Christmas In March

Just constantly Christmas on loop there as every month, but no. The reason I've called it Christmas in March is because the text before us is in truth about Christmas, not just Christmas, but ultimately why the Son of God became human. And of course, that's what we remember at Christmas, the incarnation.

Of course, the incarnation leads us to what we will have next month, in terms of Easter, but this text here really is probably the closest place in the New Testament where you have a kind of full treatment and exposition of answering the question, why did God the Son become human? And of course, that's at the heart of all of scripture, right?

The Father sending his Son. Why did that Son, the Son of God, who is the eternal Son, the Lord of glory, why would He ever come to earth? Why would He take on our flesh? Think of John,

the Word became flesh.

Why take on our humanity? Why did He do that?

We know the basic answers to that, but this text here is one which gives us a number of reasons for why that is the case, and that's what we want to look at today, Christmas in March, Why God the Son Became Human. Now, as you look at texts, obviously I know in terms of the faithful teaching of scripture here, we have to think of its larger context.

Christ is greater than angels

We're picking up in chapter two, verse five, But this is already a section, right? You can get that sense of it where it says,

for it's not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking,

right? So he's already, in chapter one, been speaking about Christ as greater than angels. And this passage here continues that argument.

If you know anything about the book of Hebrews, which I'm sure most of you do, that this book is anonymous, we're not sure exactly who the author is, lots of speculation on that, but we'll just leave it to the Holy Spirit. And he addresses, it seems, the author addresses probably Jewish Christians, and you have to put that together from the entire book.

These Christians are living in a world probably in the 60s AD. Why do we say that? Because there's so much in this book that talks about the tabernacle and the sacrificial system. It's pretty hard to imagine that if it was after 70 AD, when the fall of Jerusalem took place, that he wouldn't say, see, look, the temple's gone, right? But he doesn't say that So most think that this is probably early 60s, written to people in Rome.

It's probably the time of great persecution because you know from the book that these Christians have been Christians for a while. Hebrews chapter 5 and 6 speaks about, you should grow in maturity, which assumes that they have been Christians for a while, but they're stagnant in their Christian lives.

They're facing pressures from outside. Worse, they're facing pressures from within. They are in danger of forgetting the gospel. And at the heart of it, I think they're in danger of going back to the Old Testament ways. That's why if they're Jewish Christians to sort of think maybe those Old Testament ways were better.

And the author of Hebrews comes to encourage them and to warn them. This book is full of warnings. It's famous for that. But the warnings are the other side of the encouragement. So he first encourages them. And then the encouragement that he gives means that he must also warn them.

And the encouragement is centered on the preeminency of Christ, the glory of Christ, that the one that they've put their faith and confidence in is the entire fulfillment of the hope of the Old Testament. That's why there's so many Old Testament passages that are quoted. that in God's purposes, he has sent his son. This son has brought the new covenant. This son is the one that they are to continue to look to and to press on and to run the race that's set before them and not sort of go back to the old ways and think maybe Moses was better.

That's chapter three. Maybe the old system was better. No, no, no. Christ has now come. He is greater. And that's why through this entire book, you have Sort of the way that he presents the glory of Christ is in terms of comparison and contrasting. And this is why he begins in a number of areas by looking at things from the old, comparing them to Christ, and saying, Christ is better, Christ is greater.

And in chapter one and two, he starts by comparing and contrasting Christ to angels. we are in our particular text in chapter 2, verse 5. If you were to look at chapter 1, which really the comparison with angels begins in verse 4. There's the initial sort of thesis statement of the book, and then in verse 4 of chapter 1, he begins this comparison. We could say this, and it's not exactly accurate, but I think it captures the difference between chapter 1 and chapter 2. So how is Christ greater than angels in chapter one?

We could say it this way, it's because of who he is in his name, in his works, right? He is creator in his, and it brings in his work of salvation. He sits down at the right hand of God, becoming the great high priest, but it's primarily focused, we could say, on his person, his work, his glory, his name, that he is the God equal with the Father, and so on and so on. And then after a warning passage in verse 2, chapter 2, verse 1 to 4, so as any good preacher, he's expounding the glory of Christ, and he says, you better pay attention. The warnings are based upon the fact, given who Christ is and all of his glory and greatness, you can't neglect him. And that's why in chapter 2, verses 1 to 4, how we cannot neglect such a great salvation that has now come in him. He is God the Son. If you neglect him, there is no hope for you. And he warns them. And then he turns back to exposition in verse 5.

