#DailyDevotion Jesus’ Humiliation Wins Freedom From Slavery To Death
Heb. 2 14Now since all these children have flesh and blood, He in the same way took on flesh and blood in order to die and so take away all the powers of him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and to free those who, terrified by death, had to be slaves all their lives. 16It is clear He didn’t come to help angels but Abraham’s descendants. 17And so in every way He had to become like His brothers to be merciful and faithful as High Priest before God and to pay for the sins of the people. 18Because He Himself suffered when He was tested, He can help others when they’re tested.
The conclusion of chapter 2 finishes up on how Jesus is better than angels. Jesus is better than angels because He took on our flesh and blood. While angels may have appeared in the past to take on our appearance, Jesus actually humbled Himself to be conceived in the Virgin’s womb, gestate, be helpless, and grow up just like us. He had to learn. He had to do chores. He had to be obedient to Mary and Joseph though He was their LORD and God. He has become like us in every way to be our Brother. This indeed is a great mystery. So great is it some genuflect during the Creed when it says, “He came down from heaven and became man.”
So Jesus took on humanity, flesh and blood, in order to die. In dying, He has taken away all the powers of the devil who had the power of death. The soul that sins dies. The Father apparently had given the power to punish people with death to the devil. Jesus, having paid the price of death on the cross, being truly God and truly Man, has removed the threat of death from us. While we may die physically, we do not die eternally. More than that, Christ risen from the dead shows us and promises us physical death is not a permanent thing. Jesus is going to raise everyone from the dead on the last day.
If death cannot hold us any longer, it no longer holds us as slaves. Before we are born from above and given eternal life in Jesus, the threat of death enslaved our entire being. It was the core of our being. Everything we thought, said and did was motivated by the thought we were going to die. We may not always realize this. It is certainly deeply buried at times. But the only reason to sin is because we believe we are going to die and then that’s it. If this life is all we have, we better assert ourselves against God and our neighbor to get whatever we want and desire. This is our slavery to sin.
Jesus has become like us in every way, whatever it truly means to be human, in order to be merciful and faithful before God as our High Priest. He did offer up the blood of bulls and goats to take away our sins. He offered up His own blood, His own life upon the cross as our High Priest so our sins could be taken away permanently. Since we know now death has no power over us, there is no reason to rebel against the Father and sin against our neighbor to get what we want. If it is worth having, the Father will provide it for us either now or at the resurrection. We can wait patiently knowing in Christ, God our Father will bless us with every good thing.
In the meantime, as we undergo various testings, Jesus who was tested by Satan in every way before His death is able to help us. His victory over sin and temptation is our victory over sin and temptation. When tested, we can remember Jesus’ victory over sin, trust that if our desire is truly good, He will provide it for us and if not we offer it up to the cross of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, grant us the power over sin through Jesus’ sacrifice so we may live our lives giving glory to You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.