Commentary - Hebrews 2:5-18

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Hebrews, the author continues his argument for the supremacy of Christ over the angels, but he takes a crucial turn. He is not simply contrasting a divine being with angelic beings. He is now showing us the supremacy of the God-man, Jesus Christ. The argument hinges on a masterful exposition of Psalm 8. The psalm speaks of God's original intention for mankind to have dominion over all creation. While we look around and see this intention tragically unfulfilled because of sin, the author of Hebrews tells us to look somewhere else. He tells us to look at Jesus. In Jesus, we see humanity as it was meant to be. He was made a little lower than the angels through His incarnation, but because of His suffering and death, He has been crowned with glory and honor. This suffering was not a detour, but the designated path. It was the fitting way for God to bring many sons to glory, perfecting the author of their salvation through what He endured. This establishes a profound solidarity between Christ and His people. He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one family, which is why He is not ashamed to call us brothers. Through His incarnation and death, He broke the power of the devil, who held humanity in bondage through the fear of death. He became like us in every way, so that He could be our merciful and faithful high priest, making propitiation for our sins and coming to the aid of those who are tempted.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 5 The author is making a crucial distinction. The old covenant, the Mosaic age, was administered through angels (Acts 7:53, Gal 3:19). But the "world to come," the Christian aeon we now inhabit, is not put in subjection to angels. The word for world here is oikoumene, the inhabited earth. This isn't about some ethereal heaven far away, but about the ordering of this world under the reign of Christ. The new covenant administration is not given to angels, but to someone else. Who? The next verses, quoting Psalm 8, will tell us it is given to man, and specifically to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

v. 6-8a The author doesn't name David, but simply says "one has testified somewhere," a common way of quoting Scripture that assumes the audience's familiarity. The quote is from Psalm 8, a psalm that marvels at God's majesty and His curious decision to grant dominion to frail man. "WHAT IS MAN...?" The question highlights the sheer incongruity of it all. Compared to the cosmos, man is a speck. And yet, God remembers him, is concerned about him. He made man "for a little while lower than the angels." This points to man's created state, mortal and limited. But this was not the end of the story. God "CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR" and appointed him over the works of His hands. This is the dominion mandate from Genesis 1. The final declaration is emphatic: "YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." The psalmist's vision is total. When God subjected all things to man, He left nothing out. This was the original design.

v. 8b Here is the pivot. The author brings us back to reality with a thud. "But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him." We look around the world and what do we see? Rebellion, chaos, death, disease. We see man manifestly not in control. The dominion mandate appears to be an abysmal failure. If the argument stopped here, it would be a counsel of despair. We see the ideal in Psalm 8, and we see the grim reality in our world. There is a great chasm between the two.

v. 9 "But we do see Jesus." This is the gospel in five words. Our eyes are directed away from the general failure of mankind and toward the specific triumph of one man, Jesus. He is the one who was "made for a little while lower than the angels." This refers to His incarnation, His taking on of true human nature. But why? It was "because of the suffering of death." His humiliation was not an accident; it was the very path to His exaltation. And because of that obedient suffering, He is now "crowned with glory and honor." This is the same crown Psalm 8 promised to mankind. In Jesus, the promise is fulfilled. He tasted death "for everyone." By the grace of God, His death was not a private tragedy but a public, substitutionary, and cosmic victory. He died as our representative, and in His exaltation, the promise of man's dominion is secured.

v. 10 "For it was fitting." The cross was not a divine afterthought or a frantic plan B. It was fitting, appropriate, and congruous with the character of God. God, "for whom are all things, and through whom are all things," is the sovereign creator and sustainer. In His plan to bring "many sons to glory," it was fitting to "perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." The word "perfect" here does not mean to make morally flawless, for Christ was always without sin. It means to complete, to bring to the intended goal. Jesus is the archegos, the pioneer, the trailblazer. He goes ahead of us on the path to glory, and that path, designated by the Father, led directly through suffering. Suffering was the instrument of His perfecting as our Savior, qualifying Him completely for the role.

