“Today, If You Hear His Voice” [Matt's Messages]

“Today, If You Hear His Voice”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

March 15, 2026 :: Hebrews 3:7-19  

In today’s section of the sermonic letter to the Hebrews, we have another serious warning.

This pastor who is writing this letter of exhortation to this group of primarily Jewish Christians is concerned that they may be going off the rails. He’s concerned that they might be tempted to veer off the path, out of the race of faith in Christ.

So, he’s started writing this letter to encourage them (and all of us!) to fix our eyes on Jesus. And to not stop fixing our eyes on Jesus. 

He’s been motivating us to fix our eyes on Jesus by reminding us Who Jesus is and how much greater Jesus is than anything and everything else including the angels and including Moses.

Last week, he got into Moses (verses 1-6).  He told these Hebrews that the great Moses was faithful as a servant in all of God’s house. Worthy of much honor. But Jesus is faithful as a Son over all of God’s house. Worthy of infinitely greater honor and attention. He urged his readers to fix their thoughts on Jesus. To consider Jesus and meditate on Jesus and fix our thoughts on Jesus as the apostle sent on a mission from God to save us and the faithful high priest to represent us to God through the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood. 

He said, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus”... or else. In verse 6, he said that we are God’s “...house [or household, God’s family], if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” Which implies that if we do not hold on to our courage (our bold confidence in Jesus) and the hope of which we boast (and glory in Christ Jesus), then we are not actually a real part of God’s household after all.

And it’s that scary thought that prompts him to write the warning of verses 7 through 19, our text for today.

[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]

Listen to the first part, verses 7 through 11.

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.’”

The title of this message is taken right from verse 1 (and also verse 15!) and also from Psalm 95[!] where it was written first in holy Scripture:

“Today, If You Hear His Voice”

That word “Today” is very important in this section of the letter to the Hebrews (3:1-4:13). It shows up in verse 7 and then in verse 13 and then in verse 15, and then we’re going to see it again and again in chapter 4. “Today,” he says.

When does he mean, “Today?”

Well, interestingly, he’s quoting from Psalm 95 which was written about 1,000 years before Hebrews was! That’s the psalm on the front of your bulletin. The psalm I read from earlier. The psalm that we were singing at the start of our worship time. And the psalm that was just read to us. 

It was written 1,000 years before this pastor wrote Hebrews!

And it starts with that beautiful reminder that we should bow down and worship and kneel before the LORD our God our Maker. We should be thankful and sing to the Rock of our salvation. Because He is the great God and the King above all Gods. He made everything, and He is our God, and we are His sheep, just the sheep of His hand!

And then, without warning, the psalm turns into a warning! 

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...”

What day is “Today?” It was the day of the psalmist! It was the day it was written as a song for Israel to sing and pray and heed. 

I read this week that Psalm 95 was often read on the Sabbath at the start of a weekly time of worship and learning in the synagogues of Israel. So, “Today” was the day that the Psalmist wrote it, but it’s was also every day that the people heard it. Every Saturday.

And the writer to the Hebrews applies it to his readers in that day in the first century, about two thousand years ago now. 

And so it’s appropriate for us to say that this “Today” is...today.

Isn’t that amazing?! In a sense, this is the same “Today” as when the psalmist wrote it 3,000 years ago.

How can that be? Well, it’s because of Who was the Author behind the author. Who does Hebrews say wrote Psalm 95? What’s it say in verse 7? “As the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today...’” Ultimately, the Holy Spirit wrote Psalm 95. And He’s eternal, so He can say a word that lasts 3,000 years and it still be “Today.”

And, at the very same time, that word “Today” expresses urgency. Even though it’s been 3,000 years, it will not always be “Today.” Certainly many people have lived and died during this “Today.” You and I might die today. 

The psalmist and the epistle-writer both want those who hear God’s voice in this moment to respond.

“Today, if you hear his voice...”

#1. LISTEN UP.

I have four points of application I want to make from this passage this morning, and that’s the first one.

Today, if you hear his voice, listen up. Don’t block your ears. And whatever you do, don’t harden your hearts.