It's not angels. that he has subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking, and then continues to show the greatness of Christ by not just saying he's greater because of who he is, but he's greater because of what he does. Now, obviously, in chapter one, he picks up what he does. But we're emphasizing here, he really picks up his work.

And he emphasizes here, the Son of God is greater because he can do something that no angel could ever do for you, right? So angels are creatures and they could never save you. But the son of God is greater than angels because he is the one, and this is where the incarnation comes in. He is the one who has taken on our flesh. He is the one that can do a work that no angel can do. And then as the text unfolds, I'm going to break it down into four reasons, all tied to the incarnation, of why Christ is greater than angels, because he does something that no angel can do.

The first reason is, in becoming human, he is able to fulfill God's creation intent, or God's original intent for humanity. No angel can do that. And that will be given to us in verses five through nine. So that's the first reason that he gives. He's greater than angels because he, the Son, the eternal Son, has become human to do a work they can't do. What is that work? To fulfill God's creation intention for us. And then, and all these reasons sort of build on one another. But we'll just break them down so it's easier to break down the text. The second reason he gives is Christ is greater than angels because he has become human in order, and this is verses 10 through 13, to bring many sons to glory. No angel can do that, right?

And the third reason he gives is in verses 14 through 16. Christ is greater than angels because he now has become human and he can do something they can't do. Namely, he can destroy the power of death and Satan himself. And that's the third reason. And the fourth reason is given then in verses 17 and 18, which really, in some sense, is where the whole sort of section is moving, which then the author will develop in the rest of the entire book. Christ is greater than angels because he has become human. He is able to do something that no angel can do by becoming our merciful and faithful high priest.

So those are the four reasons. And this all grounds and substantiates and supports the Lord Jesus is greater, greater than angels, greater in name, greater in work, he then is alone, Lord and Savior. And thus, as he draws the conclusions of this church, follow him. Look to him. Run the race. Don't go backwards. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Fulfill God's creation intent

That's chapter 12. Fixed on Jesus, the author, pioneer, and he'll pick up that word here, founder of the faith. And so then he expounds that in the rest of the book. Well, let's turn to these four And the first one we said, right, is Christmas in March, why the Son of God has become human? He's become human in order to fulfill God's creation intent, his original intent for humanity. And this is found in verses five to nine.

For it's not angels that God has subjected the world to come of which we are speaking,

a reference back to chapter one, verse six.

It has been testified somewhere. What the author does in this entire book is grounds what he is saying in scripture. And of course, the scripture is the Old Testament. It has been testified somewhere. I always chuckle when I read that. He says, why doesn't he give the actual reference? But he says somewhere. Obviously, this is Psalm 8. This is from the Psalter. It's Psalm 8, a psalm of David, a very, very familiar psalm. And he quotes a portion of it.

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him, this man, the son of man,

a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. You put everything in subjection under his feet.

" So there's the quote. And now he has commentary.

Now, in putting everything in subjection to him, He left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to him.

But, and that but is crucial, right?

But we see him, Jesus, we see him for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

That section here is what I'm saying. The author is saying Christ is greater than angels because in becoming human, he does something no angel can do. He is able to fulfill, he is able to restore the very purpose of our creation. Now where am I getting that from? I'm getting it from that's from Psalm 8. And I'm getting it from how the author uses this psalm and then makes commentary and applies it.

It's important when you read the New Testament and they quote the Old Testament. They never do so by just sort of opening the text and putting their finger down and saying here's a good text. The author in choosing these texts, and that's true of all the New Testament authors, are very, very careful as they think about this text, its meaning in the Old Testament, how it fits in the Old Testament, and how now it comes to fulfillment in Christ. The author of Hebrews is assuming you thoroughly know the Old Testament.

And this is one of the challenges I think that people have with the book of Hebrews, is if they don't understand the basic storyline of the Old Testament, the basic structures of the Old Testament, they will often look at these quotations and they think, what's that doing there?

