Christmas 2 Hebrews 2:9-18
January 4, 2015

Brothers and sisters in the family of God,
One of the realities Christians face isthat we can neither see nor prove the things weaccept by faith. In a world where seeing is believingand truth depends on what is reasonable, it can be a real challenge to walk by faith, not by sight. On the one hand we triumphantly sing and confess that Jesus, our Savior, isKING of kings and LORD of lords, the ruler of the universe, and the Judge who will return one day soon. On the other hand the news we hear and the evidence around us seems to prove just the opposite. It seems that another lord, another king, an evil one, sits on the throne in charge of things.

In the face of all this Jesus looks for all the world asjust a little baby who grew up to be a humble carpenter from Galilee and spenta few of his adult years as a self-made rabbi preaching near his hometown. Not the stuff for news flashes –just a simple man who had a knack for getting into trouble andended up dying an unfortunate, tragic death. At best the world sees him as a sadly understood humanitarian. At the very leasthis earthly lifeis a Sunday School story to help children with their moral development until they become teenagers...sort of like a spiritual "Santa Claus" that kids grow out of as they go out into the "real world". Jesus Christ: just oneman among so many who appeared in history, filled a gap in time, and died.

That’s what the world sees, but that isn’t the Jesusdescribed in the Bible,and that isn’t what believers of that Word see in Jesus, either. When we see Jesus, we see God’s unimaginable love in action. We glory in Jesus’ humility and bow beforehis glory. We marvel that Jesus, the almighty, eternal Godbecame our…brother!

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If we had lived during those 30+ years when Jesus visited this planet, I doubt that any of us would have been looking for a savior like this man. Like the Jews of that day, we very likely would have been sorely disappointed. They wanted their Messiah-King to come with his name in lights like a superstar. But Jesus suddenly slipped into time without public fanfare andwalked amongthem as an ordinary man. Yet he didn’t talk about ordinary things. He spoke about matters of the heart and soul. But they couldn’t get past his simple humanness to hear him. Many turned away and no longer walked with him.

”He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him,”Isaiah had prophesied. Psalm 8 foretold that God’s Son would be “made…a little lower than the angels” and takeon the form of a servant. Throughout the centuries artists, writers, and filmmakers have tried their best to jazz him up to fit ourhuman expectations. Jesus has been portrayed with a mysterious air about him that, at just the sight of him, putpeople into starry-eyed meditation and wonder. Artists have painted him with a halo around his head. That’s what the unbelieving Jews were looking for, and that’s what peopleare still looking for. But see the wonder that appears before us in the Bible! What could be more miraculous than the almighty, eternal God stepping into time and takingon a human nature to save sinners from hiswrath over their sin?

From God’s own Word and from centuries of bloody sacrifices on their altars the Jews should have known that“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”.Jesus had to be flesh and blood so he couldbleed and die. He would have to be humble so he couldstoop down and shoulder the guilt that belongs to flesh-and-bloodsinners. Jesus had to be a willing sacrificeso he could submit in perfect obedience to his Father’s will. Andmost amazingly, he was not ashamed to do it for the most vile sinner.He never complained that it was beneath his divine dignity and holinessto die for his guilty creatures. Jesus sufferedin his body and soul the shameful consequences of every sin for every sinner. He felt our battle with Satan’s taunts andtemptations. He felt the gut-wrenching guilt of sin. He shed bitter tears of grief and regret for sin. He felt the cold stare of death and trembled underGod's blazing wrath and punishment.He felt his muscles cramp, his nerve endings burn, and his torn flesh ooze blood, the only blood that could redeem the life of sinners.

Being man’s Savior was dirty work.The angels of heaven must have watched in spellbound wonder as their Creator and Lord left his glory behindso he could be made a little lower than they were and make himself guilty of sin that didn’t belong to him.With no light-show of glory, Jesus was made a little lower than the angels"so that by the grace of God he might taste death foreveryone."And for this the angels sing their everlasting praises.

No person is too low for Jesus to love. No sin is tooshameful for him to forgive. Not a single one of ourburdens wasbeneath his dignity to carry. We listen in vain to hear him utter onecomplaint about serving us. Not a hint that it bothered him to stoop down and wipe away our sins. He wasn't ashamed to live as one of us or to dieasthe scum of the earth so we could be with him in heaven's glory.Heisn’t ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.
Have you ever wondered whyanyone who sees Jesusas his or her Savior would ever complain about serving him?

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We live in a world where personal rights are a big deal, and our faith in Jesus often goes against the flow. It’s no surprise that our own sinful hearts rise up in protest against serving Jesus, telling me there are things that are just beneathourdignity to do for our Savior. It could be just coming to worship when we risk others making fun of us for it, or following his commandments when everyone else is doing something else, or humbling ourselves to talk openly about Jesus with our children. Maybe it's swallowing our pride and saying we’re sorry when we’re wrong or letting go of our hurt so we can forgive someone who has sinned against us. I’m sure you’ve felt a tug of war with your sinful heartwhen your faith tells you to hold your tongue when you feel like telling someone off or find it hard to keep your anger in check when you feel mistreated or to be kind to that phone solicitor when they’re doing a job they probably don’t enjoy, either.

Whenever we’re tempted to feel that something beneath our dignity or not worth our time to do or too precious to give up in love for our Savior, we only need to remember that

  • while wefume overminor inconveniences in our lives, God’s Son was laid in a borrowed manger and never had a place to call home
  • while wemake a big deal out of waiting in a checkout line, Jesus hung for 6 hours on a wooden pole patiently waiting to pay the last drop of my sin’s punishment.
  • while the failings of others seem so inexcusable to us,Christ died for my inexcusable sins to make me acceptable to God.
  • whilewe feel every right to be angry,our Savioruttered no words of protest as God used him to put away his wrath and evenprayed for my forgiveness.

“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…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.”

To a world where seeing isbelieving and the praise ofmen is prized,living your life for an unseen Savior seems absurd. Having hope in promises that we can neither see nor prove seems like utter nonsense.But onevery page of God's Word we see Jesus. We see the personal autograph of the Authorof our salvation. We see Jesuswith us every moment of our life until time ends and eternity begins. We see Jesus, our flesh-and-blood brother, ruling all things for us and preparinga place for us, his brothers and sisters, in the realms of glory. Wesee Jesus, who is not ashamed to call us family. We see Jesus who makes his home in our hearts by faith today. Amen.