Hebrews 2:5-18 - Why did Jesus become human?

In the early centuries of the church, the church faced two opposite extremes as it sought to understand and describe who Jesus is.

There were some groups who so emphasised the deity of Christ that they denied the fact that Jesus was also totally and completely human. They denied the fact that Jesus, the son of God, became a human being. In fact, towards the end of his life the Apostle John faced this very issue in the churches that he was responsible for, and we read John's response to this teaching not only in his Gospel, but also in first and second John.

1 John 4:2-3 says:

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.

Or 2 John 1:7:

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!

This is why John was so adamant in John 1:14 that:

The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

And again in 1 John 1:1:

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.

In each of these passages, John was making it clear that Jesus, the son of God, became "flesh". We saw him, heard him, touched him, and we know that Jesus was totally and completely human.

But there were some groups who, while acknowledging that Jesus was totally human, rejected the teaching that Jesus was also God.

In the early fourth century, a presbyter in the church in Alexandria named Arius began teaching that Jesus was only a created being. Arius taught that Jesus wasn't God at all but was instead just one of God's creatures. (And the teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses and others on the identity of Jesus is a return to fourth century Arianism.)

And it was in response to Arius' rejection on the deity of Christ that the Emperor Constantine called the church to meet at Nicaea, out of which came the Nicene Creed which sought to avoid both of these extremes. It sought to avoid the rejection of the deity of Jesus, as well as avoiding a rejection of the humanity of Jesus. The Nicene Creed says, in part:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten from the Father. God from God. Light from Light. True God from true God. Begotten, not made. Of the same substance as the Father. Through him all things were made.

And in all of that, they were making it abundantly clear their belief that Jesus is totally, and completely, God.

But the creed continues:

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.

And here the Council of Nicaea was seeking to emphasise the fact that Jesus wasn't some spirit. He didn't merely "appear" to be human but was not. Instead, Jesus, in his earthly life, was totally, and completely, human. And the creed professes that his humanity was shown in his birth, suffering, and death. In all of this, the early church was declaring that Jesus is both totally God, and totally man.

And in the first two chapter of Hebrews the author of Hebrews is doing the exact same thing. On the one hand he is declaring loud and clear that Jesus is God, while on the other, he is declaring, equally loud and clear, that Jesus was totally human. In his introduction to this letter he describes seven things which indicate the deity of Jesus. Seven things that show us, prove to us, the fact that Jesus is God. He says in Hebrews 1:2:

In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

And as he goes on to discuss the deity of Jesus, the author tells us that because in his nature Jesus is totally and completely God:

He is superior to the prophets.
He is superior to the angels.
The angels themselves are commanded to worship him.
The angels serve him.
And we, as believers, we have the obligation to pay even closer attention to who Jesus is, and to what Jesus has done for us.

But in our reading this morning, the writer, having emphasised in Chapter 1 the deity of Christ, he is here emphasising the fact that Jesus was also totally human. This is the reason for the statements in Hebrews 2:11-14:

For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

And again, “I will put my trust in him.”

And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

And Hebrews 2:17 goes on to say:

Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.

But why? Why was it necessary for Christ Jesus, who is totally God, to also become "totally human"? Now there are several reasons for this, and what I am going to talk about today isn't the "whole story", and we will deal with more of the reasons for the incarnation, Jesus becoming human, over the next few weeks.

But one of the reasons is found in Job's complaint in Job 9:33, where Job says to God:

There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand on us both.

And the exact same Greek word[1] that was used to translate the Hebrew here in Job 9,[2] is also used half a dozen times in the New Testament,[3] and in the New Testament it is always translated as "mediator". A person who stands between two parties, and who seeks to draw these two parties back together. This word is used three times in Hebrews alone to speak about the ministry of Jesus. We read in Hebrews 8:6 that:

Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises.

Hebrews 9:15:

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24:

Jesus [is] the mediator of a new covenant.

The writer makes it abundantly plain that by becoming human, Jesus, the son of God, was enabled to become a "mediator". A go between. An arbitrator, or, as the NRSV says in Job 9:33, “an umpire” between God and humanity.

And what is probably the most important use of this term in the New Testament is found in 1 Timothy 2:5 which says:

There is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human.

And notice here Paul's insistence that this "mediator", this "arbitrator", this "go between" between God and humanity has to be the "human being", the "man", Christ Jesus.

Jesus came into this world for many things, some of which we will look at in the weeks to come, but Hebrews and Paul both indicate that one of the significant reasons for Jesus to come into this world and to live a human life among us was so that he might be a "mediator", "an arbitrator", "a go between", between humanity and God. To bring we who are divided from one another, back together.

And the best "mediator" in any situation is the person who totally understands the positions of both parties.

