Don’t Drift from a Brother Like This

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“But we do see Jesus…”

Hebrews 2:9

Main Readings: Psalm 8 & Genesis 2:19-20 & Hebrews 2 - Hebrews 3:1

Related Readings: Genesis 2 & 3

Verse 9 says ‘But we do see Jesus…’  This letter’s written for that reason - so that Christians would see Christ clearer.  Cos these Hebrew believers were losing sight.  There was a religious undercurrent moving around them that was moving them.  They weren’t paying careful attention to Christ - like they used to.  They were starting to drift away.  From the only place of true and lasting soul safety – Christ!  And that’s why chapter 2 begins with this stark warning!  ‘We must…’  It’s not an option – ‘We could – It’d be better if we did.’  No!  ‘We must.’  There’s no other option.  ‘We must pay careful attention… to what we have heard (about Christ), so that we do not drift away.’

Drift – that’s not something that happens instantly.  But over time.  Away – So, somewhere else - not where we should be.  That’s the result. 

When I was younger, I lived in good old Sussex by the Sea.  My older brother had an inflatable dinghy.   Which he took out to sea.  And one clear, calm day, he said I could take it.  And I’d be safe.  All I’d to do was keep checking where he stood on the beach - and make sure I just gently pushed against the current - so I was always aligned with him.

And that’s what I did.  For a bit.  Then I got distracted.  I stopped focussing on where he was.  Cos that required concentration - Not not my strong point.  I just enjoyed where I was.  Cos I was well good at that!

I laid back and relaxed.  Like for ages.  Until suddenly I remembered – I must pay careful attention.  So, I did.  I looked at the section of beach in front.  Between the two breakwaters.  And got the shock of my life.  Where my brother’d been standing, was a middle-aged lady with pink hair.  And though my brother was a lot of things – most of them bad – he didn’t have pink hair!  And he wasn’t a lady!  I was terrified!

What had happened?  Well, as it turned out, I was in a different place.  Several breakwaters down the coast.  Looking at a changed scene.  Away from where I needed to be.  Cos I’d drifted.  An under current had moved me.  While I was completely unaware.

That can happen in the faith life.  ‘We must pay the most careful attention’ that we are always correctly aligned with Christ.  And that our faith-eyes are always, only on him. 

The consequences of ignoring this are so serious.  Which is why this warning is so stark.  Verse 2 mentions ‘angels’ again.  And it’s talking about the Old Testament Law given to Israel. Why?  Cos these Hebrews had evidently been thinking about angels a lot recently.  And their whole lives had been surrounded by Jewish Law.  This was stuff they knew.  And knew well.  So this letter uses that as an example to make it’s point.

They’re being reminded of the consequence of disobedience.  The Old Testament has a whole heap of history.  And a lot of it’s horrible!  It’s the record of Israel’s rise as a nation.  The nation that God chose to give his promises to.  Promises about his coming Son.  And God framed Israelite life with a system of rules – here called ‘the message spoken through angels.’ 

Because he’d chosen them as his special nation - they got a special framework to govern their life together.  God gave them a contract.  It promised them what God’d do for them if they obeyed him.  And what he’d do if they didn’t. 

They were like us – so quick to say, ‘Yeh, God, we love it! - we’ll do all that!’  They were like us – they didn’t!  But God’s not like us.  When God commits to doing – he does.  Time and time again, Israel sinned.  And - as verse 2 here - ‘every’ time that happened, Israel ‘received its just punishment.’  And that punishment was so serious.  Cos it included death.  As verse 3 - We can’t ‘escape’ it.  The wages of sin is death.

And verse 3 compares that Old Israelite system, to God’s - always new, and always better - system of faith.  Not based on religious rule keeping.  But based on belief.  Belief in God’s Son – Christ Jesus - who kept the rules we could not keep. These Hebrew believers had moved – by faith – to trusting in God’s greatest ever promise.  They’d believed in God’s ‘salvation’ – that’s his rescue plan in Christ.  People who were rubbish at rule-keeping – just rescued.

But now these people – these Hebrews – were drifting from Christ.  The dangerous religious undercurrent that moved in the sea of life that they were in, meant that they were now looking at a different scene.  They’d moved from where Christ stood.  They were losing sight of New Life.  And facing death.  This warning is serious.  Cos death is serious. 

And we might wanna argue.  Death – I’ve no choice.  But no!  God’s given two choices about what comes after.  In these two verses.  It’s one.  Or the other.  For every violating and disobedient person, that ever lived.  So, that’s us all.  Our sin can have God’s ‘just punishment’ of us.  Or we can have God’s ‘great… salvation’ – where his ‘just punishment’ of our sin was given to his Son on that cross.  That’s the choice.  Just punishment.  Or just Jesus.  Come on! What’s it gunna be?!

