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 ave you ever had doubts about Jesus?
That is the reason God gave us the book of Hebrews. Some Jewish
“Christians” were starting to have doubts about
Jesus. They apparently believed they were Christians and they
probably told everyone that they were Christians. They were
suffering persecution by their government and the leaders
of their community because they were spending time with Christians.
Some of these folks were thinking about returning to Judaism
because they had a low view of Jesus. They considered angels
to be superior to men including Jesus. So the Holy Spirit
uses scripture to show them that Jesus is the One who is,
in fact, superior to angels because He is God (Heb. 1:5-12)
and because He is our Ruler. So why did Jesus become a man?
This is the next mystery the Holy Spirit will talk about.
Jesus The Mystery.
After warning these Jewish “Christians” to listen
to Jesus (Heb. 2:1-4), the Holy Spirit now returns to talking
about the angels, Jesus, and the future. Listen . . .
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For
He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning
which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere,
saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT THOU REMEMBEREST HIM?
OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT THOU ART CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?
THOU HAST MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE
ANGELS; THOU HAST CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR,
AND HAST APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF THY HANDS;
THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing
that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet
see all things subjected to him. (NASB) Heb. 2:5-8. |
What
a statement! Jesus was made a little lower than angels for
only a short period of time. He was given the rule over everything
and crowned with glory. It appears these Jewish “Christians”
had a difficult time understanding Jesus since He was a man.
They did not know the Old Testament scriptures and so they
had doubts. They did not understand the mystery of the God-man.
Why A Man?
The Holy Spirit explains.
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But
we do see Him who has been made for a little while
lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that
by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
(NASB) Heb. 2:9. |
Jesus
was made lower for a short time so that “He might taste
death” for all of us. Did they wonder how Jesus could
die, since they knew God could not die? The answer is found
in the New Testament - Jesus is presented as both man and
God. Romans 1:2-4 is a great example of this. Verses 2-3 say
that He was born a man of the line of David; then in verse
4, we find that Jesus is also the Son of God, which means
He was God (see Study 4).
The mystery of Jesus is that He is both God and man. In scripture
we find that sometimes He is presented as God. |
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