“Jesus Aid”

Thought: We live in a world that is experiencing crisis after crisis. The call for help or aid is voiced constantly across our fallen race. Sometimes the call is not heard. Sometimes help is slow in coming. Sometimes the aid doesn’t really meet the real needs of the people in crisis. Thankfully, at times there is a response from those who give aid, and the response meets the crisis need, at least to some degree.

Praise God that our Lord Jesus meets us at our point of need and provides the help, the aid, we truly need. For we all are in a crisis situation as fallen human beings in this world. Hebrews 2:14-18 is found in a section of Hebrews in which the writer is explaining (among other truths) why Jesus, the Son of God, for a period of time was made “a little lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). The simple truth of our text above is that Jesus gives aid to “the seed of Abraham” and not angels.

That might seem like an obvious point, but the writer wants us to grasp the wonder of the fact that the exalted Son of God had to become man and enter this world as a descendant of Abraham. That is why he had to become lower than the angels. To broaden this truth, Jesus became man, a specific Jewish man, in order to help people like you and me in crisis. Working forward through this passage of Scripture (2:14-18) notice:

The Aid for Those Who Fear Death (2:14-15)
Certainly in the sovereign plan of God, a primary reason Jesus had to be flesh and blood, of the seed of Abraham, was so that He could die a death that would defeat death. Through His death He “destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Through that mysterious victory over death and the devil, those who fear death can be released from the bondage of that fear. We can say with the Apostle Paul, “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54, see Isa. 25:8). There is no need for people who have received “Jesus Aid” to be enslaved by the fear of death. We have received the necessary aid, the appropriate help to resolve the problem of death. The “sting” associated with death, of course, is due to sin and the judgment it demands. So, consider the related truth:

The Aid for Those Who Sin (2:17)
Jesus became like us in order to help us, sinners in need of forgiveness. Of course, Jesus was and is “holy, undefiled, separate from sinners” and thus He has an eternal and unchangeable priesthood (7:26). As our High Priest, He made “propitiation for the sins of the people.” Jesus has dealt with sin personally, completely, and finally (1:3-4, 9:27). This truth takes the “sting” out of death, and is the basis for the release from the fear of death we discussed above.

The Aid for Those Who Face Temptation (2:18)
By virtue of His humanity, our Lord Jesus entered the arena of suffering and temptation. According to this text (and others), He experienced both. And by being “one of us” He is able to help us at our point of need. Hebrews 4:15 declares, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

From the standpoint of Jesus’ priestly ministry, it is very important that He was tempted like us, even as it is very important that He was without sin. His sinless nature and life made it possible for Him to be a “great High Priest who has passed through the heavens” (4:14). But, it is His sinlessness matched with His ability to “sympathize with our weaknesses” (4:15), that leads to the invitation to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need” (4:16). We will find ourselves in times of need often, and we have a place to go and one who can hear our cry for help. 

Thrust: Our ultimate crises are more than resolved through the aid that Jesus provides. The triple threat of temptation, sin, and death are met victoriously through the one who was willing to be made “a little lower than the angels” (2:9). It is His people, with faith like that of Abraham, a faith focused on Jesus Christ Himself, who experience the benefits of His crisis ministry.

David L. Olford teaches expository preaching at Union University’s Stephen Olford Center in Memphis, Tennessee.