Hebrews 2:14-15, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Here are some thoughts from my journal that led to the image above…though they are not focused on the same text, the thought process led me today’s picture nevertheless.
Hebrews 2:11, “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source (all are of one).”
The point here seems to be that it was fitting for Jesus to become our savior through suffering because the one who sanctifies (Christ) and those who are sanctified (us) must of necessity be the same. That is what seems to be the emphasis in the phrase, “all are of one,” and I find support for this view in that v.14 goes on to highlight the sameness of Christ to those whom He redeems. Since the sanctifier must be “of one” with the sanctified, the Son had to share in flesh and blood (2:14) and become like us in respect (2:17) except sin (4:15), being “perfected” as our savior by enduring the full gambit of human suffering (2:10, 5:7-9).
Gregory—one of the Gregories…I think it was Nazianzus—said that Christ has only healed what He has taken to Himself (referring to His full humanity). Hebrews 2:11 seems to affirm this and to spread it out into the realm of experience (which Gregory no doubt did as well). Christ has only healed, only sanctified, only saved what He has Himself shared. Therefore, if He is to save a suffering race, He must suffer; if He is to save a sorrowing race, He must have sorrow; if He is to save a sinful race, He must bear their sin; and if He is to save a damned race, He must be damned in their stead….Whatever the deepest suffering possible to a human creature, Christ had to endure this to become our “perfect” savior and high priest, because the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified “all are of one.” In this is Love.
