CHRIST TASTED DEATH FOR EVERYONE
HEBREWS 2:9-11 OCTOBER 6, 2002
HEBREWS 2:9-11
9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
+ + + + + + + + + + + +
Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
When we talk about salvation and our faith, we think of the sense of hearing because we know that faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Today we’re reminded that we use almost all of our senses that God gives us concerning our salvation. Today we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We see the very body and blood of our Lord and Savior. We’re able to touch it and feel it. As our text points out, we see that Jesus tasted death, so you and I even taste of God’s salvation through the gifts of the senses that He gives us. We see His marvelous works and His wonderful grace just as the Psalm writer states: "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him"(PSALM 34:8). That’s what our text reminds us of this morning, that we take refuge in the Lord—that we taste and see that the Lord is good. You and I don’t have to taste death anymore. You and I will never taste hell because Christ has tasted death for everyone. We want to look at that word God has placed before us with the theme
CHRIST HAS TASTED DEATH FOR EVERYONE
I. As the perfect sacrifice
II. As our brothers’ keeper
For the next few weeks we are going to be looking at writings from the book of Hebrews. This letter was written because of the Judaizers of the day. The Judaizers were a group of legalists--we could call them in a sense, because they would like to go back to the Old Testament days. They liked the laws that God had given them. They liked the covenant God had made because they wanted to put the emphasis of salvation on themselves. It was a work-righteousness way of life for them to be saved. They didn’t have much use for Jesus because He came and said He had done everything. They didn’t have to do anything else to save themselves, because Christ had done it all.
I. As the perfect sacrifice
In today’s text, in this letter, we find the emphasis of Jesus as the Savior of the world. Over and over again, the writer states that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. Our text begins: ‘we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor…’ The Judaizers looked at Jesus as below the angels and that was it. The writer reminds them that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for a time. He took on flesh and blood, yet He was above the angels. After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended back into heaven where He is now crowned with glory and honor. What did Jesus do when He was a little bit below the angels, when He had human flesh and blood? ‘We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’ In other words, the writer to the Hebrews is saying Jesus fulfilled all of God’s law. Jesus fulfilled all of God’s commands and covenants because He tasted death for everyone. Everyone deserved eternal death, but now Jesus suffered death.
Remember the suffering that He went through as He was in Jerusalem, faced His accusers, then finally hung on the cross until He gave up His spirit to His heavenly Father. He did it so He would be the perfect sacrifice. We’re told in our text ‘it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.’ Jesus was not imperfect. But in respect to salvation, the world was made perfect by the sacrifice of Christ. The people in the Old Testament offered sacrifice after sacrifice. All those sacrifices did was to point ahead to the time that Christ would come and be the perfect sacrifice for the world. The salvation of the world was completed, sins were paid for.
What is most amazing is the fact that Christ came to die for everyone. His sacrifice was enough to pay for the sins of the whole world. He paid for the sins of Pontius Pilate, he paid for the sins of the soldiers who put Him to death, and He paid for the sins of those who were shouting, ‘Crucify Him!’ He paid for the sins of you and me and every generation yet to come. Scripture tells us that. It says: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly"(ROMANS 5:6). He died for the sins of the whole world, the ungodly. Sadly, the ungodly, the unbelievers do not know their sins are forgiven; either they reject Christ’s sacrifice or they simply have hardened their hearts. But at just the right time, Christ died for our sins also didn’t He? Whenever you and I sin, whenever we think evil thoughts, speak evil words or do wicked actions, we too, are ungodly. By our sinfulness, we put ourselves in that category.
The joy that you and I have today is the fact that when we look at Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for the world, the universal Redeemer of the world, we know that by God’s grace, He has redeemed us. This salvation is not just a far-off and distant concept meant for everyone else. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice is also for our own salvation. We are made subjects of His redemption. Isaiah wrote in the familiar chapter of fifty-three: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all"(ISAIAH 53:6). We wander off time and time again, on our own sinful journey down the path of destruction. Then we come back and the Lord takes our sin and puts them out of sight through Christ, our Savior, the perfect sacrifice. Christ’s taste of death for everyone was the perfect sacrifice.
There is a deeper profound meaning in that, which sometimes you and I forget or don’t appreciate as much as we ought. Today, if someone were treated like Jesus, with such a mockery of a trial, put up on a cross to die, there would be outrage. The sentence probably would not be carried out. In Jesus’ day and age, the world did it, so that you and I would have eternal life. Now you and I have more than this life. There’s still eternity for each one of us because Christ tasted death for us and our lives are redeemed from sin, death and the devil. Paul writes to the Corinthians reminding us this morning that ‘he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again"(2 CORINTHIANS 5:15). We spend a lot of time in our lives living for ourselves, but the Lord says we ought to live for Him, because He lived for us and died for us. Christ gave us our life, the meaning and purpose of our life—that we would live for Him forever.
