Hebrews 2:9-11 *
Greeting: Grace, mercy,
and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Text: Hebrews 2:9-11 “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. 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. 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.”
See Jesus!
II.
See him reach his goal
through sufferings!
III.
See him crowned with glory
and honor!
Dear
fellow runners in Christ,
On your mark!
Get set! Go! And they’re off . . . hundreds, thousands,
millions . . . if you’d look around, you’ll see that
there are countless people in this race.
This is the human race: the course they run is life, and we are in the
middle of it. Now everybody runs the
race in his own way. Some will strive
and strain with every last muscle, always trying to be in first place. Some will set a more even pace, happy if they
can get from day to day. While still
others will frequently stop to smell the flowers, content just to drift
along. Yet, like any runner, they are
all focused. One will focus all his time
and energy on his family, another on her career, another on glory and fame, and
yet another on leisure or happiness. But
at the end of their race, all these people will come to see that they were out
of focus the whole way. In this race of
life, we as Christians have only one focus.
As Christians, we see Jesus. The
rest of the world will tell us to get our eyes checked because they would
rather look to themselves. The devil and
our sinful flesh constantly fatigue us and throw obstacles in our way to try to
make us look away from Jesus. But the
Holy Spirit has shown us clearly through the eyes of faith—that faith which he
has created by the Gospel—what a profound, comforting, and glorious sight Jesus
is. That is why our text for today
encourages us to See Jesus!
See him enter the race in humility!
See him reach his goal through sufferings! and See him crowned with glory and honor!
Jesus was around long before any of us or any human could see him. Before any matter or light, before time began its course, Jesus was. He is true God, from all eternity. And as true God, Jesus has every other quality that God has. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-glorious, worthy of all praise and honor. Our text says, “for whom and through whom everything exists.” He created the universe and everything in it: the bright sun and the twinkling stars, the majestic mountain peaks and the murky ocean depths, the biggest elephant and the smallest gnat, the strong man and the suckling infant. Not only did he create all things, but, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us in chapter one, he sustains everything with his powerful word. He keeps the planets in line and the seasons in succession. He causes the sun to rise every day so we can see and plants can grow. He provides rain for crops so all can eat. He blesses man with a mind to build houses for shelter and make clothes for warmth. As true God, Jesus is worthy of all glory.
But Jesus didn’t see the glory and power and honor as the be all and end all of his existence. On Christmas Day over 2000 years ago, see Jesus enter the human race in humility. He became our human brother. The text says he was “made a little lower than the angels.” Psalm 8 uses that phrase “made a little lower than the angels” in speaking of how God made all humans. But why would the all-glorious Lord and Ruler of all creation allow himself to be born in a dirty barn and laid to rest in a slop trough? Jesus birth was truly humbling.
It was also downright
shameful. It is a shameful thing to be called our human brother. This human race was created the crown of God’s
creation. But since our oldest brother
Adam sinned, we were all born in sin.
This sin completely cripples us from running the kind of race that God’s
law demands. Just as I do, you show that
every day. By nature, you chase after
every inclination of your sinful heart.
You run to tell the next person what you just heard about someone, or
what you just saw him do. And so you run
his reputation right into the ground.
You are quick to criticize a Christian brother or sister because they
don’t do something as well as you do.
And instead of encouraging them in their service, you have just run a
stake through their heart—you killed them.
Worst of all, rather than flee to God for refuge and gladly hear his
Word and learn it, whether it be with personal devotions or at public worship
or bible class on Sunday morning, you would rather make a mad dash for your
pillow, the TV, or anything else that makes you “way too busy for God’s
Word.” Yes, because we disobey God’s law
all our life, you and I and the rest of the human race is right on track to go
to hell. We sinners deserve to see
nothing but the wrath of God, just as those who perished in the flood or were
incinerated in
But wait, the human race is not
lost. Neither are you. Look!
Out from the middle of the pack emerges Jesus, the sinless son of God. Out of love for us sinners he became our
human brother and entered the human race in our place. And he ran it perfectly. See Jesus, because he entered the race and
defended his brothers’ reputations perfectly.
See Jesus enter the race and never think bad of
his human brothers, never speak an unkind word to them, and never hurt any of
them. See Jesus enter the race and
always flee to God’s Word for refuge perfectly—when he went off alone for early
morning personal devotions or when tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Because
Jesus entered the race and ran it perfectly for us, we are all members of God’s
family. Now, in the words of our
text, “He is not ashamed to call us brothers.”