But we easily drift.  And these Hebrews were no different.  Subtly moving from salvation and security and certain hope in what Christ has done.  Back to a religion of doing.  Choosing doing, over done.  Hebrews says don’t do that!  Stick with ‘this salvation.’  And then they’re reminded how it was first announced.  By Christ himself.  Then by his followers.  And then – in verse 4 – signs and miracles and gifts followed all that.  What you’re losing sight of – God couldn’t’ve been clearer.  Wipe ya misty specs and look again!

But where’s the hope.  If we’re so prone – as humans - to drift like this.  Where’s the hope?  In that one other human!  The NIV - before verse 5 – gives a title to the rest of this chapter.  ‘Jesus made fully human.’  That’s where our hope must begin.  That’s where it must remain.  He was made like us.  His life experience was full.  And full of the things we face.  We can go to him.  With how life makes us feel.  And he knows how we feel.  Cos he’s felt that!

Christ knows what it is to be human.  Do we?  Cos Hebrews now tries to help us understand.  But it gets a bit technical.  Once again it quotes from Old Testament passages.  But what’s it saying?  Is it talking about all humans?  Or just about Jesus?  Well, the modern English Bible translations seem to agree that it’s about both.  Verses 6-8 are about us – the whole body of humanity.  Then verse 9 is about Jesus – the Saviour of humanity – and how he relates to us.  And then the rest of the chapter covers that relationship.

Verses 6-8 are a quote from Psalm 8 ‘What is mankind?’  What are we to God? Why does he care?  Well, he made us – ‘a little lower than the angels.’  They’re up there.  We’re down here.  But he ‘crowned us with glory and honour.’  That’s the picture of us ‘In the beginning’!  ‘Mankind’ was glorious and honourable when first ‘made.’  ‘Everything under their feet.’  We read of that in Genesis 2.  The rest of creation belonged to that first man called Adam.  God showed him it all.  He paraded all living things in front of Adam.  And asked him to name them all. 

Recently I saw a parade.   The Gawthorpe Maypole Procession.  It came past r’house.  Floats and vehicles and people and horses.  Our street’s a mile long.  But when the front of that parade left the far end of our street, the other end hadn’t yet turned in.  It was so impressive!  But my name’s not Adam.  So don’t expect me to name everything I saw!

But how much more impressive must that parade have been?  That Adam saw.  How glorious?!  But when I read Genesis 2.  I often miss that original glory.  Cos I know what’s coming round the corner.  Sin’s about to enter Eden Street.  And glory and honour will be long gone.

That happens in Genesis 3.  But when original glory leaves.  And sin enters.  God also enters our scene with immediate promise of restoration.  There’s greater glory coming.  And so here in Hebrews.  Sin has brought ruin.  But Jesus will restore.  Verse 8 says, ‘Yet at present we do not see…’  How God first made us to be – is not what we see when we look around now. Glory and honour have given way to hatred and greed!  Where can we look now?

Verse 9 – ‘But we… see Jesus…’  And now Psalm 8 takes on a new and better meaning.  And life does too.  Christ’s restoring that original glory of God’s creation plan.  He ‘was made lower.’  So that we could be lifted back up.  ‘He suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’  Grace – God’s riches at Christ’s expense.  He tasted – swallowed – death’s bitterness.  So we could taste the sweetness of new creation life!

And that’s the thing.  These Hebrews were tempted to drift off course from new creation life.  Cos they were suffering in their present experience of new life in Christ.  Pushed and pulled off course.  But remember that parade in Genesis 2.  How the glory there is kinda lessened cos of what’s around the corner.  So it can be – but now in reverse – cos of what Christ has done.  When we’re tempted in the Christian life.  And really suffering.  Remember what he’s done.  What he’s doing.  What he’s gunna do.  Our experience of suffering can maybe feel less.  Cos we realise what’s round the corner.  The parade of sin and suffering… it will end.  Coming round the roundabout of life.  To where we live in Christ.  Is that sure and certain… and everlasting… parade of new creation glory.  You don’t wanna drift from that!

That’s where Christ’s ‘bringing’ us.  That’s the word in verse 10.  And there’s another wonderful word there.  About Christ.  ‘Pioneer.’  ‘Of (our) Salvation.’  A pioneer is someone who goes somewhere first.  Like an explorer.  They do the hard.  So others can follow them.  A bit more easy.  Cos someone’s gone that way before.

As I walk the local footpaths, I like to think I’m an explorer.  Even though I don’t explore much beyond Cleckheaton!  But the other day I had this experience - I was walking on a path at the side of a field.  And the crop in the field was really established.  I knew that in a few metres the path should turn 90 degrees.  But how would I know where.  When the field was so full and blocked off.  And then I got to that point.  And then I saw where I had to go.  Cos someone had walked that way.  And squashed the crops with their feet.  I just needed to follow where they’d been.  And I’d be going right.