What's he quoting Psalm 8 for? And how does that come to fulfillment in Christ? As he quotes Psalm 8, in some sense Psalm 8 frames his entire discussion here. It's important then to go back to Psalm 8 and to look at what it says in the Old Testament. And I'm going to suggest to you that Psalm 8 in the Old Testament has a kind of backward look that takes you all the way back to Genesis, but it also has a forward look that what the author of Hebrews picks up and then applies to Christ, right? This backward look, Psalm 8. You can turn there, we have the basic sort of half of the quotation, but let me just sort of summarize Psalm 8, right? It's Psalm of David. It's placed in this altar.

David, we don't know the occasion of him writing it, but he is looking up at the heavens, it seems. And he says,

oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,

right? So he's worshiping God as creator and Lord. And then, you know, as he's putting this psalm together, he's marveling at the fact that he has made humans so valuable, right? And that's what this is found here. Oh Lord, oh Lord, you are creator. Why on earth do you think so greatly of us? Why did you make us?

And this is where it goes back to creation, right? And he's really reflecting on Genesis 1 and 2, right?

What is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man that you care for him, you made him a little lower than the angels, you crowned him with glory and honor, you put everything in subjection to his feet.

This is a reflection on creation. It's a reflection on our being made in God's image.

It's a reflection ultimately on Adam, isn't it? It's very similar to what the Apostle Paul, and I don't think the Apostle Paul is the author of Hebrews, but some don't have a doubt about the history of the church, but it's very similar to what Paul does in terms of Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. The Apostle Paul looks at the entirety of scripture and says there's two main individuals that are the most important in the Bible, Adam and Christ, and in some sense, Psalm 8 is doing the same thing, and the author of Hebrews is doing the same thing. Psalm 8 is looking back to our creation.

We are image bearers. What does that mean? We were made to be kings and queens who rule over the world. What a privileged position, right? It's only the Bible that gives you that high view of humans, right? When people depart from scripture and Christian worldview and Christian theology, what happens? Terribly, but in some sense ironically, right?

Often we try to set ourselves as the most important people in the universe. We try to displace God. We become idolaters by turning to created things. And the sad and ironic truth is we lose ourselves. The Bible, in seeing ourselves rightly before God, sees then that we have a proper unique place. And it's really only the Bible that gives us this unique place.

We are image bearers, male and female, to rule over the world, to put things in subjection to our feet. And that's what Psalm 8 is celebrating. That's what David is thanking God for. That's what he is looking back to in terms of that psalm. But I also said that the psalm in the Old Testament, positioned in the Old Testament, is not just looking backward, it's also looking forward.

Now, how's that? Well, if you were to read Psalm 8 just by itself,

you have put everything in subjection under his feet,

you could easily be thinking to yourself, that may have been the original situation, But something has gone just desperately wrong, right?

Do we really put things in subjection to our feet? Have we really ruled over the earth as we ought, right? You know from scripture, sorry, a little bit of a tickle here. You know from scripture that Genesis 3 occurs, that our rule has been thwarted. that sin and death have entered the realm through Adam, and sin and death have come into the world so that we do not rule as we ought. The author of Hebrews, in fact, I think picks this up, right?

In his commentary, after quoting in verse eight, he says so now, now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left, God left nothing outside his control.

At present, We do not see yet everything in subjection to him.

Now what's crucial here is to get this him right. I think often Christians have looked at this him here and they automatically think of Jesus, right? But the problem with that is Jesus is introduced in verse nine, right? The but, but we see him, namely Jesus. So the hymn that he's referring to in verse 8, as he makes commentary on Psalm 8, is the hymn of Psalm 8. Who's the hymn of Psalm 8? It's us. It's Adam, right?

And that's why here the author is already assuming that you not only know about our grand creation, but also the fact that sin and death entered the world, that we do not rule as we ought to rule, and that's why he says, at present, and this is almost an understatement, isn't it?

At present, we do not yet see everything subject to him,

namely, Adam and all of us. Oh, isn't that true?

And isn't that the story of scripture? Adam failed in his rule. Sin and death entered the world. He hardly put everything in subjection under his feet, because with the entrance of sin and death, ultimately, death puts him under its foot, doesn't it?

That's what's being hinted at here, and of course, that's what the Old Testament is giving to us. So the author in quoting Psalm 8 is saying, yes, look back to creation, but also remember something desperately has happened to us. Psalm 8 in the Old Testament, though, is also holding out hope. David writes as a prophet. David writes in his place of the Old Testament in light of an entire promised plan that he has received from Genesis 3.

