The Benefits of Jesus – Part 1
"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. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (NIV) Hebrews 2:14 -18
Are you afraid of death? Many people would answer yes to this. We live in a world where we do all we can to avoid death and there are advancements every day in health and medicine that help us remain healthy with the goal of extending our lives just a bit more. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to stay alive and healthy but one of the great things about being a Christian is that we don’t need to be afraid of death because we know that if we have lived a faithful life, we will inherit something so much greater than anything we have here on this earth because of the work of our Savior.
Jesus knows what it’s like to fear death, or at least the process of dying. He became a man, flesh and blood so that He would be able to experience all the things we go through in our fight against sin. In Hebrews 2, the author talks about Jesus coming to earth to be among God’s children.
The selected passage from Hebrews 2 is very powerful and I would like to highlight a few key points that will help us appreciate what Jesus has done for us. The first point is found in verse 15 where the writer says that Jesus frees us from our slavery to the fear of death. If all we have is this life then everything changes, we have no reason to care about anything but ourselves and it would make sense to be living in constant fear of dying. The joy of life could only be found in money and possessions which all pass away and come to nothing. Thankfully, because of Jesus, we don’t need to live this way. This life is only just a gateway to an eternity with God in heaven and because of the work of our savior, we don’t need to live in fear of death. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” And this is an attitude that we can all have.
The second thought I wanted to share from the Hebrews 2 passage is found in verse 17. It says that Jesus was made fully human in every way so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest. I am so thankful that we serve a God who knows what temptation and human weakness are like. Jesus not only knows what you are going through, but He also knows how it feels to face challenges, how it feels to be weak, tired and unmotivated, how it feels to have anxiety and what it feels like to go through temptation. We serve a Lord who understands our problem of sin in a very real and intimate sense and because of that, verse 17 says that He has become merciful and faithful to us as our high priest. What a blessing! Maybe it’s time we approached our Lord Jesus through prayer and confess our struggles to Him, knowing He endured something similar while He was on this earth. Ask for His wisdom and follow His example to help get you through in your time of need.
In “The Benefits of Jesus, Part 2” we will talk about this passage a bit more. Stay blessed!