There is a potentiality that the ones who have been singing, “We are the sheep of His pasture,” will find themselves hardening their hearts against their Shepherd.

Don’t do it! Don’t join them. Don’t put your fingers in your ears. Don’t harden your heart. If you do, you’ll be acting like whom? Who is the most famous person in the Bible to harden his heart?

Pharaoh, right? The enemy of God. The enemy of God’s people in the Book of Exodus. God said, “Let my people go.” And Pharaoh said, “No.” God was speaking to Pharaoh through Moses, and Pharaoh refused to listen. And then God’s people refused to listen to Him, too.

That’s what the psalmist was writing about in Psalm 95. ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did” (vv.7-9).

What’s he talking about? He’s talking about the Book of Numbers and the Retreat of Unbelief. Probably the lowest, saddest moment in the Torah.

God’s people had been rescued from Pharaoh and escaped from Egypt. They had seen the Ten Plagues and not been touched by any of them. They had walked on dry ground through the Red Sea parted on both sides. They had seen Pharaoh’s army drowned. They had been to the mountain and been given the Law through angels (2:2). They had been fed manna. They had built the Tabernacle. They had drank water that came out of a rock!

And then one day, God said “Ok. It’s time to go into the Promised Land.” 

And they said, “No.” You can read about this in Numbers chapter 14. Maybe this afternoon, go back and read the story that inspired the song that is quoted in the letter and is applied to us today.

Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land to get some intel before their God-sent invasion. And they all came back and agreed that the Promised Land was as wonderful as promised, but ten of them said that it was impossible to conquer. There were giants there and giant problems there. “We are like grasshoppers. There’s no way.” And two of them (Joshua and Caleb) said, “With God we can do it! Those giants are grasshoppers to Him.”

But that entire generation of Israelites who had left Egypt refused to go into the Promised Land. They hardened their hearts against God. And not just once but again and again for forty years! The psalm says that they tested and tried God for forty years and saw what He did and still they rebelled. It wasn’t just once but repeatedly. Verse 10.

“That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' [This is what they are like.] So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'” (vv.10-11).

What a sad and scary thought. God made a promise that the entire generation of Israelites would not enter the Promised Land. He promised that they wouldn’t get the promise. “I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

We’ll talk more about that word “rest” next time when we get to chapter 4. The writer of Hebrews thinks it stands for something much bigger than just physical rest in the land of Canaan. 

For the Israelites then it was rest from their enemies and a home of their own flowing with milk and honey. And they were barred from receiving it. The door was shut in their faces. Because they refused to listen.

Now, we know that the second generation was eventually let in after the forty years was up. Caleb, Joshua and all of those who were kids during the Retreat of Unbelief were eventually allowed into the Promised Land.

But all of the rest of them died in the wilderness. More than 600,000 just counting the men. More than a million, I’m sure. 

And that cautionary tale inspired this song, Psalm 95, a real banger, that says, “Don’t be like them!” And Hebrews quotes that psalm and says, “Today[!], if you hear his voice...”

#2. WATCH OUT.

Now here’s the warning. The warning is in verse 12.

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

See to it. Take care. Look out. Watch out, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a hard heart that turns away from the living God.

The Greek word for “turns away” in verse 12 is “apostaynai.” We get our word “apostatize” from it, “apostasy.” That means to willfully, stubbornly, finally reject and forsake God. To put your fingers in your ears and turn your back away from the living God.

He’s warning them. They’re in danger. God has spoken by His Son, and they are in danger of ignoring Him. Today, if you hear His voice, watch out. ...

Now, we all need to hear this warning. Sometimes more than others. But we all need it. Because we can be in this danger and not realize it.

You know when the danger comes? When things are going really well (and we forget that we need God from whom all our blessings flow) and when things get tough.

That’s what was happening to these Jewish Christians. They were starting to be persecuted. Things were getting rough. All of a sudden, following Jesus wasn’t so fun.

It was the same thing for the Israelites in the wilderness. They weren’t the only ones handing out tests in the desert. God was testing them, too. He allowed hard times to fall on them. He let them see the giants in the land.  There was suffering on the menu. God was testing them. 

And they failed.

