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Sermon Outline
Hebrews 2:14-18
Jesus a Faithful High Priest
A. Since Therefore
(14) Since therefore…..
1. The “therefore” takes us back to what we have just read…
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 origin. 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.”
2. Thus we are reminded of how we share flesh and blood with Jesus and how we are, at he same time, His brethren and the children of His Father “given to Him.”
B. The “Enfleshment” of the Son. Since therefore…
…..the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of the same things
1. This phrase is a summation and restatement of what has just been said.
2. The incarnation is the primary Christian miracle upon which all others are based.
3. Did you know that early in the life of the church the hard thing for people to grasp was not that Jesus was divine, but that he was human?
4. Many theologies developed to counter this notion, and to remove God as it were from direct contact with the nasty unholy realm of human life.
C. The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
…..that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
1. How is it that the devil has the power of death?
2. How is it that it was through death that Jesus defeated the power of death?
3. How does the fear of death manifest itself in the human heart and life?
4. How is that the devil uses the fear of death to subject us to slavery?
5. How is it that the death of Jesus delivers us from this lifelong slavery?
D. Angels and Men
(16) For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
1. The main point here is that of contrast. Jesus came to aid fallen human beings.
2. The word “help” is weak. The idea is more that of “taking hold of and carrying” as with the people of Israel when he brought them out of Egypt (see Heb 8:9).
3. “Offspring of Abraham” refers both to natural offspring, i.e., human beings, but carries the hint that Jesus’ brothers are all children of Abraham, Jew or Gentile.
E. Jesus A Perfect High Priest (Hebrews 2:17)
(17) Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
1. Propitiation has to do with dealing with the truth of God’s just wrath against sin.
2. To “propitiate” is to satisfy God’s justice by satisfying this wrath
3. To make propitiation for the sins of the people is to have that just wrath directed toward a sacrificial representative, thus satisfying God’s justice
4. But why is it that Jesus had to be made like us in every respect in order to make such a propitiation? To make propitiation for the sins of human beings, Jesus had to be us and represent us as a human being. For it was human beings who had sinned against God. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins!
5. What is the relationship between the priesthood of Jesus and the propitiation of our sin? It is as a priest before God, representing his people, that Jesus can offer a sacrifice of propitiation. And as have seen and will see the sacrifice this great high priest could make was the sacrifice of Himself.
6. It is this sacrifice that takes away the devil’s power of condemnation and accusation by which He keeps us in fear of judgment and death.
F. Jesus Knows What It’s Like to Be Us
(18) For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
1. Notice the change of tense from past to present. He is able to help.
2. How is it, currently, that Jesus helps those being tempted?
3. Remember Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” in John 17 as an example.
4. Jesus ever lives to intercede for us as our good and faithful high priest.
5. All of our prayers go to the Father through the Son. At God’s right hand, Jesus is an advocate, an interceder, an intervener, a helper, for the sake of his brothers.
6. And since he knows what it is like to walk in our shoes, he is able to intercede in just the right way for us.
G. This Is How and Why We Can Pray with Hope and Confidence to Our Father. |
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