The best mediator in any labour dispute will not be a Union leader. Nor will it be a business leader. The best mediator in any labour dispute will be the person who has been both a businessman, and a unionist. A person who understands the needs, fears, desires, and aspirations of both sides in the dispute. And by understanding the positions of both parties, he has the ability to bring the two parties together.

And Jesus, as a "mediator", has done just that. On the one hand, because Jesus is totally God, he has the power and ability to make the ways of God, the desires of God, and the purposes of God known to us perfectly. This is what John mentions in John 1:18:

No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

As one who is totally God, Jesus has the ability and power to make God and God's position known to us.

And in the same way, Jesus, as one who became totally human, Jesus makes humanity, and humanity's struggle, known to God.

Now it isn't as if God doesn’t "know" everything, of course he does, but it is part of the mystery of God's grace and mercy that God, in his love for humanity, would deign to become a human being, so that he might understand and know what it is like to be human!

Let me illustrate it this way.

In the "bad old days", when a pregnant woman went into labour, her husband's sole responsibility was to get her to a hospital where the doctors and nurses took care of her. And as soon as a husband got his wife to the hospital, he was "kicked out". He was told to go into the waiting room and pace around for hours, drink lots of coffee, and smoke cigarettes. Thankfully, in the last few decades that has all changed. Husbands are not only allowed in for the delivery, we have also been actively encouraged to be present while our children are being born. And so when Stephanie went into labour to give birth to our son James, I was able to be present for his birth.

However, even though I was present in the labour ward, and I was able to see my son being born, I have "experienced" childbirth only as an observer. Stephanie, on the other hand, has experienced childbirth as a participant.

And that is what Jesus did when he came into this world and was born of Mary. Instead of being a mere observer of humanity, God, in Christ, became a participant in humanity's struggle. In becoming human, or, as verse seventeen says, by becoming like his brothers in every way, God, in Christ, experienced humanity from the "inside", as a human being.

Think of it this way. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, God said in Exodus 3:7-9:

I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . . The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

In all of that, what was God's "experience" of Israel's slavery? God was an observer. He heard. He saw. He was concerned. He even came down to do something about it. But even though God tells Moses that he is sending him to deliver Israel from Egypt, God himself was not a participant in Israel's sufferings.

But what we see in the Gospel is that when Jesus became a human being, God became a "participant" in the human struggle. When Jesus left the glories of heaven to live amongst us, he took up our lot, and as a result, God now "understands" what being human is all about, because God has "participated" in humanity.

That, to me, is an infinite act of Grace. The son of God joining with us, so that he might understand us, so that he might mediate on our behalf with God the Father. As the song says, "Jesus knows all about our sorrows". Why? Because he became one of us and lived our sorrows.

The difference between "observation" and "participation" would be like a rich man deciding that he was going to help the poor in the slums of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, or America.

Every morning he wakes up in his flash apartment on the "good side of town". He eats a huge breakfast and goes into the slums. And every night he goes back home to his penthouse, where he eats a fantastic meal, and sleeps in his warm, comfortable bed.

He doesn't live in the slums.
He doesn't struggle in the slums.
He doesn't go hungry in the slums.
He doesn't go without water or electricity in the slums.
He doesn't face the trials, worries, fears, and suffering of being in the slums.

No. Every morning he just "shows up", and every night he "goes home".

He may have "an experience" of being in the slums, as one who has observed the struggle, but he doesn't know what it is like to live in the slums, to be a "participant" in the struggles.

He would only be able to be a "participant" in the slums if he rejected the use of his wealth, his fancy home, his family connections, and lived in the slums day and night, with nowhere else to go, only then would he know what it was like to live in the slums.

To know and understand the slums would take more than simply "visiting". It would require 'living'. It would require becoming a slum dweller, and what is it that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that he was not merely an "observer" of the human condition, but by becoming completely and totally human he became a participant in the human condition; "like his brothers, in every way". And by becoming a full participant in humanity, not only did Jesus reveal God to us, but, in a very real sense, he also revealed us to God.

This is what makes Jesus a "mediator". This is why Jesus is that "arbitrator", that “umpire” that Job longed for, because Jesus, the one who is God, also became man, and lived out our human existence from birth to death, and as a result Jesus totally understands both God and man, because Jesus is both God and man, and by fully understanding both God and man, Jesus is our "mediator". By:

Being tested in tested in every way as we are[4]

God now understands by experience the human struggle. This is part of what Paul talks about in Philippians 2:6-7:

Though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

Although he is God, he did not choose to stay in that penthouse on the good side of town. Instead, he gave it all away, and he came and lived in the slums with us. He experienced humanity with all of its joys and sorrows. Sufferings and struggles. Triumphs and defeats. As he says in Hebrews 2:16:

For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.

So on the one hand, as God, Jesus reveals God to us. While as a man, Jesus reveals us to God.

