1-4It's crucial that we
keep a firm grip on what we've heard so that we don't drift off. If the
old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with
anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this
magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the
Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him.
All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit,
all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.
The Salvation Pioneer
5-9God didn't put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we're dealing with here. It says in Scripture,
What is man and woman that you bother with them;
why take a second look their way?
You made them not quite as high as angels,
bright with Eden's dawn light;
Then you put them in charge
of your entire handcrafted world.
When
God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we
don't see it yet, don't see everything under human jurisdiction. What we
do see is Jesus, made "not quite as high as angels," and then, through
the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a
glory "bright with Eden's dawn light." In that death, by God's grace, he
fully experienced death in every person's place.
10-13It
makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps
everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer
perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since
the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus
doesn't hesitate to treat them as family, saying,
I'll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know
about you;
I'll join them in worship and praise to you.
Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,
Even I live by placing my trust in God.
And yet again,
I'm here with the children God gave me.
14-15Since
the children are made of flesh and blood, it's logical that the Savior
took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By
embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold
on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.
16-18It's
obvious, of course, that he didn't go to all this trouble for angels. It
was for people like us, children of Abraham. That's why he had to enter
into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high
priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already
experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be
able to help where help was needed.