Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hebrews 1-6.
“Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).
The Hebrew writer’s assertion that Jesus was made “like His brethren in all things” has been stretched by some brethren far beyond what is taught in the context. Some suppose this phrase means that Jesus desired to sin like we desire to sin. Some assume that Jesus was given a human spirit when He came and lived on the earth. Neither of these is taught in the context, nor are they taught anywhere in Scripture.
The Hebrew writer explained in this context what is meant by the phrase, “He had to be made like His brethren in all things.”
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
What Jesus needed to be “like His brethren” and fulfill His work as a “faithful high priest” was a flesh and blood body. So this is what was “prepared for” Him when He came to earth (Hebrews 10:5).
Jesus was not given a “human spirit” when He came to earth. He was God in the flesh (John 1:1; Colossians 2:9). His divine spirit was housed in a physical, flesh and blood, human body.
As God in the flesh, He did not have a desire to sin as we often have. This comes from the Calvinistic notion that our flesh is inherently inclined toward evil. The flesh, without the spirit to animate it, is dead (James 2:26) and not inclined toward good or evil. Jesus’ physical body was animated by His perfect and holy divine spirit.
We do not need to read more into the text than is there. Jesus was “made like His brethren in all things” by taking on a “flesh and blood” body (Hebrews 2:14, 17). We should not try to make that phrase mean any more than what the Scriptures teach that it means.
Tomorrow’s reading: Hebrews 7-10
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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