From our Sunday service on February 8, 2026, Hebrews 2. This is part 2 of our Hebrews series. Watch the full message: Savior and Brother – Hebrews Series #2 on YouTube.
Today we’re talking about how Jesus came down to be our Savior and our Brother. Today’s lesson is shorter, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important. In fact, it’s very important. It’s foundational for the rest of the book of Hebrews.
Where We Left Off
Last week we looked at Hebrews 1, where the author of Hebrews says God spoke in times past through his messengers: the angels, the prophets and the teachers. But more important than the fact that God spoke in the past through prophets and angels and pastors, he has now spoken to us through his own Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who is so much better than anything that came before. That’s the whole topic of the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were discouraged because of all the conflict and opposition going on in the world around them. In early Christianity, the Jews just saw Christianity as a sect of Judaism. But as time progressed and Christianity began to spread, the Jews no longer saw it as a slight disagreement over who Jesus was. They decided that Christianity was a cult, and they shunned those who converted. People were dealing with conflict with their families, who didn’t want to deal with them anymore, and with people in the market who didn’t want to sell to them anymore.
On top of this, Nero had become emperor of the Roman Empire. If you know anything about Nero, he was one of the most severe persecutors of Christians in the Roman Empire. He began to arrest people. When this was written, Paul was imprisoned in Rome, and Peter was about to write his epistle to encourage those being persecuted under Nero. Times were getting tough, and people were wondering, “Is it time for me to just walk away from this Christianity thing? Is it time for me to just walk away from Christ?”
The author of Hebrews is writing to teach this one point: anything in life is worth sacrificing for Jesus Christ. Today the author begins telling us why Jesus Christ is so much better than what came before. He’s going to talk about how God came down to earth as Jesus, the exact image and nature of God, and told us what we are to do.
God wants you to know that he came down to restore his relationship with you.
Don’t Let It Slip
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 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; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 2:1–3
“Therefore.” Therefore what? Since Jesus is so much better than the messengers who came before, since God came down to talk to us, “we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” In other words, we need to pay more attention to the teachings of Christ. Christ came to this earth and taught us what we are to do. He told us what the law and the prophets were about, that he was their fulfillment, and that salvation comes through him alone. Because it was God himself in the flesh who came down to man, we ought to pay attention to what God said.
Why do we need to pay attention? Because at any time we could let these things slip. That word slip in the original languages carries the idea of water flowing through the fingers. How many times have people who reject Christ heard about Christ? They hear the truth of Christ time and time again, but because they’re not open to receive his words, it’s like water flowing through their fingers, like water off a duck’s back. It’s there and gone.
That’s the temptation we have as people in a society that persecutes Christians, a society that says being a Christian isn’t anything special, that being a Christian is a bad thing, something to be frowned upon. The author says, “If you don’t pay attention, you’re going to start to believe that. You’re going to stop holding on to the things Christ paid so much to tell you and do for you, and they will slip through your fingers.”
How Shall We Escape?
Then he doubles down on this point: “For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast,” that is, firm, built on a sure foundation, “and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward.” In other words, God spoke through the angels to Moses, and those who didn’t listen to Moses had a severe punishment. What happened? They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and never saw the promised land, except the two who were faithful. Hebrews will talk about that later, but that’s what he’s referring to here. If those people didn’t listen to Moses and were forced to live their lives in pointlessness and die, how much greater is the consequence of ignoring what God himself said when he came to earth as a man, as Jesus Christ?
Verse 3: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” How will we escape, if the judgment for disobeying God about entering the promised land was so severe? If the exiles came because people disobeyed God and didn’t follow his teachings, and they were shut out of the promised land, how are we going to escape this judgment if we don’t accept Christ as our Savior? The answer is, we’re not going to escape. That’s the point the author of Hebrews is trying to make. If you miss Jesus, you’ve missed everything.
These Jews were willing to walk away from Jesus for the law and the prophets. But the author says, “If you neglect Jesus and his teachings, all the law and the prophets mean nothing to you, because the law and the prophets all point to Jesus Christ.” And without Jesus, there is no salvation.
Confirmed by Those Who Heard Him
I talked about whom I thought was the author of Hebrews, and here’s the verse that gave me my conclusion: “which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” Here we see that the author of Hebrews did not hear the gospel from Jesus. He says it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. In other words, the apostles taught the writer of Hebrews about Jesus, not Jesus himself.
But he doesn’t use this as an excuse. He says, “We may not have been there when Jesus was teaching, but that doesn’t make us any less responsible to respond to what Jesus said.” I love this, because it applies to us. We weren’t there when Jesus walked the earth. There are a lot of people who don’t believe in Jesus Christ because they say, “I can’t prove it. There’s no evidence that can satisfy me. If I could go back in time and see Jesus teaching and see him rise from the dead, sure, I’d believe.” Well, that’s not going to happen. I’m sorry, time travel is not a thing that works.
