Jesus and His Brothers (Heb. 2:11-13)

This sermon was preached on 10/3/2013

As the author of Hebrews continues his explanation of how Jesus is superior to the angels, he now comes to deal with the great difference between the relationship that angels have to Jesus (they are his servants) and the relationship that believers have to Jesus (they are his brothers). In chapter 1, he had shown how Jesus is superior to angels in various aspects of his own experience: his resurrection, his rule, his re-creation of the universe. In chapter 2, he shows how Jesus is superior to angels in ways by which he is linked to his people: he is the guarantee that they will receive their inheritance (the world to come), he is bringing many sons to glory through his sufferings, and he is the Brother of all who trust in him for salvation.

The author describes this relationship of brotherhood in the remainder of this chapter, and he does so in three ways. First, he focuses on how Jesus sanctifies his brothers; second, he explains what Jesus did for his brothers when he died on the cross; and third, he shows how Jesus helps his brothers in the various trials that they face from the devil. We will consider the first of these ways in this sermon.

The Sanctifier and the Sanctified

First of all, the author describes their relationship under the imagery of sanctification. Jesus is the One who sanctifies, and his brothers are the ones who are being sanctified by him. When he says that Jesus is the One who sanctifies, the author means that all that Jesus did as the God/man is connected to the purifying and cleansing of his people. This is why Jesus lived a perfect life, this is why he died an atoning death, this is why he sends the Holy Spirit from heaven to indwell his people, and this is why he functions as a priest making intercession in heaven for them. The highest concern of Jesus regarding his people is to make them holy, and one day they will all be perfectly holy together in heaven.

His real humanity

The author makes two other comments about Jesus and his brothers in verse 11. First, he mentions that they are all ‘of one’, which raises the issue of what is meant by ‘of one’. The author uses the adjective enos, which can be either masculine or neuter. Some versions take it as masculine and translate ‘of one Father’, interpreting the author as referring to God. Obviously the context would allow such a translation. But it is more likely that the author had in mind that Jesus and his brothers share a common human nature (which requires taking the adjective as neuter), whether it is a reference to the shared connection to Abraham that Jesus had with the original readers of this book or the shared connection he has as a real man with all his people. We are not to forget that Jesus is a real man. It was a real man who sat weary on the well at Sychar, as recorded in John 4, and it is the same man who now sits triumphantly on the throne of glory in heaven.

It is good for us to think about the humanity of Jesus and here are some aspects of it. I have used the letter ‘W’ to help us retain those ideas and the first word I will use is wonderful. At one time, the word would have included the meaning of ‘full of wonder’. And when we come to Jesus and his humanity, we see amazing features. To begin with, we know that he existed before he became a man. He existed as God, the second person of the Trinity. And when he became a man, he remained the second person of the Trinity, engaged in all that he had always done as far as his deity was concerned. When we think of Jesus, we should use the words of Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God.’

The second word that we can think about in connection to Jesus’ humanity is that he was wise. Even when he was child, he increased in wisdom (Luke 2:40-52). He received this wisdom from understanding the scriptures and when he appeared in public after his baptism it was obvious that he had the tongue of the learned. His teachings held his listeners enrapt as they listened with admiration to his descriptions of God and his kingdom. Yet he did so consistently. The wisest of earthly teachers makes occasional mistakes, but Jesus never did.

The third aspect of Jesus’ humanity that we can focus on is that he was worshipful as a man. Jesus, as a man, worshipped the Father in the sense that he sang his praise, prayed to him and obeyed his will. Of course, we can ask silly questions such as, Does this mean that Jesus worshipped himself because he was also divine? Our role is to focus on what has been revealed, and the Gospels make clear that Jesus was a very devout man who loved to engage wholeheartedly in the things of God. It is true that he related to God in a different way than we do because he was conscious that he was divine. 

A fourth aspect of the humanity of Jesus was his winsomeness. People took to him right away. When they met him they immediately sensed real attractiveness in him. How else can we explain the trust that children had in him or the ease with which women interacted with him? His character was like a magnet, astounding people by its exalted gracefulness. Of course, come came to hate him, but they hated him for his perfection and not for any faults he had.

The fifth aspect of his humanity is his weeping. There is a silly saying that real men don’t cry. If a man does not cry, he is stifling his humanity. We are emotional creatures. Some men weep out of sentiment – they are distressed if their football team loses a match, yet forget that it will soon be forgotten. Jesus wept in sympathy with the bereaved, in sorrow as he anticipated the future judgements that would come on sinners in Jerusalem. Sin and its effects affected him greatly although he was sinless.

Sixth, his humanity was a weak humanity at times. We see his weariness as he sat exhausted at the well of Sychar (his disciples, who had walked the same distance, don’t seem to have been exhausted). He had burdens on his heart that strained him every day. As a weak man he regularly turned to his Father for strength. We know that the place where his weakness was fully displayed was on the cross. Yet there he endured the most daunting experience imaginable when he bore our sins. 