This pastor tells these brothers and sisters to watch out that they don’t fall into the same trap as their forefathers did.

Don’t let your heart grow hard.

Don’t let your heart grow cold.

Don’t let your heart grow sinful.

Don’t let your heart be taken over with unbelief.

Don’t stop trusting Him.  Watch out. Or you won’t be let in. 

Where is your heart right now? What’s it like? Is your heart soft? Is your heart tender towards God? Is your heart pliable and hopeful and trusting? Is your heart open?

See to it, church, that it stays that way. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He’s our only hope. Today!

And He’s talking to you today. When it says, “Today, if you hear his voice...” he’s not talking about some mystical out-of-body experience where God invades our soul with some extra-biblical word from God. For you and me, we are hearing from Him any time we open this book and read God’s Word!

Greg Strand talked about that this week at Stay Sharp.  He said some people say, “I just want God to speak to me.” But they keep this book closed. This is the chief place where He speaks to us! Today!

The Holy Spirit is speaking to us today as we read His Word. Are you reading His Word? Last week, we talked about making a plan. Setting an alarm. Putting it on the calendar.  You want to hear God’s voice? “In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son” (1:2).

Listen up and watch out. Because it’s possible to make what looks like a good beginning and yet have an awful ending.

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

How do you keep from doing that? How do you keep from becoming a statistic? 

Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We do it together. Look at verse 13.

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

#3. HELP OUT.

Today, if you hear His voice, help out your brothers and sisters in Christ by encouraging them. You see, fixing your eyes on Jesus is a group project. Notice that he says, “one another.” We can’t do this alone. We need each other. I need you, and you need me. We all need the church. Not just this hour of singing and praying and preaching, but church as family. Church as community.

We need to be in each other’s lives.

We need to be in each other’s faces.

We need to be in each other’s inbox.

We need to be in each other’s ears.

Verse 13 says, “Encourage one another...” How often? Daily!

It’s not enough to just come to church once a week (or once a month). We need to get into each other’s ears every single day with encouragement.

The Greek word there is “parakaleo.” It’s the same word that we learned all about last Summer in Thessalonians. Remember that there are two flavors to encouragement: consolation and exhortation. Comfort and calling. And we need both. We need to be reminded of God’s promises and His work in our lives. And we need a good swift kick in the pants.

We need to be exhorted and challenged to keep trusting in God’s promises. We need to help each other out. We don’t run the race by ourselves. We run the race together. 

We’re coming into track and field season right now. And I’ve been to some of your track meets. You run better if someone is running alongside you. And you run better if someone is shouting encouragement from the stands. 

“Encourage one another daily...” Who do you need to encourage today?

Write their name down right now. Somebody’s name came to your mind. Write their name down and make a plan to say something, write something, text something encouraging them today to fix their eyes on Jesus. While they still can!

He says, “...as long as it is called Today.” That’s not forever. Tomorrow will come some day. The window will close. This moment will pass. But as long as it is called “Today,” while we have the opportunity, we should be encouraging each other to trust in Jesus. Because here’s what’s at stake. Look again at verse 13.

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

If we are doing our job of encouraging each other to fix our eyes on Jesus, our hearts will not get hard. And they will not be fooled by the lies of sins.

You know that sin lies, right? “Sin’s deceitfulness.” Sin lies. What lies does sin tell?

“I’m just a little sin.”

“I don’t hurt anyone else.”

“It’s just this one time.”

“You can stop any time.”

“Everybody else is doing it.”

Here’s another one:

“You can’t help it.”

“You can’t stop.”

“This is just who you are.”

“This sin is a giant in your life and you are a grasshopper. You will be crushed. You might as well give in.”

Sin lies and lies, and as we give in to sin and believe its lies, then our hearts can grow cold and hard. When you are sinning, it gets harder and harder to remember what is real. To remember Who God is. To remember Who Jesus is. To remember where Jesus is!

This church was in danger.

And this pastor said, “Church! You’ve got encourage each other. You’ve got to get into each other’s faces and remind each other Who Jesus is! You’ve got to get into each other’s ears and remind each other what Jesus did. You’ve got to remind each other where Jesus is right now! You’ve got to remind each other what is true.”

