Jesus Calls Us Brothers!

20th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/7/18
Hebrews 2:9-11


Jesus Calls Us Brothers!
I. He became one of us.
II. In order to suffer for us.


Do you know anyone who's famous? By famous, I mean a name that 90% of Americans would instantly recognize. I'm talking about a huge political figure, a movie star, a sports or music mega-star. Not many of us do. Those aren't the circles we operate in. This is southwest Ohio, not New York or Washington DC or Hollywood. And when I ask if you know them, I'm implying that they know you by name as well. Does a famous person know your name? Do you receive Christmas cards, birthday cards, phone calls or email messages from a famous person? Probably not.

I suppose, then, that I already know the answer to my next question. Are you related to anyone famous? I'm not talking about anyone who was famous in the past who died long ago. I'm talking about someone living right now who is famous. A person everyone would recognize. Can't think of anyone?

How about this one? Jesus is speaking about you when he says at the end of this morning's sermon text, "Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." The most important figure in all of world history--the eternal Son of God, the worker of miracles and the winner of our salvation--calls you his brother. Why would he call us that? Why would he link himself to us in such a way? Let's answer those questions as we ponder the amazing truth that Jesus calls us brothers.

Part I.

A few years ago I watched a documentary on the efforts of a scientist to understand primates better--you know, monkeys, apes, baboons, etc. Studying primates in a zoo wasn't real enough for her, so she decided to travel to South America's rain forest and live among the primates there for an entire year. She lived where they lived--in the trees. She ate what they ate. She did what they did. She even was successful in communicating with them to the point that they accepted her into their group. In the documentary she admits that she began losing her identity as a human being and began thinking of herself as a primate. In a sense, she became one of them. Sounds rather silly to me. What do you think?

We have a much more serious situation described in this morning's sermon text. It begins with the words, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower that the angels." What is the writer to the Hebrews talking about? He's talking about how God became one of us. Do you realize how unique that concept, that truth, is? Think about it. All other religions in the world proclaim a god who is so far beyond us that he is unapproachable. The people who believe in these gods aren't sure who their god is or what he wants from them. They spend their entire lives trying to figure out who he is and what they need to do in order to have a relationship with him. They consult religious gurus, live in mountaintop monasteries, inhale the smoke of wacky weeds, and speak countless incantations all in an attempt to get closer to their god and to understand him better.

How different from your God, the only true God! While countless people wonder if their god cares about them at all, you have a God who knows you by name and desires to be with you. While Jesus was on this earth, he spoke about drawing all people to the Father through faith in him. He spoke about preparing a place in heaven for us. He spoke about the unity that exists between himself, his Father, and those who trust in him. God did not create us to live without him; he created us to live with him.

In order to attain that life for us, the Son of God took on human flesh and blood. We call that the incarnation--God becomes a man without setting aside his divinity. That's who Jesus is. He's true God from all eternity. And yet, at a point in time, the Son of God became a human being when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In doing so, he became a little lower than the angels as he set aside the full use of his divinity for a time and lived like one of us in order to save all of us.

And "now [he is] crowned with glory and honor." Jesus is still true God and true man. And as true God and true man Jesus rules over all things for the good of his church, his believers, you and me. He's uniquely equipped to do so because he is one of us.

Jesus calls us brothers. He became one of us.

In the play The Deputy, a young Roman Catholic priest learns what is happening to countless Jews in Europe in the extermination camps of World War II. He makes their plight his cause by telling what he knows to every authority who will listen to him. He even informs the pope. But few listen to him, and the few that do excuse themselves of any responsibility. When all avenues of protest have been exhausted, he quietly sews a yellow, six-pointed star on his sleeve and presents himself at an extermination camp where he moves to the gas chambers with the people whose cause he has taken on himself. Incredible!

How much more incredible that the Son of God should become one of us! But what comfort, what salvation, is in that eternal truth! We don't have a god who is so far beyond us that he can't possibly know what we're going through. No, we have a God who loves us so much that he became one of us. He knows exactly what we face each day of our lives because he came and lived this life, too. By living for us and dying for us Jesus has brought us into the family of God. That's why he can rightly calls us his brothers. He became one of us.

Part II.

Have you ever spent time at a children's hospital? If so, you know how tragic some young lives are. Seeing sick children with life-threatening diseases is a moving experience. And you watch and wonder how that sick child's parents handle the situation. Day after day and night after night they remain at their child's bedside, doing what they can for this sick child. And if you asked them, every one of them would tell you that they would change places with their child in a heartbeat. If only they could suffer instead of their son or daughter!

We can understand that--a parent who wants to suffer for their child. But what god would ever do that? Just consider how many people think that god exists unaffected by their plight, that he must be bought with sacrifices and prayers in order to act on their behalf, that he considers humans to be a nuisance that he must tolerate. What god would ever take our place and suffer for us?

The only true God, that's who! Our text states that Jesus became one of us "so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." The word "taste" in that verse doesn't mean that he took a little sip to see what it was like. The Greek word here means that he drank it all down. He drank the cup of suffering for us. He was equipped to do that because he became one of us. If Jesus were only true God, then he couldn't suffer for us because God can't suffer. But as true God and true man Jesus could and did suffer for us.

In fact, by suffering he made our salvation complete. Our text states, "[God made] the author of their salvation perfect through suffering." The word "perfect" is used here in the sense of complete. There is nothing left for us to do in order to have forgiveness of sins and life with God in heaven. Our salvation is already perfect; it's complete. As Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." Jesus finished that work by living perfectly for us. He lived the life that God demanded of us. And then he died as the payment for our sins. No further payment is required. It's finished. It's complete. Jesus did everything that God demanded in order to bring us into God's family and for us to enjoy life in that family forever.

Jesus calls us brothers. He became one of us in order to suffer for us.

I know we complain at times about how slow the US mail service is, but have you ever received a piece of mail 50 years late? I read a story some time ago in which that very thing happened. A letter was sent from a World War II soldier to his sweetheart here in the US. Somehow it got lost, but was delivered 50 years later. In the letter he explained that he was sorry he didn't tell her how much she meant to him. He wrote to proclaim his love for her. Unfortunately, this soldier died later in battle. And his sweetheart died before his letter was finally delivered. How sad that she lived all that time now knowing about how he felt for her!

How sad that people live their lives wondering about how God feels about them! When a string of mishaps hit their lives, they wonder why God seems to have a grudge against them. When they don't get what they want in life, they wonder how they can get God to give it to them. When they feel alone, afraid, or depressed, they wonder where God is.

There's no reason to wonder, because you have a Savior who calls you his brother. He accomplished what we could never do--our forgiveness of sins and our place with God in heaven. You and I can be sure of that because he came here to suffer for us. Your God wants you to be so close to him eternally that he calls you his brother. And that's what you are--a child of God, a member of God's family through faith in Jesus.

Yes, you not only know someone who's famous, you're his brother. May your brother, Jesus, keep you close to him through his word. Amen.