Who’s in Charge Here?

Hebrews 2:5-9

⁵For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? ⁷You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, ⁸putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

As I look out across the landscape that is our culture, it seems the rights/powers of the individual have risen to the place of supremacy. Which means every person is in charge of themselves and we answer to no one except ourselves. It’s dangerous ground. Civility is lost, respect is thing of the past, and supremacy belongs to those who can claim it.

What might that have to do with these 5 verses from Hebrews? So much. The writer of Hebrews continues to teach about the supremacy of Christ as head of all things. But Jesus set that supremacy aside for the greater goal – our salvation. We are invited to ponder that idea by King David (writing over a thousand years before this letter to the Hebrews was penned) in Psalm 8, where he looks at the place that God has given to The Son of Man and to us; words which are quoted here in these verses from Hebrews.

Psalm 8:4-6

³When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

⁴what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

⁵Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

Now the question arises, are these passages referring to Jesus, or to God’s creature, the humans? The answer is both – in a ranked order. Humanity has indeed been placed in a position of authority over God’s creation. Adam and Eve were instructed to populate the earth and subdue it. But clearly, Jesus is the main focus of these words. He was the one who embraced humanity “for a little while” in order to fulfill the goal of our salvation. He set aside the glories of heaven to endure the humilities of living on this sin-filled earth for a time. In doing so, He illuminates the contrast between the liturgical “now” and the eschatological “not yet”. In that work, the question of authority is settled forever. Jesus reigns and we are His grateful subjects.

“By the grace of God” Jesus suffered death “so that he might taste death on behalf of everyone.” God’s grace is not evident in Jesus’ death as such but in his vicarious death “on behalf of” every person on earth. He brought the Son of Man so low in order to raise man so high together with him. He who was by right God’s Son suffered death on behalf of everyone, so that by God’s grace they could become his sons, something that did not, by right, belong to them. And that through his death! His death for them and their death with him! So by their vision of Jesus, they gain a vision of themselves through him. As they behold Jesus put to death on their behalf, they also see themselves sharing in his royal status. Through his exaltation, they are destined to share in his glory and honor as God’s royal sons, vice-regal heirs with him in the world to come. Thus their vision is bifocal. Though they are doomed to die, they share in the glory of God’s Son. As a man of flesh and blood he is able to “taste death” fully for them in this age, so that they may taste life fully with him in the new age.

Kleinig, J. W. ©2017. Hebrews. (C. P. Giese, Ed.) (p. 131). Saint Louis, MO: CPH.