As long as it is called Today.

Or else some of you (some of us) may not make it. Look at verse 14.

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

#4. HOLD ON.

Today, if you hear His voice, hold on to Jesus Christ.

Verse 14 is very encouraging and also a little scary. It’s supposed to be both.

First off, it says that we have come to share in Christ! Wahoo! We are His house (like it said in verse 6). We share in the heavenly calling (like in verse 1). And there is nothing greater.

And that is right now. We have come to share in Christ, right now. But for that to prove to be true, we have to have hold on to Christ till the end. “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

Now, that doesn’t mean that we somehow earn our salvation by willpower. No! We can’t earn our salvation. Never could. Never will! Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But we have to continue in our faith. We have to continue to believe.

The Bible has no category for a saved person who is not trusting in Jesus. A believer who doesn’t believe?! That’s not a thing.

And it’s not saying that we will somehow make it all happen by our perseverance. No, our perseverance shows that it all happened.

“We have come to share in Christ [right now by God’s grace!] if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first [by God’s grace].”

But we do have to hold on to Jesus. Today! Verse 15.

“As has just been said [Psalm 95]: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’ [And then presses it home with a series of rhetorical questions.] Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? [Yes, it was them.] So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” (vv.15-19).

They didn’t hold on.

And that’s scary because they had all of those blessings. They had seen God do so many great things. But they stopped believing. They listened to sins lies. They didn’t listen to Caleb and Joshua who were trying to encourage them as long as it was called Today to trust the Lord and take hold of the promises and enter the Promised Land. No, they never made it because they didn’t hold on.

Canaan was closed to them. Because they didn’t believe.

Don’t you be like them. Hold on.

Some of you are worried now, hearing this, that you have turned away from the living God and are in danger of never entering His rest.

If you have turned your back on Him, I urge you to repent right now if you still can. Today. Don’t wait. There is no guarantee that you can break out of that if you’re going down that road. Take your fingers out of your ears. Repent or fall as a corpse in the desert.

But most of you who are hearing this just need reminded to keep trusting Jesus.

Are you trusting Jesus?

Are you obeying Jesus?

Do you love Jesus?

Then don’t worry that you have fallen away.

Worry if you never worry if you have fallen away!

Worry if you don’t care any more.

Worry if you don’t care if you sin.

Worry if you don’t believe any more.

Worry if this word of warning doesn’t scare you at all.

Today.

Today, if you hear His voice. (And we are right now because the Holy Spirit is speaking through His Word:

Listen up. Don’t let you heart grow hard.

Watch out. Don’t let you heart turn away from the living God.

Help out. Encourage each other daily. Get in each other’s faces with the good news of Jesus!

And hold on to Him because He’s worth it.

Church, fix your eyes on Jesus.

Today.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9
05. "Flesh and Blood" - Hebrews 2:10-18

05. "Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus" - Hebrews 3:1-6

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“Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus” [Matt's Messages]

“Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

March 8, 2026 :: Hebrews 3:1-6  

“Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus.”

That’s the point of the message today, and it comes right out of verse 1. 

“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus...”

So this message is going to be all about thinking. Studying. Focusing. Considering. Reflecting.

What did you focus on this week? What consumed your thoughts? We all had things we had to focus on this week. 

Many of us have a job, and we had to focus on our work. Solving a problem. Making a product. Marketing a product. Ordering supplies. Teaching or training someone. Operating equipment. Programming the computer. Driving someone somewhere.

This week, Jenni English was teaching Keith Hurley all the things that he now has to do to keep the church office humming along. 

We have to focus on our work.

Many of you are students, so you had to focus on your schoolwork. Focus on  a lecture. Focus on a paper. Focus on a test. Studying your textbook. 

Some of you are athletes so you had to focus on your sport. If you don’t keep your eye on the ball, you don’t connect it to your bat, and it might connect with your head!

Some of you are in theater, and you have to focus on your lines.

We all live in families of one kind or another, so we have had to focus on the family this week, I’m sure. Listening to each other. Living in community with each other requires focus and attention.

