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. Both 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. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy 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 his brothers 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.
“Immanuel” is a key phrase when it comes to Christmas. “God is with us.” That’s what it means. We celebrate Christmas because God isn’t just with us in spirit or in power, but actually in the flesh. Mary was able to feel Immanuel move around in her womb; nurse him at her breast; tuck him into bed at night. Joseph was able to teach him how to use a saw and a hammer.
As we think about this it is an amazing thing to think that this was actually God who was within mankind’s grasp; who could be held and coddled and learn how to walk. It makes the whole concept of having a “relationship with God” seemingly more manageable. If God came down here in human form; then we maybe He isn’t beyond our reach. If Mary could hold Him, then maybe we can know Him too. The fact that He is human means even more; for we can also hold puppies and rabbits in our arms; yet communicating with them and they with us isn’t always so easy. But if He’s human then we also should have no problem communicating with Him; nor He with us. God became an infant; God became human; this is part of the wonder of Christmas.
But is that all Christmas is about? Is it enough for God to take on human skin? Will that make us want to love Him any more? Will that drive us to know Him; just because He took on flesh? A second question, and even more important is, “Will that drive God to love us just because He became one of us?” Think about it; just because two people are Caucasian or Asian doesn’t mean they will necessarily love each other. Here’s another thought; when a man decides to “become” a woman it doesn’t make women flock to “her.” It would more often than not cause both men and natural women to look at “her” as a conflicted and troubled human being who needed some serious counseling. The point I’m trying to get at is that it wasn’t enough for God to become man. It doesn’t make God love us nor does it make us love Him just because He became one of us. We need to know why.
The Purpose of Christmas
A big term in religious circles is the word “relationship.” They call God “relational.” So at Christmas time some might say that God became man so that God could “identify with us” or “establish a relationship” with us. There is much talk in today’s religious world about “identifying” with people. In order to do this they try to “speak the lingo”, “feel the pain,” get into the psyche of the hurting soul; so they can really connect with the sinner in hopes of breaking through; making a “connection.”
We could understand it correctly; and this is somewhat reflected in today’s text. He himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus is able to know what we are going through when we are really struggling under pain or when someone is pushing us to the limits of our love. He won’t cut us off because we are weak; because He himself felt weakness. He can identify with us. But in the same sense; God didn’t just come to identify with us; to hold our hand through our weaknesses and coddle us in our sicknesses. Some people use this as an excuse to keep on sinning; to remain in sin; they want to be identified with but they don’t want to be healed. It almost would appear that they like being sick; it makes them get attention; it makes them feel as if they are suffering for their sins. They like giving in to their sinful natures temporarily because if offers a temporary relieve from the struggles and pains of life. If Jesus can just be a big pillow that they can land on every time they foolishly jump off a cliff; someone who doesn’t make them feel bad about themselves or what they are doing; who can “identify” with them but never call them to repentance and faith; well then that’s great to them.
This portion of the book of Hebrews talks about how Jesus identifies with us as His brothers and why He does so. He didn’t just become human so He could walk and talk with us and physically experience the human culture.
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. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. . . . Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy 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 this reason he had to be made like his brothers 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.
Notice the primary reason that Jesus had to take on flesh and blood; so that with His flesh and blood He could perfectly suffer and die. It sounds strange at first hearing to hear of God, the author of salvation, being made perfect. The NIV could have done a much better job at translating this. The word in the Greek actually means to bring to completion, to finish the job. If I am doing a perfect job at something but I haven’t finished the job yet; it doesn’t mean that it is imperfect in the sense of it is wrong as it is not yet completed. So here the writer is not meaning to say that Jesus was imperfect at some point in His life. As Jesus said on the cross, it was the suffering and death of Christ that finished the purpose of His becoming human in the first place.
The writer to the Hebrews said that “it was fitting” for this to happen. Fitting for what? It was fitting for God’s justice. You see, Jesus didn’t become man just so He could understand what we are going through. Nor did He just come to be the perfect child we should have been. He became man so He could suffer under divine wrath over sin; so He could provide a place for the punishment of hell to go to. It wouldn’t be fair or right if God would simply wave us into heaven after knowing what sinful rebels we are. That’s not the way the holy and just God works.
The devil knows this. He dangles God’s wrath before us to terrify us of dying. He says, “Why would a holy God ever let you into heaven? How could a God with perfect memory ever miss any of your sins? No! No! You must pay the price! You must suffer for what you’ve done.” But what does the writer to the Hebrews say that Jesus did with His humanity? He made us holy! Therefore, Jesus’ blood frees us from this fear of dying. Jesus’ death says to us, “Your sins have been paid for! I died your death! My blood covers your sins; so you really look holy in God’s sight.” The only way that God could be merciful to us would be if Jesus were faithful to His calling to die in our place; as our High Priest. This bloody sacrifice was what provided the atonement; the covering for our sins. This was the primary reason why Jesus became man; not just to identify with us; not just to become man and feel what flesh was like; but to suffer our hell as God and man; to take our place under the wrath of God. This is why we celebrate Christmas; we must see the cross behind the crib; overshadowing it and looming over it as an ugly death sentence. This child was being born to die for us.
