Daily Thoughts from Hebrews: Jesus Our Brother (2:10-13)

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder 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 will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

And again,

          “I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

         “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” (Hebrews 2:10-13, ESV)

Jesus has done everything for us to bring us to glory, the glory that was originally intended for us but lost through our own foolishness.  He has subjected himself to suffering so that the Father, for whom and by whom all things exist, might use this to demonstrate his perfection.  The lamb must be unblemished, a perfect sacrifice, and is set aside for some days to prove that (Exodus 12:3-6).  Jesus’ suffering only served to highlight his perfection.  In this sense the Father “made” him perfect, that is, showed his perfection.

Unlike Adam before him, the founder of our race who failed the test, Jesus passed every test.  And he did all this for his brothers, in whose humanity he has joined as he took on human nature and lived just like we must, growing, learning and even suffering.  He did not lean on his deity, but leaned entirely on the Holy Spirit as we are called to do.

His “brotherhood” with us is testified to in Scripture.  The quote from Psalm 22 speaks of David the king and his vow to give praise to the God who delivered him from his enemies after great suffering.  Jesus is the ultimate king and so the ultimate fulfillment of David’s experience and so this psalm speaks of him as well and his brotherhood with man.  The quotes from Isaiah 8 also refer to Jesus as the perfect fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s role in Israel.  God gave Isaiah children who were signs to Israel of God’s presence with them.  Jesus’ “children” are those who have come to him in faith.

Jesus is not ashamed, therefore, to call us brothers and sisters.  As such a brother he has gone the full distance to identify with our suffering and to do something about it.  Because he is perfect he is able to pay the price for our sin that we cannot without suffering an eternity in hell.

An old Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun.  “Could it be,” asked one of the students, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?”  “No,” answered the Rabbi.  Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?”  “No.” answered the Rabbi.  “Then what is it?” the pupils demanded.  “It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother.  Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.”

Until we can see Jesus as our brother, it is still night.