So Genesis 3 gives us the problem of sin entering the world, But in light of an entire promise that begins in Genesis 3, that God will reverse the effects of sin and death. He will provide a human. He will provide a son of man. He will provide one who will restore what Adam lost. David, in looking back to creation, is also prophetically looking forward to that one who will come who will restore us.

That's how I think Psalm 8 is being used in this context. So that's why in verse 9, the author then says in verse 8, we don't see everything subject to us, that speaks of the fall and of sin and death,

But we now see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

The author then says, reading the Old Testament properly, Jesus now is the one who fulfills Psalm 8.

He is the one who fulfills Adam's role. He is the one who comes by taking on our humanity, right? He can only do that, the eternal son, by becoming human for us in order to be that human who was long predicted. That one who will in his humanity, and particularly, he picks up here, in his death, will put everything under his feet. will destroy sin and death, who will defeat the devil, and he'll move on to that, who will bring the restoration of what God created us to be in the first place. Now, that's the argument he's making. In some sense, he's putting here the whole Bible together, isn't he? We who were made for covenant relationship with God, we who in Adam were to rule the world, We who in Adam sinned and died, and even though we're still image bearers, the rule that we have over this world is pretty sad. Yet God has promised a Redeemer, a greater Adam, to come to restore us. But how does he restore us?

He becomes human. He takes our place. He acts on our behalf. He dies our death and thus he brings us back to glory. And of course that's what we'll move just in a moment here. But he is the one who becomes lower than angels in that sense. He becomes incarnate. He becomes human. He's crowned with glory and honor. Even the glory and honor language comes out of Psalm 8. He becomes human. He becomes the last Adam to restore us by his death.

Now that, in some sense, is the big picture of scripture. And it also helps us see something of the grandeur of salvation. Often, when we think of salvation, I think we think of simply being rightly related to God. And of course, that's foundational. Justification. We are justified before God. But salvation, that's foundational.

It includes that, but it also is restoring us to the very purpose of our image-bearing, the very purpose of our creation. This is why out of this comes a proper sense of calling and vocation and service, of living as those who were made to rule over the world. That has been thwarted, but in Christ, it's begun to be restored. We are being conformed to His image. In the end, in the new heavens and new earth, we will rule over the new heavens and new earth in relation to Christ. It gives us a grand sense of our purpose of creation, what redemption is. Even this week, as you begin a new week, you begin to think, I'm an image bearer. I have been restored in Christ. He has come to not let us ultimately fail in the task that God created us for, but to make us new, to restore us, to make us new creations in Christ. Oh, salvation is glorious, right? And the Redeemer does that by becoming human. Can an angel do that? No. Angels aren't image bearers. Angels can't save you, but the Son of God who takes on our image, who becomes human, is able to restore us.

Bring us to glory

He fulfills the very purpose of our creation. And then you have the second reason, and it builds on this, right? He not only comes to fulfill the purpose of our creation, but he is also the one who has come to bring us to glory. Now this builds right immediately.

We almost could put, verses 10 through 13 together with the previous verses, where he says here,

for it was fitting that he from whom and by whom all things exist,

that's God,

in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder,

that's an important word, we'll come back to that,

of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

I, and there's a couple of quotations. The first one is from Psalm 22.

I will tell your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.

And then again, and there's two quotations from Isaiah 8,

I will put my trust in him.

And again, behold, I and the children of God has given me.

Here's the second reason building on the first one. Why did the Son of God become human to restore us? But he became human to bring us, many sons, to glory. Now when we see that term glory here, In verse 10, many sons to glory. We often, I think, think of heaven, don't we? We're on our way to glory and we read and we have songs of the streets of glory and so on. We're looking to the heavenly city and so on. And all of that is no doubt true. But again, remember it's Psalm 8 that is framing the author's argument here. So in bringing many sons to glory, it's the glory of Psalm 8. We were created with glory and honor. In sin, that glory and honor has been defaced.

But in Christ, he is restoring us to glory. That's why it's very, very similar to what I've already said in verses 5 to 9. He is bringing us back to the very purpose of our creation. He's restoring us to what it means to be human. In Christ, we can look at it this way, we are becoming human again. It's a good way to look at salvation. Sin dehumanizes us. In Christ, he's making us more human. He's restoring us to glory. He's restoring us to the purpose of creation, and so on, as image bears in him. Now, how does he do this?