v. 11 This verse establishes the profound unity between Christ and His people. "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One." The Sanctifier is Christ, and the sanctified are believers. We all have the same origin, the same source: God the Father. Because of this shared source, this family relationship, "He is not ashamed to call them brothers." This is a staggering thought. The exalted Son of God, crowned with glory and honor, looks upon redeemed sinners and calls them family. The shame that should be ours, He takes away, and in its place, He gives us His own honor.

v. 12-13 To prove his point, the author now strings together three Old Testament quotations. The first is from Psalm 22:22. In the midst of His own suffering, the Messiah looks ahead to His resurrection and declares His intention to praise God in the midst of the "assembly," the church. He will lead His brothers in worship. The second and third quotes are likely from Isaiah 8:17-18. "I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM" shows Jesus' perfect dependence on the Father during His earthly life, identifying with us in our need for faith. "BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME" shows Him presenting His people to the Father. He is the head of a new family, a new humanity, given to Him by God.

v. 14 "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same." The logic is powerful. Because we, the children, are human, He had to become human too. His incarnation was not an illusion. He took on our complete nature, "flesh and blood." And the purpose was strategic and warlike: "that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." Christ entered the devil's territory, the realm of death, in order to defeat him. He used the enemy's own weapon, death, to destroy him. The devil held the power of death not as its ultimate originator, but as the great accuser who wielded our sin and guilt to bring God's death penalty upon us.

v. 15 The consequence of the devil's power was a particular kind of slavery. Christ's victory was to "free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." The fear of death is the fundamental anxiety that drives so much of sinful human behavior. It is a chain that binds unbelievers in a life of bondage to their own self-preservation, their own lusts, their own pathetic attempts to build a kingdom that won't last. By dying and rising again, Jesus broke this chain. He showed us that death is not the end, and therefore we are free to truly live.

v. 16 The author clarifies the object of this great rescue mission. "For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the seed of Abraham." The incarnation was not for the benefit of fallen angels; there is no redemption for them. The help, the seizing for salvation, is for the descendants of Abraham. This refers not just to ethnic Jews, but to all who have the faith of Abraham, the covenant people of God.

v. 17 "Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things." This was a divine necessity. In order to be our representative and substitute, He had to be one of us. The likeness had to be complete, "in all things," yet without sin. And the purpose of this identification was priestly. It was so "that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God." His mercy flows from His shared experience of our weakness. His faithfulness is to God, perfectly executing God's plan. And the central task of this high priest is "to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Propitiation means to satisfy the wrath of God. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross turned away God's righteous anger against our sin, not by placating an angry deity, but by satisfying the just demands of His holy law.

v. 18 The final verse brings the comfort of this doctrine down to our level. "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to help those who are tempted." Because Jesus suffered, and because He was tempted through that suffering, He is not a distant, detached high priest. He knows our struggle from the inside. His past suffering and temptation have equipped Him for His present ministry of helping us. When we are tempted, we can cry out to a Savior who has been there, who has conquered, and who is both able and eager to come to our aid.

Application

The central application of this passage is to fix our eyes on Jesus. When we are discouraged by the state of the world, or by the sin that remains in our own hearts, we are tempted to despair. We do not yet see all things under our feet. But we are not called to fix our eyes on the unfinished project; we are called to look at the finished work of the Pioneer. We see Jesus, crowned and enthroned. Because He has secured the victory, our future dominion is not a matter of wishful thinking, but of settled certainty.

Secondly, we must embrace the logic of the cross. It was "fitting" for our Savior to suffer. We should not be surprised, then, when suffering marks our path as well. We are brothers of the suffering Savior, and we are being conformed to His image. Our sufferings are not meaningless; they are the tools God uses to perfect us, just as He perfected our Captain.

Finally, we must avail ourselves of our High Priest. We have a merciful and faithful advocate who has dealt with our sin problem decisively through propitiation. And because He was tempted, He is a sympathetic helper in our present struggles. The fear of death has been broken. The power of the devil has been nullified. Therefore, we can approach God with confidence, and we can face our temptations with courage, knowing that our great High Priest is able to help.