Sometimes, as Christians, when we walk through suffering, we can easily start to doubt we’re on track.  Jesus says, ‘This is the path I trod.  Don’t drift.  Continue to follow me.’   

Believer – he knows that path.  Believer – he knows your path.  The pioneer of our faith is made ‘perfect through what he suffered.’  That means perfect in the sense of being perfectly suitable.  To us.  To guide us.  Christ will lead us through difficult times. 

And the remainder of this chapter shows just how much Christ Jesus identifies with our experience of difficulty.  And how much he is us.  Verse 11 – ‘of the same family.’  ‘Not ashamed’ of us.  Perhaps we feel shame today.  At how easily we’ve drifted from Christ.  That shame’s included.  In the shame he took to Calvary.  Sometimes we can stand in the shoes of these Hebrew believers.  We feel the pressure.  When people are at us with their ‘blah, blah, blah’ about our Jesus Walk.  And we feel shame about what we believe.  And so, stay quiet.  Cos we do.   But extra-ordinary thought – brothers and sisters.  He’s not ashamed of you.

Our Jesus won’t stay quiet.  Verse 12 quotes Psalm 22.  About Christ declaring God’s name and singing God’s praise to God’s new family.  Cos, only through Christ can we hear and experience God’s love song to us as sinners.  And then there’s a couple of quotes from Isaiah’s prophecy.  Finishing at the end of verse 13 with Christ saying ‘Here am I, and the children God has given me.’  Prone to drift.  But he watches over his family.  And get this.

Those words were spoken 700 years earlier, in Isaiah 8.  Christ was always gunna say this – ‘Here am I (with them you gave me).’  700 years later, he’s saying it in Hebrews.  2000 years later – our time – this hasn’t changed.  Cos we need him to keep reminding us of it.  And you know what.  There’s a time coming.  That we might be frightened about.  When we’re gunna stand before the majesty in heaven.  With the film reel of our life, ready for review.  And we’re worried.  Cos of all that drifting.  And the rest of the shame.  What’s God gunna say to that?

Remain in Christ.  And he’ll speak for you.  And he’ll say, ‘Here am I.’  ‘Father God, you gave me this child.’  ‘Here am I.’  Here is the film reel.  Of my life.  Lived for them.’  And our Father God will reply, ‘With you I am well pleased.  And they’re with you by faith.  I’m forever pleased with them.’

Verses 14-16 confirm how deeply Christ shared in our humanity.  And how much Christ can set us free.  Scared to death of death we were.  But he has dealt with that.  And verse 17, has him ‘fully human in every way.’  And mentions his ongoing ‘high priest’ role in our lives. Hebrews will come back to that.  And so will we.  But wrapped in that role is his suitability for that role.  It’s in verse 18.  The end of this chapter.  ‘Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’

What could help these drifting Hebrews?  What can help us?  Christ.  Only Christ.  ‘He is able.’  He’s able to help us.  Cos he became us.

Remember that illustration I used at the beginning.  About my brother and his dinghy.  And my drifting.  And I ended at the point of my exposure and fear.  Well, that’s not how it ended.  I so wanted to get back.  And my brother – for all his bad – he wanted me back.  Probably wanted his dinghy back too!  But that’s the next thing.  I heard his voice.  I saw him again.  I’d moved from where he was.  But he came running to where I was.  And led me back.  To where I’s meant to be.

Our elder brother in Hebrews – Christ Jesus – he has no bad.  He’ll do that.  And much, much more.  Even when we drift.  He sent his church this letter.  So we could hear voice.’  To remind us of where we need to look.  Again.  Always.  Others may mock.  And tell us we’re wrong.  Others may never see.  ‘But we do see Jesus.’

He knows.  We might think he doesn’t.  But he does.  And we might say, ‘But he didn’t drift from the Jesus journey, like I do.’  No.  But he was tempted to.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, he was so tempted to drift from his mission.  But our hope must be in this.  We are tempted.  And often fail.  He was tempted.  But did not fail.  He carried his mission through.  To death. And glorious rising from the dead.  He lives.  He lives to hear our cry, even when we feel cut loose in the currents of life.  He does know how we feel.  Cos he felt that.  For us.

In the mid-nineties, a singer, called Joan Osbourne, released a song. Called ‘What if God was one of us?’ It asked a profound question - if we could bump into God in everyday life, how would it change our view of things? Hebrews gives the profound answer. God was one of us. He experienced our everyday. And everyday of our new lives in him. He’s there in all that. Not only is this meant to change our view. It reminds us to always keep him in view.  Careful attention. To him who cares for us. And is the one who sticks closer than any brother.