I’m sure that many of us focused on the news this last week. There is so much going on in the headlines. So much to process, to consider. 

Some of us focused on entertainment, paying attention to the newest season of our favorite show or our favorite sports team or our favorite online influencer. Or going deep into a book or a game.

What did you focus on the last seven days?

There is so much to focus on.  If you don’t focus, you don’t get anywhere. If you don’t focus on the road, you don’t reach your destination. If you don’t focus on your diet and exercise and medication, then your health deteriorates. If you don’t focus on the correct time, you are late for church when Daylight Savings hits!

And it’s so easy to lose focus.

The writer of this letter to the Hebrews knew that. He was worried that his readers who were scared of impending persecution were going to lose their focus on Christ and drop out of the race of faith and try to go back to just being Jews. 

So he wrote them this pastoral letter to urge them to fix their eyes on Jesus.  And keep them there. And here in verse 1, he urged them (and us) to keep their (and our) thoughts fixed on Jesus. 

“Fix your thoughts on Jesus.”

Some of your versions may say in verse 1, “Consider Jesus.”

And that’s a good translation, too. Sometimes, we use that word to ask somebody to think about something that they haven’t thought about before.

Consider taking the Baptism Class.

Consider buying a new phone.

Consider using deodorant. (That’s something we might say to someone who hasn’t give it much thought before.)

And that’s true, too. Consider Jesus if you haven’t yet!

But that’s not the primary meaning here. This is more of an exhortation to continue to consider Jesus for those who already have been. It’s an invitation for them to think about Him more deeply, more reflectively, more intensely, more consistently. 

Consider Jesus. Study Him and take note of Who He really is.

The Lord Jesus Himself used this same word when He pointed out illustrations to His teaching. Object lesson. He said, in Luke 12:24, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”

And then He used it again in Luke 12:27, “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Consider. Just think about this. Turn it over in your mind. Focus on a bird. Focus on a flower. And think about what they each teach you about trusting God. 

And the writer to the Hebrews says, “Yeah, do that. Do that focusing but on Jesus Himself.” “Fix your thoughts on Jesus...”

Did you do that this week? Did you find time to focus your attention on Him? Did you set aside time to fix your thoughts on Jesus?

That’s one of the benefits of having a daily devotional time that is the same day after day. Not because it earns you brownie points with God. It doesn’t. But because it builds into your day a time when you know you are going to consider Jesus. Because it doesn’t often happen on its own.

That’s also one of the benefits of Sunday mornings at church. We come together to fix our thoughts on Jesus. We sing songs about Him and to Him.  

“Join all the glorious names of wisdom, love, and power

That every mortals know that angels ever bore

All are too poor to speak His worth

Too poor to set my Savior forth!”

[Isaac Watts]

How many names for Jesus does that one hymn have? “Savior, Prophet, High Priest, Shepherd, Lord, Conqueror, King” You can spend all day just reflecting on all of those names.

Consider Jesus. That’s not just for non-Christians. It’s for Christians.  In fact, that’s what it says in verse 1. Notice what the writer calls us. Verse 1.

“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus...”

This is actually the first time in the letter when the author names the people to whom he’s writing. He has been addressing them all along, but here he gives them a name.

“Holy brothers (and that includes you sisters, too), who share in the heavenly calling.”

This is who we are! And it flows out of what he has just been teaching to them in chapter 2. Remember last week, “Flesh and Blood?”

Jesus took on flesh and blood, and He is our flesh and blood. He became a human like you and me and is not ashamed to call us His siblings. 

He is not ashamed of you, brothers.

He is not ashamed of you, sisters.

He doesn’t mind being associated with you. He loves it!

Because He’s one of us, and He’s making us holy. Remember 2:11, “Both the one who makes [us] holy and those who are made holy are of the same [stuff]. So Jesus is not ashamed to call [us] brothers [and sisters].”

We call each other brothers and sisters, and so does He! Jesus calls us, “holy brothers and sisters!” and we are because of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. 

And that means that we “share in the heavenly calling.” What’s that? It means that heaven has called, and we’re called to heaven! Jesus is bringing many sons and daughters to glory. And you and I have a piece of that. How does that make you feel?! Does it give you wings?