The author deals with this issue. He says it doesn’t matter. There’s never going to be enough evidence to satisfy you. You have to take it on faith. The apostles were eyewitnesses. They were there. They saw the resurrected Lord. It was confirmed. We have their testimony. If you do not accept the testimony and you don’t have faith, you will drop the salvation from your hands.
Those who ignored God’s messages in the past received severe repayment for it. In other words, they were punished. And if people in the past were punished so severely for rejecting God’s teaching through an angel, then we have something to worry about if we reject the teachings of God himself. What are the teachings of God? That Jesus was the Messiah, that he is the only way to heaven, that we need to put our faith in him and not in our works. Our works cannot save us. Only Jesus, who came as God in the flesh, can save us. If we don’t believe those words, then we’re hopeless. We have neglected the truth, and salvation is far from us.
The Evidence
In verses 4 and 5, the author of Hebrews gives some evidence of Christ’s authority. We need to listen to the apostles, but not without evidence.
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? For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Hebrews 2:4–5
Jesus has authority, and we know it. Maybe the resurrection wasn’t enough for you. Maybe you weren’t there to see the resurrection. But the author says that’s not the only evidence. The apostles went around spreading the gospel in those first years, and God gave them miracles as evidence. When Paul was preaching, someone fell out of a window and died, and Paul brought him back from the dead. That should be evidence that what these people were doing was done with the power of God.
They spoke in tongues. They miraculously spoke languages they had never spoken, to spread the gospel to people. These original disciples were Galileans. They weren’t educated in anything. They could barely speak Aramaic, their own tongue. And yet, when they got to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, they spoke the languages of everyone there fluently. The author is saying, “There’s evidence for Jesus Christ. Don’t say there’s no evidence. There is evidence; you refuse it. You reject it. It was written down to be our hope.”
First, Jesus rose from the dead. We know that. Second, the Holy Ghost confirmed it through the miracles of the disciples. And third, Scripture itself points us forward to the Messiah from the Old Testament. “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.” We’re talking about this new era, but it’s not unsubstantiated in the Old Testament. So what is the author going to do? He’s going to go to the Old Testament. He’s going to prove to these struggling Jews that the Old Testament was pointing them to Christ all along.
The Son of Man
We see some Old Testament verses about the Messiah’s authority in verses 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. 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.
Hebrews 2:6–8
The author of Hebrews draws on a psalm written by David about the Messiah, the Son of man. David was writing about mankind, but he was also writing prophetically about the Son who would come through his lineage, the Messiah himself. This comes from Psalm 8:3-6.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
Psalm 8:3–6
In this psalm, he’s talking about the son of man: “Thou hast put all things under his feet.” In other words, everything that exists is under his authority. So the author of Hebrews asks, is that talking about a normal person? No. A normal person does not have authority over all of creation. Mankind was to have dominion over the earth, not over the angels or the heavenly things. But this son of man in the Old Testament was prophesied to have authority over all things. So whom was that talking about? The author says it’s talking about Jesus, the Messiah, the one from the line of David who would inherit all of these promises. David is amazed by God’s care for humanity and how God allows man to have dominion over creation, and the author takes this and applies it to the Son of man, Jesus Christ, who is both the Son of God and the Son of man.
One day all things will be put under him. But at the end of verse 8 it says, “But now we see not yet all things put under him.” The author of Hebrews says part of this prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled yet. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. God told him to sit there until he makes his enemies his footstool. In other words, the time for him to rule over all things hasn’t come. The time of the Gentiles must be fulfilled. That’s the time we’re in now, when you and I get to be given the gospel, and the church age spreads the good news of Jesus’s salvation to the world until the whole world has heard. Jesus is going to wait, and at the time of the second coming all things will be placed under his feet. He will be King of kings and Lord of lords over all of creation forever, and we will serve and reign with him.
Made a Little Lower Than the Angels
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. 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.
Hebrews 2:9–10
Here he juxtaposes the two. Jesus is the inheritor of all the rule of creation, things below and things above: the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Word of God spoken forth in creation on day one. This God became the Son of man. Jesus was made a little lower than the angels.
We look at the angels, and they have more power than we do. What is a human? A human is a fragile thing. You can trip on a rock and be dead in a moment. I know that’s a little gruesome, a little dark, but that’s the truth. We’re not as tough as we think we are. A lot of times we like to think we’re smart and intelligent and durable, but the truth of the matter is we’re actually really weak and frail, and we just don’t like to be honest with ourselves.