Well, it's fitting that this one who does so becomes the founder. And this term founder is very, very crucial. In the Greek, it's hard to bring it into English, right? Founder is a helpful translation, but it really conveys two ideas that no one English word gives you, right? The first area is sort of this notion of founder, pioneer, the one who establishes a new path. That's what a founder does, begins something new. So a pioneer, when the pioneers went westward type of thing, they established the new territory and built land and so on.

You also have with it the notion of champion. So founder, pioneer, champion. What word do we have in English that gives both those ideas? Well, really none, right? So you just put one word down, then you have to try to explain it. But here, this notion of pioneer. He's the trailblazer.

Again, that's a new creation theme, isn't it? He's the one who, in scripture, when the Lord Jesus comes and takes on our humanity, you see this most clearly at the virgin conception. The virgin conception is utterly unique and supernatural, but it's creation imagery. It's the spirit of God hovering over Mary, and that which is conceived is holy. You have creation. This is the dawning of the new creation.

Jesus is presented in the scripture as the pioneer, the founder. He, in his humanity, is the first man of the new creation, in some sense. With his incarnation and ultimately his cross and resurrection, he is the dawning of the new creation in him. And that's why he makes us new creations, right?

In him, we are transformed. We aren't the old. We are no longer in Adam. We are brought to be in Christ. And this is what he's getting at here. No angel can do that for you. No angel can ultimately restore us. But this one here is the pioneer. He is the champion.

He is the one who brings us to glory, and he brings many sons to glory. Son's language is adoption language, isn't it? And you have also here, when it speaks of verse 11,

for he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified of one source, he's not ashamed to call them brothers.

This is where we get the idea that Jesus is, yes, God the Son, the Son of glory, the Lord of glory, but he's also, in his humanity, our elder brother.

It's amazing to think. In taking on our humanity, he's able to now restore us. And these texts here, we don't have time to look at Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8 in the Old Testament. They're all messianic texts. But the emphasis here is that in becoming human, in becoming the pioneer, becoming the champion, he so identifies with us that we then become part of his family. And it says here that he's not ashamed to call us brothers, sisters. That's an amazing truth, right? He has every right to be ashamed of us. But he, by grace, takes on our humanity, restores us in that very humanity, and he brings us as part of his family, sonship, adoption.

I mean, this is the glories of only what the incarnate Christ can do, and no angel can do this. And notice what he does here is he does that through suffering, a reference to his death. But in some sense, probably suffering here speaks of his whole life. culminating in his death. We have that truth found in scripture. And he's perfected through his suffering.

Many have asked, what does perfection mean? It certainly doesn't mean that he's made better. He is the eternal son, he's sinless, he has all glory. He's not made better. Perfection is a kind of priestly term. And he moves to the notion of priest. Perfection means he is qualified. So in becoming human, he becomes qualified to represent us.

He becomes qualified to be our founder, to be the one who restores us. And he brings us back and he brings us to glory. The conclusion of this, right, would be that without him, without his incarnation, without his entire life, death, resurrection, we have no salvation. We have no restoration. We have no hope. We are ultimately left in sin and death, but God the Father has so loved us that he's given us his son. His son now has taken on our humanities, identified with us, to now restore us and bring us back.

Destroy death

But the author's not even finished there. As he begins to think of Christ is greater than angels, he moves to verse 14 through 16. And then notice in these texts, and you'll see this in 14 through 16 as well as 17, there's a kind of necessity that the author speaks of in terms of the incarnation. He had to become like us. It was necessary for him to become like us.

Apart from the Son of God becoming human, he couldn't restore us and he couldn't, in verses 14 to 16, destroy death. And he couldn't destroy Satan, right? So in verse 14 to 16,

since therefore the children share in flesh and blood,

that's our humanity. Since we have that,

he himself likewise partook of these same things,

right? He had to do that.

No angel becomes incarnate. No angel can become incarnate. But he now takes of our humanity, partook of these things,

that then through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it's not angels that he helps, but Abraham's descendants.

" Well, here's another reason, building on really Psalm 8, this sort of new Adam, last Adam, right? He becomes human in order to defeat Our enemies, the devil, death, and so on, right? Speaks of our fear of death, right?