It’s so easy to forget who we are and even more easy to forget Who Jesus is.

So, holy family who are headed to heaven, “fix your thoughts on Jesus.”

I’ve got three simple points this morning to focus exactly what this letter is telling us to fix our thoughts about Jesus on, and here’s the first one.

Fix your thoughts:

#1. ON WHO HE IS.

Verse 1 calls Him, “the apostle and high priest whom we confess.”

Pop quiz. Was Jesus an apostle? Feels like a trick question. Doesn’t it? Of course He was. And of course He is. That’s what verse 1 says. But it is the only time that the Bible calls Jesus an apostle. All of the rest of the time, it was apostles of Jesus that were being talked about.

An apostle is an authorized representative who is sent on a mission to speak on someone else’s behalf.  The twelve were the apostles of Jesus. Who is Jesus an apostle of?

He’s the apostle of God the Father, isn’t He? How many times when we were reading the Gospel of John did Jesus say that He was sent? 

Jesus was a man on mission. And He was sent by His Father to be His final word. “...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrew 1:2).

So He comes from God and represents God to us. And what’s this other name for Him in verse 1?

“High priest.” Guess what a high priest does?  He represents us back to God! A high priest intercedes before God on behalf of the people.

And Jesus is both! He is both the apostle and the high priest. He comes down and speaks for God, and He comes up and speaks for us! Just think about that! Consider Jesus.

The writer says that this is “whom we confess.” This is Who we say we believe in.  Jesus, the apostle and high priest.

The author just brought up this idea of Jesus being a high priest in the last chapter, and he’s going to come back to it again and again in the middle of this book. It’s a major theme of Hebrews.

He said in verse 17 that Jesus “had to be made like [us] in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

And you and I can’t think about that enough.

In the next few verses, the writer drills down on that word “faithful.” Jesus is merciful and faithful. That’s who He is. Look at verse 2.

“He [Jesus] was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.”

Okay. Now he brings up Moses. He might have even said, “Consider Moses. Let’s think about Moses for a second and compare and contrast him to Jesus.”

Question. Was Moses important to the Hebrews? You bet he was! There might not be a more significant figure in Jewish life. Abraham or David are the only ones that come anywhere close. 

Moses was the Leader who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The Rescuer!

Moses was the Lawgiver through whom came the ten commandments and the rest of the Old Covenant Law.

Moses was the main Author of the first five books of the Bible!

Moses was a Prophet who predicted the future.

Moses was the Builder in charge of the construction of the tabernacle and the establishing of the sacrificial system, and his brother Aaron was the first high priest.

We cannot overemphasize how important Moses was to the Hebrews.

But was he faithful?

Yes, he was. He wasn’t perfect. He was very flawed. But he was faithful. You know how I know? God said so! 

In the book of Numbers, Moses’s siblings got mad at him for his choice of a wife. He had married a Cushite, and in a probable mix of racism and envy, Miriam and Aaron were unhappy with his choice.

And they complained about it loudly, and God heard them.

And God spoke to them from a pillar of cloud in front of the Tent of Meeting. And He said, “Listen to my words: ‘When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. [Sound familiar?] With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?'” (see Numbers 12:6-8). And there were some drastic consequences.

Now, we know that was figurative language that Moses didn’t actually see God’s unmediated face because He said that also (Exodus 33:2), but that’s how close Moses was to God!

Moses went up into the cloud on the top of the mountain and heard directly from God, and then remember what happened to his face when he came down from the cloud? It beamed! It radiated light because Moses had looked upon the Lord in some mysterious way. Perhaps a theophany. An appearance of God in some form. Nobody in the Old Testament got so close!

And God said, “[M]y servant Moses[?]; he is faithful in all my house.”

What a commendation! I would love it if He said the same some day about me. “Matt Mitchell? He was faithful in my house. He did what I asked.”

The word “house” there is a metaphor for the people of God. I don’t think he’s talking about the tabernacle right there. I think He means more what we might call “household,” the people of a house. The household was the essential building block of society in that day. It included all of the family and all of the servants attached to the family. And God was saying that He had a household, and that Moses was a faithful servant in it.