Why do I say that? Because the God of the universe, with all power and all authority, decided to humble himself and become frail and weak like us, to put himself under all the pain and misery and difficulty that comes with being human in a fallen world. The older you get, the more aches and pains you get. Let me tell you, when Jesus got to his 30s after being a carpenter for decades, he probably felt some aches and pains in his back and his hands. He felt the frailty of being human and the difficulty that came with it. I’m sure he broke his arm a couple of times working with stone. I’m sure he felt the pain and difficulty and frailty of humanity. Don’t lose sight of that. God, who had freedom from all of those things, said, “You know what? I’m going to be made like them so that I can work for them.”
Why did he do it? Verse 9: “that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Jesus didn’t come to be served. He came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. It would have been one thing if Jesus came to prophesy, say some good things, experience no hardship, and then ascend back to heaven. That’s not what Jesus did. He said, “Mankind has to pay for their sins through death, and none of them can do it. So I’m going to go and pay for their sins. I’ll go through the punishment for them.”
It Became Him
Verse 10 says, “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.” That phrase “it became him” is very powerful. Another way you could translate it is that it was suitable for him, as the God who created and upholds everything, to glorify and purge humanity while demonstrating how mankind should endure sufferings into perfection.
Jesus didn’t just come to die. He died to set an example, to prove that it’s possible to be like God. Like I said, he could have come down, taught us what to do and gone back up to heaven. That would all be good, right? But he didn’t do that. He came to die. And he didn’t just come to die. He came to set an example we could follow, and he couldn’t do that without experiencing the difficulties we experience. This is another strong point we’ll see in the next few chapters of Hebrews: Jesus Christ endured suffering so that he could help us. It became him. It was suitable for him to suffer alongside us so that he could be an example. What does this mean? It means Christ is the perfect teacher, because he both taught and demonstrated his teachings through a pure and perfect life.
Not Ashamed to Call Them Brethren
Next, the author of Hebrews talks about how Jesus is our Brother.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. 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; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Hebrews 2:11–14
He says that both “he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.” To sanctify means to make righteous. Both the one who makes righteous and those who are made righteous by Christ are from one source. What is that? Humanity. Why? We’ll talk about that. It says he is not ashamed to call us brethren. He is one of us, but he’s also God. Jesus calls us his brethren many times in his ministry. I have three examples here.
And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Luke 8:20–21
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
John 20:17
And in Matthew 25, Jesus says in a parable about himself:
…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40
When Jesus came to earth, he didn’t come in pride. He came in humility. He didn’t come distant from humanity, but as part of it. It says here that he was not ashamed to call them brethren. Why? Because he wanted unity with us that badly. He could have said, “Don’t call me your brother. Do you know who I am? I spoke the world into existence.” But Jesus didn’t do that. God didn’t do that. He says, “You’re my brother,” because that’s a close-knit relationship. That’s the way Jesus sees us: as brothers and sisters.
The Old Testament teaches this too, and the author draws on it here. Psalm 22, the psalm that says, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” foreshadowing Christ’s death on the cross, also says:
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Psalm 22:22
When Jesus is on the cross, it’s saying, “I’m going to declare your name to my brothers.”
And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
Isaiah 8:17–18
It’s saying there’s going to be this adoption of the church. They’re going to be children of God and brothers of Christ. Why brothers? Because Jesus inherits all things from God, and through adoption we inherit all things from God as brothers and sisters of Christ.
And Jesus came down to earth to share in our flesh and blood, just as siblings do. Verse 14 says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers,” or sharers, “of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.” Just as brothers and sisters share a lineage, we have a lineage with Christ as his brothers. He’s not just a distant Savior. He’s not just a distant Creator. He is so close that he is like a brother or sister. God wanted to make that so clear that he became man as an example of his love for us.
Ultimately, Jesus did it so that he could accomplish what we could not do: so that he himself could die in order to conquer the devil and his plan. “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.” Jesus had to be made like us so that he could take on the job we failed to do. In the beginning, in the book of Genesis, Adam was made by God to be his representative, to be an image of God, the one who bears responsibility with God. And yet Adam betrayed God. He rebelled and failed and sinned, corrupting himself and the world around him through his actions. But Jesus came and did what Adam could not do. He followed the law of God, and he died in our place.
Delivered From Bondage
We see that liberation in verses 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 is able to succour them that are tempted.
Hebrews 2:15–18
Verse 15 says he came to “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Before Christ came, there was not a lot of hope for followers of God. You’d make a sacrifice at the temple to cover your sins, and you might be back there in a few days doing it again. It’s not possible for mankind to stay away from sin all the time. We’re selfish, prideful people, and time and time again we trip up and fall into sin. Paul calls this slavery to sin. We try and try to get away from the bad habits and destructive behaviors that sit in human nature, and we just can’t do it.