I think that's a universal human experience. Woody Allen, do you even remember Woody Allen, that old playwright and comedian and a number of other things? He used to have this quip where he would say,

I'm not afraid to die, I just don't wanna be there when it happens.

And of course that is humorous in some sense. I'm not a fear of death, but I just don't want to be there.

Reflects, I think all of us, we all have deep down, we're afraid to die. Now there's reasons for that tied to pain and maybe suffering and a number of things, but ultimately in scripture, our fear of death that is universal in us is that we are afraid to stand before God. That's what I think drives the fear of death. When the issues of sin and the right relation with God is restored, then that fear of death is greatly curbed. We are ready to go to be with him. But the fear of death ultimately is our standing before God. In scripture, there is what we say an organic relationship between our sin, right? We see this in Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve sin, they break the command. And all the way back to Genesis 2, if you break the command, what happens? You die.

The wages of sin is death,

right? So sin leads to death, and also in scripture, because we are sinners, because we die, then we have a tyrant over us.

That's where the devil fits in, right? Sometimes people make too little of the devil, and other times they make too much. Devil is simply a creature, but scripture says he can hang death over our head as if it enslaves us. And that's what he has mentioned here in these verses because the devil becomes the accuser. See, death is hanging over your head because you sinned before God, the fear of judgment, and he becomes a tyrant, right? And the author of Hebrew says, Jesus has now come to destroy our enemies. He's to come to destroy death.

And of course, he does that through death. And of course, that's the crucial allusion to his, or not allusion, reference to his cross. He destroys death by destroying sin. And of course, that relationship has to come first. Sometimes people will have the cross simply as defeating Satan. Well, it is. But it defeats Satan by the defeating of sin and the defeating of death. If sin is dealt with, death is defeated. It no longer has power over us, and ultimately, Satan's power is gone.

And here is where, right, this is why the Son of God becomes human. This is what he can do that no angel can do. There is no salvation even for angels. But the Son of God has become human. to take our place. He is the resurrection of the life. He is the one that is the Elf and the Omega. He is the one that takes away that fear of death and restores us to the very purpose of our creation. But then he moves to verse 17 and 18. The Son of God is better than angels. He has become human to restore us, to bring us to glory, to defeat our enemies.

A merciful and faithful high priest

And ultimately, and this is where it goes in 17 and 18, to become a merciful and faithful high priest, right? Verse 17, 18 is where I think the whole argument is going. The humanity becoming incarnate allows him to be now our high priest, our mediator, right?

And in some sense, the whole book of Hebrews from end of chapter 4 all the way to 10 unpacks this great priestly theme. What is a high priest? You can't take the people who understand that for granted, right? Unless they know biblical language and biblical categories, they might think of high priest in all kinds of ways. They may think of Roman Catholic theology. They may think of Wiccan theology. They may think of who knows what. But in Scripture, right, a high priest is a go-between. A high priest is a mediator, right?

You have that in Hebrews 5.1. There's one verse that gives you in one sentence summary what a high priest is.

For every high priest, Hebrews 5.1, is chosen from among the men, from among us,

is appointed to act on behalf of us in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

A high priest comes from us. And this is what is being emphasized here. In order to represent us, he must become one of us, right? In the Old Testament, Israel, right? The high priest came from those people. Well, how does Christ become a great high priest? He becomes incarnate, right?

He takes on our humanity in identification in order to be that one who is the go-between, appointed to represent us before God, of sin. That's why a high priest is, and that's the rationale in some sense for why the Son of God must become human. And so he says here in verse 17, moving sort of the conclusion of the section. He had to be made like. There's the necessity. For him to represent us, he must identify with us. He can't identify with us unless he becomes human.

He had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become merciful and faithful high priest in service to God,

right? We can't have a redeemer without first the incarnation. Now the incarnation doesn't save by itself, but it becomes the ground and basis to lead to our salvation, to a life lived, a death died, a sacrifice given, the payment of our sin, the defeat of death and Satan. These words here describes him as a merciful high priest. Beautiful, isn't it?

What is mercy? It's a display of pity. It's an expression of love, but it's actually a display of pity. We are a pitiful people, and God in Christ has shown us mercy. This is an act of grace, right? God does not have to save, but he chooses to act on our behalf. He chooses to show us pity, and he does not just say, well, I feel sorry for those people.

