Hebrews 2: Jesus is Sufficient to Help

Jesus Is: A study in the book of Hebrews / Hebrews 2

Introduction

You would think that suffering is a strange place to find God. But suffering is the great equalizer. That no matter who you are or where you are, you will experience difficulty, trial,. It is a place we cannot escape but would often give anything to escape.It becomes the place where we need the most help.
It becomes the place where we would most want to find God, and it turns out in Hebrews 2, that we do.

Hebrews 2:1 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

We will see that Christ is both superior to all things “for whom and by whom all things exist” and is equally able to “help those who are being tempted.”

And in suffering it turns out, we need both. If someone is actually going to help us in our suffering, we need both. That God is more powerful than our circumstances. That means He can act and see and move outside of it. But also we need someone who can walk with us in our struggles. Because otherwise we will never find our way through.

Suffering can cause us to drift but we can trust God’s grip in Christ.

Christ Meets us in Our Suffering.

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

This is the nearest God got to humanity. The one shared place, He “tasted death” for us.

This is good news for anyone who has ever drawn a troubled breath. We have a God who’s name is above every name. Who is crowned with glory and honor, but still knows what it’s like to suffer. He still knows what it is like to struggle (yet without sin).

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Christ exceeds our suffering and suffers for us.

Hebrews 2:14–16 ESV

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

Hebrews 2:17–18 ESV

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. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

On our own we will always end up at the lowest point of our suffering. On our own it will feel like a dead end. We always find an end in our suffering. We suffer and struggle. We experience sin or act in sin and we see it as an end. We see it as a road block or dead end. And if it is not dealt with it is a road block. IT is a dead end.

For Christ it is an intersection

We see suffering become a grace, because Christ can walk with us in suffering and Christ suffers on our behalf so grace is possible in our weakest points.