Here on earth, we have the opportunity to get to know Jesus Christ, to live our lives for Him because He tasted death for every one as our perfect sacrifice and as our brothers’ keeper.
II. As our brothers’ keeper
We know, and as the writer was reminding the people of the day, that Jesus came to earth, lived and died and rose again. He did that for a number of reasons—to show His power over death being one. Death did not hold Him in the grave. Another reason was to show His power over Satan. Satan, who thought he had won the victory, did not win. Jesus also showed His power over sin. As great purposes as those are, they are not the main purpose, are they? The main purpose is that sinners would be saved.
Our text says: In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Christ Jesus is the author of salvation. It describes Jesus as bringing many sons to glory. The world was doomed to destruction, destined for hell and was now brought back and given salvation unto glory itself.
Adam and Eve first sinned and plunged the world into sin and evil. But Christ came, as the perfect salvation, and tasted death so that sinners would not be lost but be saved. Now they would be sons, members of God’s. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. Jesus is the one who is holy and the one who makes men holy (even though they are not holy). Now they are of the same family with Jesus, not simply members of the human race.
Jesus became a part of our human family. We confess in the Apostles Creed: “Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” Here was God who took upon Himself flesh and blood for no other purpose except to be a brother to mankind. Took on human flesh and blood for no other purpose than to bring mankind’s sons to be sons of glory. The last sentence in our text states: So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, ‘I am my brothers’ keeper.’
Christ tasted death for everyone—for you and me and every sinner, to keep us safe unto eternity. We are reminded that at the very beginning of the world, Adam and Eve first sinned. Their children inherited that sinfulness and what happened? Cain killed Abel. It doesn’t take long for sin to grow. It doesn’t take long for sin to take over the heart, the will and the action of mankind. The Lord comes to Cain and says, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ Cain replies, ‘Am I my brothers’ keeper?’ It’s a pretty selfish statement, isn’t it? Isn’t that just like the world today, even more so than during the time of Cain and Abel? Am I my brothers’ keeper? The Lord says, ‘I am my brothers’ keeper.’ When He came, He came to die…the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. John tells us in his epistle, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him"(1 JOHN 4:16). It is just the opposite of Cain and Abel. It is just the opposite of murder, of not being selfish but being selfless, of being in God’s love. We realize that God gave up everything so that you and I would be part of His family.
Here is another thing that you and I may not appreciate or think about very often, but we are called ‘part of God’s family.’ Jesus was the very Son of God, part of the Trinity. Now He’s not ashamed to be our brother. We have by our own sinful nature, no godliness at all. We are, as Scripture says, enemies of Christ. Now God says, you are my family; you are my brothers and sisters, my sons and daughters. How does this happen that God would consider us part of His family? While He was on earth he had an earthly family also. Jesus reminds us, ’My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice’"(LUKE 8:21). We are made members of the family of Christ by hearing God’s word and putting it into practice. It may be a difficult thing to do at times. It’s easy to hear God’s word, the gospel, but it’s a little harder to put it into practice. In this world, it doesn’t care if the light of the Christian shines or not. In this world, it would rather see the darkness surround it than the light of the knowledge of salvation. Living God’s word is harder than just hearing it.
It is amazing that God has made us members of His family. In the Old Testament and New Testament especially, they knew what that meant. They held great respect and honor for the firstborn. We remember selling the birthright in the Old Testament—Jacob and Esau. It was important. It still is important to us. If you and I would not be sons of God, we would be lost forever. You and I would not belong to the family of Christ, our Savior, be His brother. We would have no future at all. Instead, just the opposite is true. "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir"(GALATIANS 4:7). He says we are going to inherit something, and what we are going to inherit is eternal life. What you and I are going to have is a place in heaven at the side of our brother, Jesus, our Savior. That is something to think about all week long!! We don’t deserve that at all, but God gives it to us simply because God had His Son Jesus taste death for everyone.
At the end of our life, you and I will not taste death. Instead during our life, like the psalm writer says, we’re going to taste how good the Lord is to each and everyone of us. We’re going to see His blessings day after day, year after year, until finally we’re in eternity itself. By tasting the Lord’s goodness we can begin to enjoy life and appreciate God’s great blessings for us. As Christians, as members of God’s family, as brothers of the very Son of God, and as children of God Himself, miraculously changed by God’s grace gives us faith. Christ tasted death for everyone as our perfect sacrifice and as our brothers’ keeper so that you and I might follow in His footsteps. You and I can learn more about it. From 1 Peter we read: "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good"(1 PETER 2:2,3). We come back to the fact that we taste that the Lord is good. Hopefully every day of our life, even when the clouds of sorrow or trouble and tribulation surround our heads, that God’s Son reminds us that He is good and that we’re still able to taste that the Lord is good day in and day out, right into eternity. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
