but reinterprets it as a text referring to Jesus’ authority over the world to come. The author then uses this as a way of introducing another theme of the letter: the example of Jesus’ suffering as a way to glory and honor. The argument here is not based on Jesus’ prior superiority, his divine nature, but on the glory that he achieved through the cross. He is crowned with glory and honor “because he suffered death” in 2:9.
This theme is important to the overall purpose of the letter, because the letter’s purpose is a call to persevere. In order to achieve that, this letter, like other places in the NT, seeks to attach significance to suffering, to provide meaning for the experience of suffering. This section achieves that in two powerful ways. First, it demonstrates how Jesus’ suffering actually worked to his eventual glory. Suffering brings benefit, because it is the path to honor. This theme will continue to be developed in the letter, as the writer is going to describe the recipient’s current suffering as a discipline they need to endure in order to receive the promises of God. Suffering is one way that we become holy, and the writer demonstrates that this is a holy path by showing how Jesus, who makes us holy, waked the same path.
Perhaps of even more importance at this stage of the letter, the writer also demonstrated how Jesus’ sufferings can be a basis for our feeling a level of solidarity with Jesus. When we suffer, we can know that Jesus has also take such suffering on himself. We are not alone. Jesus is not a distant savior, but “part of the same family.” We are brothers, and I can in a very real sense identify with Jesus. God is not a distant watcher to be blamed, but someone who suffers with us. He exposes himself to the same pain we experience for the sake of simply identifying with us. This can be a powerful message!
His death is the ultimate expression of this solidarity. By going all the way through with the experience of suffering even to the point of death, Jesus fully identifies with humanity. In this common experience, we recognize that Jesus has been made like us “in every way.” (2:17)
Also, his death paves the way for the destruction of death itself. in verse 14-15, Jesus death is descried as destroying the power of the one who held the power of death, the devil. By experiencing the fullest expression of Satan’s power, death, Jesus demonstrated the limit of that power, and nullifies it. By overcoming death, Jesus breaks the power that the fear of death could have over us. Jesus, in becoming one of us, takes on our biggest enemy. He suffers death, but ultimately is victorious over it. Because he is superior over even death, those who claim him as Lord are subject to a greater power than even death itself.
One final teaching point from this chapter. In 2:8, the author acknowledges a very important point. It might be argued (and often is!) that if:
1. Jesus has been given authority over the whole world, and
2. There is much that doesn’t reconcile with his will, (including much that results in human suffering)
then why is Jesus not intervening to stop that which is against his will? It is interesting that at the first, Hebrews acknowledges that while we know and believe that all things are made subject to him, “yet at present we do not see everything subject to him”. It doesn’t take much observation to see that there is much in the world that doesn’t seem as though it is under Jesus’ rule. Hebrews doesn’t directly counter this, but it is significant hat it recognizes this fact, this tension. We live in an “in between time” era, when God has given the authority to Jesus, and yet we wait for that authority to be exercised in a decisive way. Hebrews acknowledges the tension, but goes on to reaffirm that Jesus’ authority is a real fact. It is out of this argument that the material about Jesus’ solidarity arises, and helps it make more sense. To those who are holding on, waiting for Jesus’ power to be revealed, they have to believe that the suffering that they endure because of God’s waiting is for the purpose of their own sanctification, so that they can become even more holy in anticipation of the keeping of God’s promises. They may also be encouraged by the solidarity of Jesus in the midst of that waiting.
It seems to me that while these emotional consequences of the argument are significant and encouraging, there is also another element that may be important to us. Although there are certainly times when we experience suffering, it must also be recognized that there are many times when we are distant from the suffering that takes place in the world. Our affluence can separate us from that experience up to a point, although never fully, and perhaps never effectively. But, what does it mean to follow a savior who voluntarily suffers for the purpose of identifying with suffering people? Might there be implications that at times, perhaps with consistency, that we need to place ourselves in situations where we can identify with suffering people? what might that look like for a church like Pleasant Valley?
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