But there is one more act of revelation that Jesus did while he lived among us. By becoming human, Jesus revealed to humanity what it means to be truly human. He revealed to all humanity everything that we were created to be, for as we look at the life and love of Jesus, we see a life that displays God's original intention for humanity. The life of Jesus reveals:

Genuine humanity, to humanity.

Some years ago, I had a discussion with someone about holiness, or obedience, or something like that. And while we were talking, and while I was using the life of Jesus as an example of holiness and obedience, this other person said to me:

Well, it was easy for Jesus to live a holy life. After all he was God.

And this statement prompted me to a great deal of thought.

Did Jesus do what he did because he was God?

The answer is quite simple, and yet for us in our humanity, it is quite profound.

Was Jesus able to do what he did because he was God?

No! Instead, Jesus did what he did as a genuine human being who had totally surrendered his life to the will of God, and who walked in total obedience to God.

If Jesus did what he did, lived how he lived, spoke as he did, because he is God, then Jesus had an "unfair advantage", and he was not "like his brothers in every way".

But if Jesus did what he did, lived how he lived, completely as a human being, having laid aside the privileges and the power of deity, then he has shown us what it means to be human.

The life that we often live is not genuine humanity. The life we live is a "false" humanity, for it is not what God intended. However, the life of Jesus was truly human. It was everything that God intended.

Did Jesus perform miracles, raise the dead, heal the sick, or feed five thousand because he was God? Or did he do these things because, living on this earth as a man, having "emptied himself", or "made himself nothing". Having been rich, yet becoming poor for our sake, Jesus did what he did because he listened completely to what God wanted, and then in faith, trust, and obedience, Jesus did what God wanted.

Jesus said in John 5:19:

Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.

Jesus said, "I can only do what I do as I look to God the Father, and as I do what he does". That is what being a human being is all about.

Hebrews 2:13 has Jesus saying:

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

I will live as a human being in absolute faith in God the Father. Absolute trust in God's will and plan, and living by faith, I will live a life of obedience. I will live as every human being is meant to live, so that every human being can know what it means to be "truly human".

Likewise, did Jesus teach what he did because he was God? Or did he teach what he did and how he did because, having come into this world as a man, and having humbled himself before God and living as a man, having "emptied himself", "he who was rich, yet became poor for our sake", Jesus listened to what God said, and passed on the message of God to the people? Jesus said in John 8:28:

When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.

Or John 12:49:

I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.

And John 15:15:

I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

Each of these show us that Jesus lived his life in complete obedience to God the Father. Submitting to God the Father. Trusting God the Father. Living and acting as God had always intended humanity to live and act. Jesus lived the first truly human existence since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin. And how Jesus lived is that "abundant life", that "genuine life", that Jesus came to give us.

That is the example of life that Jesus revealed to us. An example of faith, submission, and obedience to God that Jesus wants all of us to follow. And by following the example of Jesus, we become what God intended humanity to be when he created us.

Why did Jesus become a human being?

Firstly, to reveal God to us, so that we would know what God is like.

Secondly, to reveal us to God, so that Jesus might be a true mediator, having experienced the human condition.

And third, Jesus became human in order to reveal true humanity to us. To make known to us what it means to live as God's holy people.

Will we listen to Jesus as he reveals God to us. As he reveals God's love, grace, and mercy, as well as God's plan and purposes?

Will we listen as Jesus reveals true humanity to us, and will we, like Peter, James, John, Andrew, and Matthew, will we leave everything behind, and rise up, and follow him?

[1] mesithj

[2] מוֹכִ֑יחַ. Hifil Masc. Sing Participle of יָכַח

[3] Galatians 3:19-20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24

[4] Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 2:5-18 - Why did Jesus become human?

In the early centuries of the church, the church faced two opposite extremes as it sought to understand and describe who Jesus is.

1 John 4:2-3 says:

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.

Or 2 John 1:7:

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!

This is why John was so adamant in John 1:14 that:

The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

And again in 1 John 1:1:

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.

In each of these passages, John was making it clear that Jesus, the son of God, became "flesh". We saw him, heard him, touched him, and we know that Jesus was totally and completely human.

But there were some groups who, while acknowledging that Jesus was totally human, rejected the teaching that Jesus was also God.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten from the Father. God from God. Light from Light. True God from true God. Begotten, not made. Of the same substance as the Father. Through him all things were made.

And in all of that, they were making it abundantly clear their belief that Jesus is totally, and completely, God.

But the creed continues:

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.

In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

And as he goes on to discuss the deity of Jesus, the author tells us that because in his nature Jesus is totally and completely God:

He is superior to the prophets.

He is superior to the angels.

The angels themselves are commanded to worship him.

The angels serve him.

And we, as believers, we have the obligation to pay even closer attention to who Jesus is, and to what Jesus has done for us.