His achievement on the cross leads us to think briefly about the final word – he is worthy. This is how they describe him in heaven, both for his acts as God (creating all things) and for his achievements as the God/man (providing atonement for sins). And that is how we should regard him and join in the heavenly song, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.’ 

Not ashamed

The second comment made by the author is that Jesus is not ashamed to call them ‘brothers’. This would be a tremendous encouragement for the first readers of this letter because they had displayed a tendency to be ashamed of Jesus in the face of prolonged opposition. The attitude of Jesus points to both the greatness and the grace of the Elder Brother. The comment would be worthless if Jesus was not greater than his brothers. Yet, as John Owen observes, ‘no unworthiness in them, no misery upon them, shall ever hinder the Lord Christ from owning them, and openly avowing them to be his brethren. He is a brother born for the day of trouble, a Redeemer for the friendless and fatherless.’ 

Jesus is not ashamed of them while they are in this world, despite their many failings, he will not be ashamed of them on the Day of Judgement, and he will not be ashamed of them when he gathers them all into his presence. He is not ashamed of them because they are the eternal gift of his Father to him (John 17:6) and he is not ashamed of them because the Holy Spirit, whom he sent into their hearts, indwells them. He is not ashamed of them because he purchased them on the cross and he sees that they are becoming more like him.

Of course, the challenge comes to us not to be ashamed of him. Recall Paul’s claim in Romans 1:16: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’ Two other verses that challenge us are found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy: ‘Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.’ (1:8); ‘But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me’ (1:12).

In passing, we can also note that the author of Hebrews mentions that the Father is not ashamed to be identified with his people. In Hebrews 11:16, when referring to the patriarchs, he says that ‘they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.’

The Living Voice of Jesus in the Old Testament

The author uses three Old Testament references to describe this relationship between Jesus and his people. The first reference comes from Psalm 22, which is an obvious Messianic psalm: ‘I will declare your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you.’ Jesus, the Messiah, had died in order that his brothers would be forgiven their sins. When they would become members of his family, he would teach them about God. In a sense, this quotation from Psalm 22 describes the resolve of Jesus as his sufferings came to an end, and glory beckoned ahead of him. In the endless day of glory, which of course has now begun for him, he will unfold to his people the meaning of his Father’s name.

The second reference comes from Psalm 18:2: ‘I will put my trust in him.’ Although not so well-known or so clear a reference to the brothers of Jesus, this psalm is also a Messianic one, and Paul quotes from it in Romans 15:9 in connection with Jesus singing among the Gentiles as congregations throughout the world gather to praise The Lord. The psalm is often interpreted as giving insight into the sufferings of Jesus, and it is hard to read it and not see a reference to the Saviour’s experience on the cross. Perhaps the point that the author of Hebrews is making that Jesus, the Elder Brother, exercised faith throughout his trials (he is the author and perfector of faith). In addition to imitating Jesus in his resolve, the readers should imitate him in his faith, his trust in God exercised during his sufferings. 

The third quotation is from Isaiah 8:18: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given me.’ As far as Isaiah 8 is concerned, it describes how Jesus would be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence for the Jews in general. Yet there would be those among Isaiah’s generation and in subsequent generations who would be different, and whom Jesus would recognise as his children, and they would be for signs and wonders in Israel. This would be a great encouragement to the writer’s original Hebrew readers, and it is also an encouragement to all of God’s people. Whether the world sees it or not, Jesus is not ashamed of his brothers because each of them is a sign of the greatness of his mercy and the success of his gospel.

We can say that there is a twofold fulfilment of what these verses pointed towards. The first fulfilment takes place between the ascension and the return of Jesus Christ. When a person becomes a son of God, he or she is ignorant of who God is. Jesus, by his Word and Spirit, will instruct them in the knowledge of God. Church life is basically family life as we learn together about the Father and his great purpose. But we should not forget that we gather to be taught by Jesus. Of course, he does so by the Holy Spirit enabling us to understand the contents of the Bible.

The greater fulfilment of these verses will take place in the eternal world when all the family will be gathered in to his presence in a special way not possible in this life. Then Jesus will say in a way that he will not have said before, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.’ At that moment, we will see that it was impossible for him to be ashamed of his brethren. Each one of them will have failed him in one way or another, yet they will hear him say with gladness, ‘Look, they are all here.’ They will see that he is satisfied with them, and the singing will go on.

In the new world, Jesus will lead us into deeper understanding of God. Our minds will be continually enlarged and our emotions continually developed as we listen to his joyful instruction. His instruction in that heavenly world will not be given in a cold or regimented manner; instead it will be given as he leads the praise of the great congregation, the heavenly community, before the throne of God for ever.

But in the meantime, we have to live by faith and in this outlook Jesus is also our example. We run our race, looking to Jesus and imitating the way that he trusted in his Father’s care in life and death.