he letter to the Hebrews opens by declaring the great power and authority of the Son of God: the Son is the brightness and image of God, His final spoken Word; He is the Creator, Sustainer, and heir of all things; He has been exalted above the angels, and now reigns as King and Lord over heaven and earth. He is God.
But now the letter takes a different approach, slowing down to dwell for awhile on the sufferings and temptations of a Man. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). We see introduced for the first time in this epistle His human name, Jesus, because the author is about to demonstrate that Jesus became a man to save and help men. This verse, not accidentally, is also the first direct mention of His death.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:23 that Christ crucified was a stumbling block to the Jew; how could God allow His Anointed One to die that accursed death? Here our author explains that it was appropriate for Jesus to die in this way: For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Heb. 2:10). But in what way can it be said that He was perfected through suffering?
. . . and having been made perfect, He died a perfect, substitutionary death.
From the two verses quoted above we know that Jesus suffered death. But given the plural sufferings in 2:10, it was more than death. Looking ahead, we read: For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Heb. 2:18). Jesus was tempted in many ways, most notably by the devil in the wilderness at the opening of His public ministry. But that incident is probably not what the author has in mind here. He writes about Jesus in a later chapter, who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Heb. 5:7-9, cf. Luke 22:40-46).
Kneeling in agonizing prayer on the Mount of Olives, Jesus suffered the temptation to let His cup pass from Him, contrary to the will of His Father. The cup was to die the death of the cross, bearing the sin and punishment of the world. He was perfected in submissive obedience through this suffering a perfection He could not obtain unless he was a man and having been made perfect, He died a perfect, substitutionary death.
Jesus trusted His life to God as He faced death at the hands of evil men. This idea is the context of the Old Testament citations in Hebrews 2:12-13. The first is from the twenty-second psalm, and is perhaps the clearest prophecy of the events surrounding the Messiah's death. The message throughout the psalm is one of trusting in God through death, as it says, All those who see Me laugh Me to scorn; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, `He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!' But You are He who took me out of the womb; You made Me trust when I was on My mother's breasts (Ps. 22:7-9). Jesus endured the cross trusting in God for His resurrection, and upon receiving this answer to His prayer He proclaims in the verse quoted, I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the congregation I will praise You (Ps. 22:22).
The next two quotations are from Isaiah 8:17-18. The prophet was endangered by evil men, but commanded by the Lord to not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him shall you hallow; let Him be your fear (Is. 8:12-13). Isaiah obeys this command, trusting his life to God and saying in the verse quoted in Hebrews 2:13 I will hope in Him. Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me.
Jesus was perfected in obedience as He suffered the temptation to forsake His Father's plan, yet in faith He went to the cross, saying Not My will, but Yours, be done. It is possible that the recipients of this letter were about to suffer a similar temptation, to forsake their confession of Christ under threat of loss (see Hebrews 10:23-25, 32-26). The example of Jesus, their brother and pioneer of their salvation, would be a great comfort in their trials, removing their fear of death by blazing the path of death before them.
Jesus was made like His brothers so that by His death He could remove the fear of death in another way: Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2:14-15).
In what ways did the devil have the power of death? In his position as tempter he led men to sin, the ultimate cause of death. Men fear death because they fear the judgement. The devil had the power of a prosecutor demanding the death penalty. But now we who trust in Christ need not fear the judgement, because the one who would accuse us before God has been destroyed. Jesus, our perfect substitute, took our penalty; the Judge has declared us "not guilty!"
Jesus has shown the faithfulness of God to rescue from death those who trust in Him, and He has freed us from the fear of punishment and the corresponding fear of death. And so we can go out to conquer with the aid of Christ, for what is more invincible than an army that does not fear death? So we may boldly say: `The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?' (Heb. 13:6).