II. It is conversational
They say actions speak louder than words. We can never mention the action of the cross too often. It is prominent in this text; it is the heart and core of our brotherhood; in seeing Jesus not just take on our flesh but also our sin and guilt; and that’s why it was prominent in the first part of this sermon. Yet sandwiched between the cross we see many other references to Jesus’ humanity. This text is unique in a number of ways when it talks about the humanity of Christ. There are four additional highlights to the humanity of Christ that I would like to make mention of; points that will make us marvel all the more at the reason why God took on flesh. They revolve around the words of Jesus. You see, if actions take place without explanation; they can sometimes be misinterpreted and misunderstood.
1. “I will declare your name to my brothers; Back in Exodus the LORD described Himself as both just and merciful; a God who hated sin and forgave sin. He had to do this because people would have no idea that the LORD was like this unless He revealed it to them. Jesus also declared the LORD’s name with the simple confession, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.” He told the chief priest, “It is as you say.” He blessed Peter’s confession and said that the foundation of the Church would depend on His identity as the Christ. As He lived among His brothers He made it clear who the LORD was and is. At the end of His death and resurrection the message was clear. He made sure they knew that His death as the Messiah was predicted and planned all the long. Jesus was and is the Messiah.
2. “In the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
o Notice where Jesus made proclamation of the LORD’s name; in the presence of the congregation. When Jesus was on trial the night of His betrayal He made mention of WHERE He did His preaching; “I have spoken openly to the world, I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.” (John 18:20) He was not an ascetic who lived in a desert and made people climb a mountain to find him. As a man He made His presence right in full view of the congregation; in the midst of the Jews who were already gathering in the name of the LORD. Sometimes the words He spoke sounded like sweet music to the ears of the listeners; so unusually sweet that they wondered how He was able to do so having seemingly come from a carpenter.
3. I will put my trust in him. This is kind of hard to explain. But it is important. God is never in danger. He is never in need of help or deliverance. But when Jesus came to earth as a human He put Himself in a position of being attacked and needing to be delivered. We might think of Jesus going to the cross with no problem at all since He knew what would happen and how it would happen. But this is not what we see in the Garden. We see Jesus strenuously praying to His Father; struggling with what is about to come; searching for a different way; and yet TRUSTING His future to the Father. His prayer and words from the cross reveal to us His perfect trust. To allow the Father through the Holy Spirit to direct you to the cross; to put you through hell and then entrust your body and soul into the hands of the Father after having just been put through hell; that takes a perfect faith. This is what the writer to the Hebrews points to and says to us; “His trust proves to us that He became man, because man is in the submissive and weak and endangered role of needing to trust in God.”
4. Here I am and the children God has given me. Do you notice the slight shift here? The Lord Jesus goes from having brothers to having children. And how does He get these children? Just as the LORD used the Word through Isaiah to gather a remnant to Himself; so also the LORD used the Word to gather children to Jesus. It brings to mind what Jesus said in what of his final prayers while in humility on earth. He said to the Father, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” (John 17:6) Jesus also said something similar to this earlier in John 6 when He said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus never proclaimed to be a one Man show; He always gave glory to the Father in His words to show that He was working within His divine commission as a Member of the divine Trinity. So the writer uses this verse from Isaiah to show again that Jesus was the true Immanuel; as proved by His praise to the Father for His children.
All of these concepts take some thinking and the whole concept of God becoming man is a deep thought. If this has made your head spin somewhat, take comfort in the basic fact that Jesus became man so He could reveal to you the justice and mercy of the LORD and that people could find salvation in Him as the Messiah. Jesus came to make brothers and sisters and children for Himself; so that we could be a part of His heavenly and holy family. Jesus stands before you as God in the flesh and says to you, “I took on flesh to live and die for you; as your substitute.” You don’t have to be able to understand it all; just believe it. Whether you’re a sister, a brother, a child or an old person; old or young; white or black; athlete or nerd; Jesus says to you with His humanly divine mouth, “I want you to be my brother and my child.” The purpose of Christmas was so that Jesus could use His actions and words to reveal to us who He is and then through His Word make us who we are.
A young husband or wife may love the thought of having a baby and teaching the child to walk and talk and ride a bike. Yet they seldom think about the fact that the baby will also cry and complain and fall down and need to be fed. So a baby is all good and fine as long as it can only be held and cuddled; but then reality hits. It starts crying and whining, walking and talking, and before you know it you find yourself living as a slave to the little tyke.
Baby Jesus in the crib is the kind of God that everyone loves. Who wouldn’t want a God that they can control? Christmas isn’t so offensive to a world that wants the ability to put God in a crib; as long as He just lays there and sleeps and doesn’t intrude on their lives.
But then Jesus wakes up. He starts walking and talking; with power! He gets right in the middle of the congregation and starts telling people what miserable sinners they are; how they all need to repent of their sins and believe in Him. Throughout His ministry a majority of the people only get angry with Him or ignore Him. Finally they get so angry with Him that they want to put Him to death. But when Jesus goes to the cross He shows them what true faith and love are all about; as He dies for the sins of the world.
Many do not love what this Child grows up to say and do. He intrudes on their freedom; He threatens their lifestyles; He demands attention and worship. Like it or not, Jesus did not stay in the crib. He did not remain a helpless little infant. He grew and became strong. He spoke; He worshiped; He died; and He rose from the dead. He proved to us that He was who God’s Word said He was.
Love it or hate it, this is the purpose of Christmas. This is why Jesus became man; this is the purpose of Christmas. He is a loving and merciful God who not only became human; but also became sin and suffered death; all for us. This is why I love Christmas, and I hope and pray it is why you love Christmas as well. Amen.