He does something. The Son of God becomes human. The Son of God enters this realm, lives our life, dies our death, is raised for our justification, and restores us. And he does that faithfully. Faithfully, I think, picks up not only doing his work well and being faithful to the end, but it speaks of his obedience. He obeys the Father's will in life and in death.

He secures for us what we could not bring about ourself and which no angel could bring about, right? And then it says here, he does all of that in a merciful, faithful way But what is really significant, in some sense this is where the text goes, is he carries out an act of propitiation for the sins of the people.

We have a lot of barriers between us and God. Sin and death has brought the power of Satan over us. But the truth of the matter is, in our sin and what Adam did and our fallenness, The greatest problem that we have is our relationship to God, right? The God who is holy, the God who is just, the God who in his holiness displays wrath against our sin. What is ultimately needed is not the defeat of Satan, is even the defeat of death, right? Those things are powers because of sin before God. What is needed is for the divine son to take on our humanity in order to satisfy the very wrath of God against us.

That's what's necessary. We need him to cry from the cross,

my God, my God, why have forsaken me,

as he acts on our behalf, as our substitute, as he bears our sin, and in doing that, then death is gone. Then Satan is defeated. All of our enemies are gone. But the first and greatest need that we have as human beings is to be made right with God. That's at the heart of all that this great high priest does. He bears our sin. He takes our place. He's qualified to do that because he becomes human. He's able to identify and represent us. And he does that perfectly. We're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper, right? That's what the Lord's Supper is all about, isn't it? You have the bread and you have the cup. What does that signify in the Incarnate Son the Son became human?

He took on our flesh and blood. He took on our humanity. And by that humanity, He then, as the Son of God, offers Himself and satisfies indeed God's own righteous requirements that are now paid in full so that he can restore us to glory, he can bring about everything we need, and that's why eventually in this book the author says, don't go back to anything of the old, don't look to angels, don't look to Moses, don't look to anything else, look to Christ, right? And this Jesus, as he finishes here in verse 18, not only is able to redeem us, to satisfy God's righteous requirements, to defeat our enemies, to bring us back to the purpose of our creation, but in his incarnation he knows exactly what we go through. It's an amazing thing. The Son of God has taken his humanity back.

It's permanent. And even as now he intercedes on our behalf, he knows what our struggles are. He lived in this world. He was sinless, yes, but he lived in this fallen world. He knows the fullness of temptation. He knows the hatred of enemies. He knows pain and suffering and so on. He knows that in his humanity so that he is now able to sympathize with us, to meet us in our need.

You need Christ and Him alone

You don't need anybody else, right? You don't need some other mediator. You don't need some other intercessor. You don't need, sometimes in the Roman Catholic Church, you know, Mary or so on. You don't need any of that, right? You need Christ and Him alone, right? This is why, right in Scripture, He alone saves. That's sometimes a hard message in our world. Exclusive Savior? Only Jesus? Yes, only Him.

Because of who he is, what he does, there is no way that we can be restored to the purpose of our creation. There's no way that we can be brought to glory. There's no way that death and the devil can be defeated. There's no way that we can stand right before God apart from him. And the call of the gospel is to make sure we know him. Repent, believe, follow Him, and even for those who are here, right? Most of us here are believers in Him.

Trust Him this week, right? There should be a song in your heart, a joy in your step. Life is worth living, right? There's a future before us, a Redeemer who has come, who knows us by name. We're part of His family. He can identify with you even in the worst of your struggles, and He is the one who has effectively triumphantly brought our salvation to pass, and he will complete it in the end. We have a Redeemer that is worthy of our trust now and forevermore.

May we find our rest in him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the glory of your Son, the great gift of your Son. We thank you of the author of Hebrews. It weaves together the great message of the Old Testament, gives us this great picture of the Incarnate Son, the Eternal Son, who became man for us to do what no angel could do, to bring about the great redemption that we need. Oh, may we be those who first rest in Him, know Him, believe in Him, trust in Him.

We cannot add anything to His work. He is enough. May we find our salvation in Him today. And as we trust and walk as believers, even this week, all of our lives, May he be the one that is the author and finisher of our faith. We look to him. Run the races before us. Endure and long to see his appearing. And in the meantime, be faithful to him as your people called to serve, called to be salt and light. Oh, help us to look to Jesus and run the races before us for his glory, for our good, and for the good of the church. And we ask this in Jesus' name.