The Jews revered Moses. And rightfully so because God said that Moses was faithful. And this writer agrees. He’s not dissing on Moses. But he is comparing Moses to Jesus. Look at verse 2 again.

Jesus “...was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.”

Jesus is like Moses in being faithful.

But He’s so much more. Number two. Fix your thoughts:

#2. ON HOW GREAT HE IS.

Or how greatER He is. And listen to verse 3.

“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything” (vv.3-4).

Now, that was saying something to these Jewish Christians!

They should know it, but did they feel it in their bones? Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses. Should Moses be honored? Sure! God honored him and called him faithful. But is Jesus greater than Moses? It’s not even a contest!

You and I probably don’t feel this so much because we don’t have that deep connection to Moses. But think about somebody you do have a deep connection to. Maybe it’s a parent or grandparent? Maybe it’s a teacher from your past. Maybe it’s a great leader that you have always learned from and looked up to. Maybe it was your pastor when you were growing up.

We all have heroes. And while we shouldn’t put our hope in them (because they will all fail us in some way and some in terrible ways), it’s not wrong to look up to them as examples when they are faithful. Who is it for you?

My Dad turns 80 years old tomorrow. He’s one of my biggest heroes. He’s completely trustworthy. He has been faithful in God’s house, and I’m grateful. 

But Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Chuck Mitchell. And Chuck Mitchell would agree. 

And Moses would agree! That Jesus has been found worthy of greater  honor than him.

Remember when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on that high mountain and who showed up out of the blue? Elijah and...Moses! 

And they met with Jesus. And then a cloud enveloped them and they disappeared and then all Peter, James, and John saw was Jesus. And God spoke to them. And what did He say? “Hey was that Moses! He’s really something!” No, He said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).

Fix your thoughts on Him. And how great He is! And did Jesus’ face radiate? It did. But it wasn’t just a reflection because He’d come to close to God. It came from within Him because He is God! 

His face shone like the sun! Because He is the Son. He “is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3)! He’s so much greater than Moses.

And these folks were considering backing away from Jesus and going back to just following Moses. This pastor is saying that’s spiritual suicide.

We’ve seen already that this whole letter makes a sustained argument that Jesus is greater, better, superior to everything else including everything that is truly great in the Old Testament. 

In chapters 1&2 it was the angels. 

Here in chapter 3 it is Moses.

“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses.” And that’s saying something.

How much greater? Verse 3 says “just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.”

Have you ever been to a great house? One with an amazing design?  Heather and I love to tour beautiful buildings. We’ve been to a few designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for example. “Falling Water” right here in Pennsylvania. Which is greater? “Falling Water” or the guy who came up with Falling Water and all of those 531 other buildings that were built that he designed? Which is greater? Faithful Moses or the God Who made Moses? It’s not really a contest, is it? Verse 4.

“For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”

And guess Who Jesus is? He’s God the Son. He made the house. He designed the house. That’s why we should fix our thoughts on Him. He’s so so so great!

Again, not saying anything bad here about Moses. Look at verse 5.

“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future [He was a prophet. He faithfully predicted Jesus coming! Verse 6.] But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.”

Do you hear the differences?

Which one was faithful? Both of them.

But Moses is faithful as a SERVANT IN all God’s house.

Jesus is faithful as a SON OVER God’s house.

That’s a huge difference.

The servant doesn’t own the house.

The servant doesn’t inherit the house.

The servant is a vital part of the house and can be faithful in it.

But the Son?! The house is His and will be His because of His Father.

And what about this Son? Was He faithful? Oh, yes, He was. And oh, yes, He is!  That’s the whole point.  “Christ is faithful....” (v.6)! Fix your thoughts on this. Fix your thoughts:

#3. ON HOW FAITHFUL HE IS.

How trustworthy, how dependable, how reliable Jesus is. He can be trusted. Amen?

Who is Jesus faithful to in this part of the letter? We immediately run to His faithfulness to us. And that’s true. He always keeps His promises to us. And we’re going to sing about that in just a second.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” (Thomas Chisholm)

But that’s not where this writer focuses in these verses. No, he focuses on Jesus’ faithfulness to God!

