Jesus our hero.

Jesus our hero.  Hebrews 2:10-15

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.  Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

 He says, 

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;    in the assembly I will sing your praises.”
 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—  and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Why was it fitting?  A question we all struggle with as we try to understand the cross.  It was fitting that God, the agent of creation, would make Jesus, the pioneer of salvation, perfect through what he suffered.  There are four main ideas we should pull out of this passage;

1) Something about the character of God can be understood from the fittingness of the crucifixion.  Does God really love people the way scriptures say He loves people?  Is the mercy and compassion of God a truth, or is it something we use to talk up our idea of goodness in the statement that 'God is love?'  It seemed fitting that Jesus suffered and died on a cross.  Within the teachings of Jesus we find the proper response to evil is not more evil, is not violence, no, Jesus' word and deed are one the same, and He defeats evil with love and self-sacrifice.

2) Jesus is the pioneer of salvation for the sons and daughters being brought to glory.  Without Jesus there would be no salvation.  The use of the term 'perfect' is a term qualifying Jesus to be savior of his people, not that Jesus was morally imperfect, but simply that Jesus is 'made completely adequate' for such a task.  The quotation from Psalm 22:22 is applied to Jesus, the righteous sufferer who brings deliverance to his people, and the quotes from Isaiah 8 remind us that the church is the 'children God has given' to Jesus, but then Jesus can also a stumbling block, a stone the builders have rejected.

The term 'pioneer' (Gk. archēgon), can mean 'author', or it can mean a hero, a champion, a pioneer, or a trailblazer.  Calling Jesus our hero will make sense in the lager context of the passage explaining what Jesus has accomplished.  "The term was used for both human and divine heroes, founders of schools or those who cut a path forward for their followers and whose exploits for humanity were rewarded by exaltation. (Keener.  Heb 2:10)

3) Jesus has victory over the death and the devil.  The purpose of the incarnation was so death and Satan would be defeated; to achieve salvation for his children.    He is the one who overpowered the strongman (Luke 11:21-22). Kings win victories for their people, and Jesus is our king, our hero, our champion.  What we should not forget is that the devil continues to hold people in slavery because of their fear of death, and while we have been freed by the forgiveness (cleansing) available because of Christ's work on the cross, others are still in captivity.  Many are waiting to hear the gospel, they reject the idea that they are in bondage, and they need to understand our approach to death brings complete deliverance; Jesus' offer of eternal life.

4) Jesus is someone to be followed.  He is our hero, a forerunner who leads the way.  He is 'the source of eternal salvation' (Hebrews 5:9), 'and being perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him,' obedience in the acceptance of God's will.  What does not come from Jesus (the source, or the cause) is not true salvation, this is the ultimate point.


Another thought:

The term 'perfect' means complete.   Paul talks about the resurrection being an act of 'completion.'? Jesus was divine and human, but was there something incomplete about Jesus?  Perhaps there is something incomplete about creation?  Creation is good, humans are very good, and now in the resurrection we find completion.  It is finished.  



Bibliography:

Donald Guthrie.  Hebrews.  pp. 90-98
New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. 1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th ed.) (Heb 2:5–18).
Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Heb 2:10). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Dan Doriani.  lecture.  Jesus Our Emphatic Hero.  Covenant Theological Seminary.