Jesus came to do something about it. He came to deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. All these people under the law knew, “I’m guilty.” They knew they were flawed, and they had to hope in the mercy of God because there was nothing they could do to liberate themselves. There’s a lot of stress when you know that one day you’re going to meet your Maker and you are sinful. It’s an anxiety-inducing thing: “When I get to heaven, am I going to have enough good to outweigh my bad?” Thankfully, that’s not the way it works. Jesus came to free us from that worry, because the truth of the matter is we’re never going to be good enough to make it into heaven on our own.
That was something that enslaved us, a truth that enslaved us our entire lives: “I can never live up to God’s standard.” There was nothing we could do to change that fear. In our hearts, we know we are wicked, deplorable and hopeless people without God. So God says, “I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to come and save them so that they can be liberated from this feeling that haunts them their whole lives. I will remove their sins. I will forgive them. I will take their guilt away. I will enable them to serve me in a way they couldn’t before.”
It Behoved Him
Verse 16 says, “For verily,” or truly, “he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore,” for which reason, “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.” Do you know what that word behoved means? It means it required him. Jesus didn’t have a choice. The Bible tells us here that it behoved him. It required him, in order to save us, to be made like us. Why? There are two reasons.
1. A Merciful and Faithful High Priest
First, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest and make reconciliation for the people’s sins: “that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” That’s the reason we usually focus on, right? God became a man so that he could pay for our sins. Because man was guilty, only man could pay for man’s sins, so God had to become a man. He could have come as an angel, but he didn’t. He came as one of us, because it needed to be a man who paid for man’s sins. But that’s only half of the reason Jesus came as a man.
2. Able to Help Those Who Are Tempted
There’s a second reason, and it’s often overlooked: so that he could experience temptation himself, and be better able to help those who are tempted. Have you ever realized this? The Bible tells you so: “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour,” or help, “them that are tempted.” A second reason Jesus became man is so that he could go through all the hardships and challenges we are going to face in life, so that when we face them, he could better help us.
One of the accusations I see from atheists all the time is that God is so distant. “Who is God to say that what we did is wrong? He doesn’t know what it’s like to be like us. He’s so far removed. He doesn’t know our pain.” The Bible deals with that right here in this verse. You can’t make that accusation, because our Scripture says that God became man so that he could deal with all the hardships and difficulties we face here on earth. He isn’t a distant God who hasn’t experienced them. He is one who experienced them.
We believe that Jesus’s father died when he was young. If you’ve lost a father at a young age, let me tell you, Jesus has experienced that hurt. His adoptive father who raised him died when Jesus was probably just a teenager. Jesus had to deal with sickness and disease. He had to work a job every day, bending over backwards carving stone and wood. He had to work hard to take care of his mother when his father was gone.
Jesus knew what it was like to be betrayed by his family. When he preached, they said, “That’s our brother. He’s not the Messiah. I don’t believe in him. He’s crazy.” He knows what it’s like to be rejected. He knows what it’s like to be persecuted by a government that didn’t like him. He knows what it’s like to be falsely accused. He knows what it’s like for a friend to betray him, to turn his back and spit in his face. He knows what it’s like when religious leaders fail him. He knows what it’s like to see a church that is corrupt and blasphemes God’s name. He knows the feeling of loss when a loved one dies. Remember John 11:35: “Jesus wept,” when Lazarus died, and he attended that funeral. Jesus is not far away from us. God is not far away from us. He came as Jesus Christ to experience the difficulties we face so that he could be a better helper to us in our daily lives.
Closing
So what can we do with all of this? Hebrews 2 reminds us that God is not distant, silent or uninterested in our lives. God spoke, and not just through the prophets or angels, but through his own Son, Jesus. God became a man, took on our flesh and blood, suffered as we suffer, and was tempted as we are tempted. He died the death we could not escape. And he did all of this so he could restore what was broken between him and us. That means Christianity is different. It’s not about rules and rituals. It’s about a relationship that God came himself to reclaim.
That’s why the warning at the beginning of this chapter matters so much. Don’t let this truth slip through your fingers. Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. He stands as a merciful and faithful Lord, fully understanding our weaknesses and fully capable of saving us from them. So don’t neglect such a great salvation. If we go through life ignoring the one who came this close to us, who suffered this deeply for us and loves us this completely, there is no greater thing left to hear. We have lost out on the greatest opportunity life offers us.
Here is the good news: because Jesus came down, you do not have to be enslaved by fear, sin or death anymore. You’re invited to live in freedom and restoration through a living relationship with the God who made you, understands you and stepped into history for you.
God wants you to know that he came down to restore his relationship with you. So the question today is: will you hold tightly to this truth and embrace it today?
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