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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Heb_2:1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
That is to say, because Jesus is so great, because the truths which he came to reveal are so infinitely important, “therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip;” for, sometimes, we seem to let them slip. We grow old; our mind is dull; our heart is occupied with other matters, and we let these heavenly things leak out, or drift by us, as if we were not concerned in them.
Heb_2:2-3. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; —
Hark: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Not if we resist it, reject it, despise it, oppose it; but if we neglect it. If a man is in business, it is not necessary that he should commit forgery in order to fail; he can fail by simply neglecting his business. If a man is sick, he need not commit suicide by taking poison; he can do it just as surely by neglecting to take proper medicines. So is it in the things of God, neglect is as ruinous as distinct and open opposition: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation: “ —
Heb_2:3-4. Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
Observe, then, that this gospel comes to us by Christ, and it is confirmed to us by his apostles, and further confirmed by those signs and wonders, and divers miracles, which God sent as the seals of apostolic teaching; so that this spell is not one about which we can raise any question whatever. It comes by a medium which we must not dare to question, it has confirming seals in it which it is blasphemous for us to dispute. Oh, how gladly should we receive it! How tenderly should we treat it? How devoutly grateful should we be for it; and how earnestly should we comply with all its requirements?
Heb_2:5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
God has not made angels to be the preachers of the gospel. Doubtless they derive some happiness from it, if only from the sight of those converted under it; but it is in no sense under the government of angels.
Heb_2:6-8. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.
It is so, in a measure, in the natural world. Man is made to be the master of it, and the ox and the horse, with all their strength, must bow their necks to man; and the lion and the tiger, with all their ferocity, must still be cowed in the presence of their master. Yet this is not a perfect kingdom which we see in the natural world. But, in the spiritual world, man is still to be supreme for the present, and therefore Christ becomes, not an angel, but a man. He takes upon him that nature which God intends to be dominant in this world and in that which is to come.
Heb_2:8. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
We see not yet man the master of everything, not even Christ, the model man, the Head of all men. While he was here below, he was not a ruling Lord, but a suffering servant. He said to his disciples, “I am among you as he that serveth.” Yet it is in him that the dominion once given to man is to be seen most clearly displayed.
Heb_2:9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour;
We see that by faith. We see Jesus, not merely as God, but as the God-man exalted “far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion.”
Heb_2:9-10. That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Not that Christ needed to be made perfect in nature, but perfect in his capacity to be the Captain of our salvation, complete in all the offices which he sustains toward his redeemed people. He must be a sufferer that he may be a sympathizer; and hence his sufferings made him perfect.
Heb_2:11. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one:
He who sets them apart and they who are set apart “are all of one.” They are of one nature, and they have one destiny before them.
Heb_2:11. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Does not this bring very sweetly before you the close relationship of Christ to his people? He has espoused their nature, and he owns it by calling then brethren.
Heb_2:12. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of thy church will I sing praise unto thee.
The apostle was writing to Hebrews, and therefore he quoted from the books with which they were familiar. He here quotes the 22nd Psalm as the words of the Messiah.
Heb_2:13. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
There are some passages which we should never have thought related to the Messiah if the New Testament had not told us that they do. Hence I have no doubt that we much more often err in not seeing Christ in the Old Testament than in seeing him there, for there may be many other passages besides those which are supposed to speak of Christ which do speak of him.
Heb_2:14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; —
By his own death, Christ broke that evil power which brought death into the world with its long trail of woe. He did this, not by his example, not even by his life, but by his death. Therefore let those who speak slightingly of his atoning sacrifice see their folly, for it is through death that Christ destroys “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; “ —
Heb_2:15-16. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Christ’s great mission was not to save angels, but to save men. Therefore he came not in the nature of angels, but in the nature of men.
Heb_2:17-18. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”
And this is the reason why he suffered, and why he became a man capable of suffering, that he might be able to succour the tempted. It was for this that Christ left heaven, for this he was born of the virgin, for this he lived, for this he died, that he might be “able to succour them that are tempted.”
This exposition consisted of readings from Hebrews 2, 3.
Heb_2:1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
It is well to give heed to what you are now hearing, but it is also important to give heed to what you have heard. Oh, how much have we heard, but have forgotten! How much have we heard, which we still remember, but do not practice! Let us therefore listen to the words of the apostle here: “We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip;” — as it were, slipping through our fingers, and flowing down the stream of time to be carried away into the ocean of oblivion.