We are on track to spend our eternity in eternal bliss. Because Jesus entered the human race in
humility for us, we have nothing but heaven to look forward to. What a profound and comforting thing that is
for us sinners.
Now as we run out the rest of our race on earth, we
do so with thanks in our hearts and praise on our lips for him who ran the race
perfectly for us. But the first readers
of the letter, who were most likely members of a Jewish-Christian house church
in
Don’t we
often wonder the same thing when we suffer the world’s ambushes along our
race? Here in America God has blessed us
with the freedom of religion, so we probably won’t ever be in danger of
suffering physical persecution. But all
the same, the people of the world call us fools who are out of touch with
reality when we look to Jesus and his perfect obedience alone as our source of
worth. The world calls us intolerant and
arrogant when we Christians direct people to the triune God alone, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit for all we need in this life and the next. The world calls us unscientific and
irrational because we believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth. The world tells us that we
are out of our minds for believing that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary.
What can we do when we suffer the ambushes of the world? Isn’t it sometimes easier for us to go along
with what other people say so they won’t think that we’re different? Do we sometimes think it’s not worth sticking
up for what we know God’s Word tells us to be true? What can we do when the world ambushes us
with temptations not to confess our Christianity?
Our text says, “It was fitting that God should make
the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” It is fitting
that the world despises us who look to Jesus, just as they despised Jesus
himself. But don’t focus on your own
sufferings! See Jesus reach his goal
through sufferings! The greek word for “make perfect” really has the idea of
reaching a goal, in the same way that an athlete would reach his goal when he
runs a race successfully. Just as a
victorious athlete expends himself to the point of suffering, so Jesus suffered
every step of the way on the home stretch from
See how much Jesus suffered for you and take comfort
when the ambushes along the race of this life seem too great for you to
bear. Jesus wasn’t too ashamed to suffer
and even die for you. Because Jesus is
not ashamed to call us brothers, we can unashamedly confess Him before the
world. When the world ambushes you
with persecutions, rejoice that you are counted worthy of suffering for the
name of him who suffered for you.
No sooner do we set our eyes back
on Jesus for comfort from the ambushes of this world than fatigue sets in. As we
continue to run our race as redeemed children of God, the devil and our flesh
fatigue us with temptations to lose sight of Jesus. We will have to battle our sinful
flesh until we see Jesus coming again with clouds descending. You may struggle with envy, lust, a bad
temper, or greed. Your new man may tell
you to do good, fear, love and trust in God above all things because of all the
good he’s done for you. But the good you
want to do you just can’t seem to do. And
the evil you don’t want to do somehow happens
anyway. Then the devil will point you
right back to the evil you have done. “You worthless sinner!
How can you look at yourself in the mirror every day and call yourself a
child of God? You’re no Christian!” Satan and your flesh may even fatigue you to
the point that you would just as soon not flee temptation, but instead stumble,
collapse and wallow in your sin and misery.
But when Satan and your flesh fatigue you, the text tells us that you can “see Jesus crowned with glory and honor.” This crown is a crown given to an athlete for winning a competition. But we could compare it to an Olympic gold medal. See Jesus crowned with glory and honor, wearing the gold medal of his resurrection that proves he has overcome the ambushes of this world and the fatigue of Satan’s temptations. See Jesus crowned with glory and honor interceding for us for every single time our sinful flesh led us to sin. See Jesus crowned with glory and honor in your baptism, where he washed you clean from all the times you didn’t look to him. See Jesus crowned with glory and honor at Holy Communion, when he invites you, a worthless sinner, to eat and drink his body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. See Jesus crowned with glory and honor seated at the right hand of God the Father, powerfully working out all things for the good of those who love him—for you and me, his beloved brothers and sisters.
As we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, we remember the glorious privilege that members of his family have to share the sweet sight of forgiveness with others, and that we ourselves will be with Jesus in glory someday. But the honor belongs only to Jesus. See Jesus enthroned amid the countless angels of heaven singing “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” See Jesus the triumphant athlete wearing the gold medal high on the victor’s stand, receiving thunderous applause from the multitudes of saints robed in white proclaiming “You are worthy because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” My dear fellow runners in Christ, See Jesus! Amen.
Votum: Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.