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 talk about how Jesus came down to be our Savior and our Brother. This passage is foundational for the rest of Hebrews. Last time we saw that God spoke in times past through messengers, but He has now spoken to us by His own Son, who is better than anything that came before. Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were discouraged. What had once been treated as a disagreement among Jews was now being treated as a cult. Families were shunning converts. Markets were closing to them. Nero was emperor, and the pressure was rising. People were asking whether it was time to walk away. The writer answers that anything in life is worth sacrificing for Jesus Christ. God wants you to know that He came down to restore His relationship with you.
Don't Let This Salvation 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
Since Jesus is better than the messengers who came before, we ought to give the more earnest heed to what we have heard, lest at any time we should let it slip. That word slip carries the idea of water running through the fingers. People can hear the truth of Christ again and again, and if the heart is not open, it is there and gone. In a world that frowns on the faith, the temptation is to stop holding what Christ paid so much to tell us and do for us.
The word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression received a just recompence. Those who would not listen to Moses wandered forty years and did not see the land, except the two who were faithful. If that judgment was severe, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? We will not escape. If you miss Jesus, you have missed everything. The law and the prophets mean nothing if you walk away from the One they were pointing to.
This salvation began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him. The writer himself did not hear the gospel from Jesus in person. The apostles taught him. He does not use that as an excuse. We were not there either, and there will never be enough evidence to satisfy a heart that refuses faith. The apostles were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord. We have their testimony. Those who ignored God’s messages in the past were punished. If people were judged for rejecting what came through an angel, we have something to fear if we reject what God Himself said in the flesh: that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is the only way to heaven, and that our works cannot save us.
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
The resurrection is not the only witness. God also bore the apostles witness with signs, wonders, divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost. On the day of Pentecost, Galileans who were not trained scholars spoke fluent languages they had never learned, so that the gospel could be heard. There is evidence. The problem is not that God left the world without a witness. The problem is refusing the witness He gave. And the Old Testament was already pointing to this new era. The world to come was not put in subjection to angels.
Made Like Us, and Not Ashamed
David wrote of man, and also prophetically of the Son who would come through his line: 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, and hast put all things under his feet. A mere man does not have authority over all of creation. Mankind was given dominion on the earth, not over the heavenly things. The Son of man in that psalm is Jesus, both Son of God and Son of man. One day all things will be put under Him. But we do not yet see all things put under Him. He sits at the right hand until His enemies are made His footstool. This is the time in which the gospel goes out, until the day He comes again as King of kings.
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
The One who inherits all rule, the Creator and Sustainer, was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. 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. It was suitable for Him not only to die, but to set an example we could follow. He could not do that without walking through the difficulties we walk through. He is the perfect teacher, because He both taught and lived a pure life.
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 that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one, and for that cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren. He could have stood at a distance. Instead He calls us brothers and sisters. Psalm 22, the psalm of the cross, already said, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.” He took part in flesh and blood so that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Adam was made to represent God and failed. Jesus came and did what Adam could not do. He obeyed, and He died in our place.
A High Priest Who Can Help
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
He came to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Under the law a sacrifice covered sin for a little while, and then you were back again. People lived with the anxious hope that their good might outweigh their bad. Jesus came to free us from that bondage. He took not on Him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. It behoved Him, it required Him, to be made like unto His brethren, for two reasons. First, so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest and make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Because man was guilty, a man had to pay, and God became man to do it. Second, and this is often overlooked, so that having suffered being tempted, He is able to help them that are tempted.
You cannot say God is too distant to know our pain. He was made like us. He knew family loss. We believe His earthly father died when He was young, probably while He was still a teenager, and He worked to care for His mother. He knew sickness, hard labor, rejection, false accusation, a friend’s betrayal, and the failure of religious leaders. He wept when Lazarus died. He is not far from us.
So do not let this truth slip through your fingers. God is not distant or uninterested. He spoke through His own Son. He took on our flesh, suffered as we suffer, and died the death we could not escape, so that He could restore what was broken between Him and us. Christianity is not first about rules. It is about a relationship God came Himself to reclaim. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Do not neglect so great a salvation. Because Jesus came down, you do not have to remain enslaved by fear, sin, or death. God wants you to know that He came down to restore His relationship with you. Will you hold tightly to that truth today?
Recent Comments