Heb_2:2. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
See, brethren, the punishment for disobeying the word spoken by angels was death; what, then, must be the penalty of neglecting the great salvation wrought by the Divine Redeemer himself? He who does not give earnest heed to the gospel treats with disdain the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will have to answer for that sin when the King shall sit upon the throne of judgment. Trifle not, therefore, with that salvation which cost Christ so much, and which he himself brings to you with bleeding hands. And, oh! if you have hitherto trifled with it, and let it slip, may you now, be brought to a better mind, lest haply, despising Christ, the “just recompence of reward” should come upon you. And what will that be? I know of no punishment that can be too severe for the man who treats with contempt the Son of God, and tramples on his blood; and every individual who hears the gospel, and yet does not receive Christ as his Saviour, is committing that atrocious crime.
Heb_2:3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
If we neglect that salvation, is there any other way by which we can be rescued from destruction? Is there any other door of escape if we pass that one by? No, there is none.
Heb_2:3-4. Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
This gospel of ours is stamped with the seal of God; he has set his mark upon it, to attest its genuineness and authority. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were the seal that the gospel was no invention of man, but that it was indeed the message of God. Gifts of healing, gifts of tongues, gifts of miracles of divers kinds, were God’s solemn declaration to man, “This is the gospel; this is my gospel which I send to you; therefore, refuse it not.”
Heb_2:5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
We have no angelic preachers; we sometimes speak of “the seraphic doctor,” but no seraph ever was a preacher of the gospel of the grace of God; that honour has been reserved for a lower order of beings.
Heb_2:6. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
God speaks to men by men. He has made them to be the choice and chosen instruments of his wondrous works of grace upon earth. Oh, what a solemn thing it is to be a preacher of the everlasting gospel! It is an office so high that an angel might covet it, but one that is so responsible that even an angel might tremble to undertake it. Brethren, pray for us who preach, not merely to a few, but to many of our fellow-creatures, that we may be the means, in the hand of God, of blessing to our hearers.
Heb_2:7-8. Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.
It was so with Adam in his measure. Before he fell, through his disobedience, all the animals which God had made were inferior to him, and owned him as their lord and master. It is infinitely more so in that second Adam who has restored to humanity its lost dignity, and, in his own person, has elevated man again to the head of creation: “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.”
Heb_2:8. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Man does not yet rule the world. Wild beasts defy him. Storms vanquish him. There are a thousand things not at present submissive to his control.
Heb_2:9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Thus lifting man back into the place where he first stood so far as this matter of dominion is concerned.
Heb_2:10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Is it not wonderful that the Christ, who is the head over all things, could not be perfected for this work of ruling, or for the work of saving, except by sufferings? He stooped to conquer. Not because there was any sin in him, but that he might be a sympathetic Ruler over his people, he must experience sufferings like those of his subjects; and that he might be a mighty Saviour, he must be himself compassed with infirmity, that he might “have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.” Brothers and sisters, do you expect to be made perfect without sufferings? It will never be so with you.
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.
Heb_2:11. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one:
One family; one by nature with Christ our glorious Head.
Heb_2:11. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,—
Oh, this blessed condescension of Christ! We are often ashamed of ourselves; alas! we are sometimes so base as to be ashamed of him; but he is never ashamed to call us brethren.
Heb_2:12. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Christ, the center of the celestial chairs, is also the center of all the bands of true singers that are yet here below.
Heb_2:13. And again, I will put my trust in him.
This is our Lord Jesus Christ putting his trust in the Father, overcoming by faith, even as we do. Oh, what a marvellous oneness there is here between Christ and his people! Well might the apostle say that “both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.”
Heb_2:13-14. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same;
We know what it is to be partakers of flesh and blood; we often wish that we did not. It is the flesh that drags us down; it is the flesh that brings us a thousand sorrows. I have a converted soul, but an unconverted body. Christ has healed my soul, but he has left my body still to a large extent in bondage, and therefore it has still to suffer; but the Lord will redeem even that. The redemption of the body is the adoption, and that is to come at the day of the resurrection. But think of Christ, who was a partaker of the Eternal Godhead, condescending to make himself a partaker of flesh and blood; — the Godhead linked with materialism; the Infinite, an infant; the Eternal prepared to die, and actually dying! Oh, wondrous mystery, this union of Deity with humanity in the person of Christ Jesus our Lord! Why did he become a partaker of flesh and blood, and die upon the cross?
Listen:
Heb_2:14. That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
That, through dying, he might overthrow Satan’s power for all who trust him.
Heb_2:15-18. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to Make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he it able to succour them that are tempted.
Glory be to his holy name for ever and ever! Amen.