The Second Chance for God’s People. Timothy W. Seid
is, I did have a brother, he was living at home in those days, and if I had seen him driving in a car down the road while I had to run in the cold and the melting snow, I probably would’ve given him a gesture. The difference is, he would have beaten me up for it.
When we face the inevitable conclusion of our lives, we should remember that our big brother faced the same experience. When pain racks our body and we feel there’s no way we can face the end, we know that Jesus experienced the worst that life has to offer. The greatest foe we have in life is a beaten bully; there’s no reason to fear death, because Jesus went first and defeated that foe for us.
Our Big Brother Helps Us by Putting Everything Right (2:17–18)
Jesus became like us in every way: he cried, he hungered, he thirsted, he became weary and slept, he became angry, he felt sorrow, he bled, he felt pain, he felt abandoned, he gave up his life and died. What more could you ask of someone who is to be your representative, who is to intercede for you in heaven, who is to make your pardon for sin? Like no one else, Jesus is the one who is able to help us.
Pastors and priests are individuals who are meant to help us in life. But many Protestants think that pastors are a different sort of person. People will change how they talk or say something like, “Pardon my French.” My father tells of walking up to someone who quickly hid his cigarette behind him. My Dad just kept talking to the guy until finally the cigarette burnt down to his fingers and he had to let go. For Catholics, they have even more reason to feel like their priests might not understand what the regular person goes through. Some might say that a priest can’t understand marriage and parenthood. Some may think that a priest couldn’t understand the day-to-day struggles of working in a factory or a business, the responsibilities of one’s own household, the worry about job security and advancement in order to meet the needs of a growing family. It was undoubtedly the same way with the Israelites. The High Priest of Israel could also be viewed as disconnected to the everyday life of the people. What is most impressive about people called to this ministry is when they are the sort who know how to help people and can get the job done.
Jesus is that sort of High Priest. The Gospels report that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and people (Luke 2:52). Hebrews says Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered (5:8). According to Hebrews, Jesus achieved the ultimate completeness of life—God perfected him through the things he experienced (2:10). That’s why Jesus is able to help us (2:18).
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Jesus, our divine big brother, is willing to have us for his siblings. He handles the biggest problems we face, and he is able to help us by putting everything right. Many of us might not be able to remember how our older siblings helped us, because what we remember from childhood tends to be the shocking kinds of things. For instance, I can remember when we were little kids, when my brother was going to examine my throat, pretending to be a doctor. For some strange reason he stuck a Cocoa Puff on the end of a pencil. He touched the back of my throat and made me throw up. Again, I can remember when we were playing softball. I was the catcher, and my brother was up to bat. I must have been too close to the plate, because he swung at a pitch and clobbered me in the head. I’ve never forgotten that, though I can’t quite remember what happened afterwards.
Maybe if we think hard enough we can remember the times when we felt accepted by our older sibling. We felt a sense of confidence about life, because we were following in someone else’s footsteps: They had faced challenges and had succeeded, so we knew that we could too. We might even remember that an older sibling was there to help fix things, to smooth things over, to be there for support.
We have that kind of big brother in Jesus. He’s proud to call you and me his sibling. He was willing to face the greatest challenge for our benefit. He knows all about what we face and is present with God to intercede for us. That’s why Jesus is far greater than the angels and will be shown to be the most excellent heavenly high priest.
Section Two
Building Houses, Servants, and Sons (3:1–6)
It takes a lot of people and a lot of hard work to build a house. If you watch a show like This Old House, you get to see what it takes to build or remodel a house. About the only person you can do without on the TOH job site is the guy that’s the host—no offense. You need Norm to be the general contractor to oversee the whole project. You need Tom as the carpenter to build the structure of the house. You need Richard to put in all the plumbing and heating. You need Roger to landscape around the house.
Did you see the show with the biblical theme where they had a contractor named Moses? Moses was a hard worker but a bit of the quiet type. People didn’t think he could hack the job, but he faithfully showed up each day and rose to each new challenge. They worked like slaves on that job, but when it got too bad he led them out for some rest and refreshment. They went across to Starbucks for milk and honey; it flowed there. Moses seemed really important for that house, until we were introduced to the owner’s son. Behind the scenes the owner had been guiding the building of the house along with his son, Joshua. Joshua had been a carpenter’s son, but because he had put so much into that house, so much suffering, so much sweat, so much blood, that the owner had adopted him and elevated him to lead architect and designer. The son was preparing the house for his family, and it is a large one.
The author of Hebrews has been narrating the story of Jesus’ place in God’s salvation history. God has worked in a variety of ways in history. Along with the privileges he has given to humankind have come responsibilities. Through the mediation of angels God had worked in the earliest history of humanity in the formation of the Israelite nation. God’s instructions for living in that ancient society were often ignored by the people, and they suffered the consequences. God worked through Moses, the great leader and prophet of the people, to bring them out of enslavement to a land he promised them, a land flowing with milk and honey. Hebrews wants us to understand that the role and status of Jesus as God’s son takes the work that God had done in the past to another level. And with that greater level comes even greater responsibilities and consequences. But because this work is carried out through God’s Son, it will achieve its purpose among humans and will bring us to our destination.
When we, as residents of a heavenly home, think about the role of Jesus being like Moses’, God’s faithful prophet, we realize that Jesus is to be honored even greater than Moses (3:1–2). Jesus is like the architect of the heavenly house and is more than a servant like Moses (3:3–4). He is, in fact, the Owner’s son and heir to the heavenly estate (3:5–6).
Jesus Is Characterized By Faithfulness To God (3:1–2)
Hebrews describes our relationship with God as a holy partnership in this building company (3:1). God’s work among us is not the building of a Christian society or nation like he did among the Israelites. Ours is a heavenly calling (2 Cor 5:2; Phil 3:14; Eph 2:4–7). We are called to give careful consideration to the role of Jesus in God’s salvation history. Part of our shared commitment about Jesus is that he is like Moses (3:2). Like Moses, Jesus was sent by God, he functions as high priest, and he is most notable for his faithfulness to God in every respect. The words of Hebrews allude to a verse from Num 12:7. Here the text is describing the way God would speak to other prophets by visions and dreams, but Moses is different than them: “My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house.” Therefore, God will speak face-to-face with Moses. Jesus is faithful just like Moses “was faithful in all God’s house.”
It wasn’t until we were over forty that Suann and I owned our first house. It may take another forty years before we actually get the house furnished the way we would want it. Most of the time our house is just the building we live in. It has that lived-in look. I was talking with a woman who never watches TV. I asked her, “Then where do you eat your meals?” Once in awhile we clear off the place where the clothes are stacked, papers are piled, and the remnants of last month’s homework project still sit, and we eat together. Fall is approaching quickly and I need to give the lawn one last mow so that raking leaves isn’t like combing the grass. I caught myself thinking the other day, “Soon I need to brush the grass,” when I meant “mow the grass.”