But in our reading this morning, the writer, having emphasised in Chapter 1 the deity of Christ, he is here emphasising the fact that Jesus was also totally human. This is the reason for the statements in Hebrews 2:11-14:

For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

And again, “I will put my trust in him.”

And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

And Hebrews 2:17 goes on to say:

Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.

But one of the reasons is found in Job's complaint in Job 9:33, where Job says to God:

There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand on us both.

Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises.

Hebrews 9:15:

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24:

Jesus [is] the mediator of a new covenant.

The writer makes it abundantly plain that by becoming human, Jesus, the son of God, was enabled to become a "mediator". A go between. An arbitrator, or, as the NRSV says in Job 9:33, “an umpire” between God and humanity.

And what is probably the most important use of this term in the New Testament is found in 1 Timothy 2:5 which says:

There is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human.

And notice here Paul's insistence that this "mediator", this "arbitrator", this "go between" between God and humanity has to be the "human being", the "man", Christ Jesus.

And the best "mediator" in any situation is the person who totally understands the positions of both parties.

And Jesus, as a "mediator", has done just that. On the one hand, because Jesus is totally God, he has the power and ability to make the ways of God, the desires of God, and the purposes of God known to us perfectly. This is what John mentions in John 1:18:

No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

As one who is totally God, Jesus has the ability and power to make God and God's position known to us.

And in the same way, Jesus, as one who became totally human, Jesus makes humanity, and humanity's struggle, known to God.

Now it isn't as if God doesn’t "know" everything, of course he does, but it is part of the mystery of God's grace and mercy that God, in his love for humanity, would deign to become a human being, so that he might understand and know what it is like to be human!

Let me illustrate it this way.

However, even though I was present in the labour ward, and I was able to see my son being born, I have "experienced" childbirth only as an observer. Stephanie, on the other hand, has experienced childbirth as a participant.

Think of it this way. When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, God said in Exodus 3:7-9:

That, to me, is an infinite act of Grace. The son of God joining with us, so that he might understand us, so that he might mediate on our behalf with God the Father. As the song says, "Jesus knows all about our sorrows". Why? Because he became one of us and lived our sorrows.

The difference between "observation" and "participation" would be like a rich man deciding that he was going to help the poor in the slums of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, or America.

Every morning he wakes up in his flash apartment on the "good side of town". He eats a huge breakfast and goes into the slums. And every night he goes back home to his penthouse, where he eats a fantastic meal, and sleeps in his warm, comfortable bed.

He doesn't live in the slums.

He doesn't struggle in the slums.

He doesn't go hungry in the slums.

He doesn't go without water or electricity in the slums.

He doesn't face the trials, worries, fears, and suffering of being in the slums.

No. Every morning he just "shows up", and every night he "goes home".

He may have "an experience" of being in the slums, as one who has observed the struggle, but he doesn't know what it is like to live in the slums, to be a "participant" in the struggles.

He would only be able to be a "participant" in the slums if he rejected the use of his wealth, his fancy home, his family connections, and lived in the slums day and night, with nowhere else to go, only then would he know what it was like to live in the slums.

To know and understand the slums would take more than simply "visiting". It would require 'living'. It would require becoming a slum dweller, and what is it that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Being tested in tested in every way as we are[4]

God now understands by experience the human struggle. This is part of what Paul talks about in Philippians 2:6-7:

Though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

Although he is God, he did not choose to stay in that penthouse on the good side of town. Instead, he gave it all away, and he came and lived in the slums with us. He experienced humanity with all of its joys and sorrows. Sufferings and struggles. Triumphs and defeats. As he says in Hebrews 2:16:

For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.

So on the one hand, as God, Jesus reveals God to us. While as a man, Jesus reveals us to God.

Genuine humanity, to humanity.

Some years ago, I had a discussion with someone about holiness, or obedience, or something like that. And while we were talking, and while I was using the life of Jesus as an example of holiness and obedience, this other person said to me:

Well, it was easy for Jesus to live a holy life. After all he was God.

And this statement prompted me to a great deal of thought.

Did Jesus do what he did because he was God?

The answer is quite simple, and yet for us in our humanity, it is quite profound.

Was Jesus able to do what he did because he was God?

No! Instead, Jesus did what he did as a genuine human being who had totally surrendered his life to the will of God, and who walked in total obedience to God.

If Jesus did what he did, lived how he lived, spoke as he did, because he is God, then Jesus had an "unfair advantage", and he was not "like his brothers in every way".

But if Jesus did what he did, lived how he lived, completely as a human being, having laid aside the privileges and the power of deity, then he has shown us what it means to be human.

The life that we often live is not genuine humanity. The life we live is a "false" humanity, for it is not what God intended. However, the life of Jesus was truly human. It was everything that God intended.