Look up at verse 2 again, “He was faithful to the one who appointed him...” Verse 6 again, “Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house.” Everything the Father asked the Son to do, He did. Perfectly. Everything the Father is asking the Son to do, He does. Jesus is faithful.

“Great is Jesus’ faithfulness, O Lord to Thee!”

Just think, for second, what would have happened if He wasn’t. Imagine if Jesus had been unfaithful to His Father. Imagine if Jesus had given in to the temptation in the garden to push that cup away from Him. Imagine if Jesus had said, “I am no longer willing to go to the Cross. You can’t have my flesh and blood.” “I am not your apostle any more, Father, and I am not their high priest.” It’s unthinkable. All would be lost.

But Jesus was faithful. He is the “the author and perfecter of our faith.” For the joy set before Him, He “endured the cross, scorning its shame...” He was faithful unto death.

And where is He now, church? He “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!” (See Hebrews 12:2).

The Father said, “Well done, My Son. Come on up here. You’re a great high priest. You are merciful and faithful. You have saved your people from their sins. You’ve satisfied my wrath. You have made atonement.  Come on up here and be honored! Over the whole house.”

That’s why these precious people should fix their thoughts on Jesus! Because, as great as Moses was, he was just servant, but the Lord Jesus who took on the form of a servant was and is the Son, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.

What’s the application of that? Hold on to Jesus. Put your trust in Him and focus on Him every single day. Because this is all true for those all who belong to Him. That’s the point of the last sentence in verse 6.

“And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.”

We are His house! We are a holy family who share in the heavenly calling. And we are His house. If we hold on to our courage (or better our "bold confidence") and the hope of which we boast. The hope in which we glory.

There is an implied warning embedded in those words. If we do not hold on to our faith in Jesus and our hope in Jesus, then we show ourselves to NOT be His house. If we let go of Jesus and turn our back on Jesus and walk away from Jesus and never return to Jesus, then we will not end up sharing in the heavenly calling. 

Our assurance of salvation comes, in part, by our perseverance in faith. And our perseverance in faith comes, in part, because we are assured of such a great salvation. 

The point of verse 6 is that the Word of God is calling us to hold on to the Son of God. Don’t let go.

Or else! He’s going to say a lot more about that “or else” in the next section of chapter 3. It’s scary what will happen if we totally let go.

So don’t let go! Hold fast.  Hold firmly. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep your thoughts fixed on Him. Consider Jesus. Now and always.

And this week. Are you going to do that? Let me encourage you to make a plan. You have a lot of things to focus on this week.

When are you going to fix your thoughts on Jesus?

How are you going to fix your thoughts on Jesus?

When are you going to open your Bible?

When are you going to pray?

When are you going to meet with other Christians? 

This week.

This last week, I was meeting with a younger Christian, and we talked about how Sunday morning church is a Saturday night choice. You’ve got to set an alarm. You’ve got make a plan. You’ve got to go to bed.

Same thing with Bible. Same thing with prayer. When are you going to do do it? How are you going to do it. You know you need it. You know He’s worthy of it!

Fix your thoughts on Who He is–the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

Fix your thoughts on how great He is–greater than Moses, greater than all of your heroes combined. He made all of your heroes!

Fix your thoughts on how faithful He is–to God and because He was faithful to God, we can be saved forever.

And He’ll be faithful to us, as well.

Hold onto Jesus and fix your thoughts on Him.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9

05. "Flesh and Blood" - Hebrews 2:10-18

Read More

“Flesh and Blood” [Matt's Messages]

“Flesh and Blood”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

March 1, 2026 :: Hebrews 2:10-18 

Today, we need to fix our eyes on the humanity of Jesus. 

We need to fix our eyes on the humble humanness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the first four messages in our series on the sermonic letter to those Hebrew Christians–who were tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and fall out of the race of faith–the emphasis has been on the exaltation of Jesus. 

And that is right! Jesus is exalted! He is the Son of God and God the Son! 

He is superior to the angels! He is the maker of all things, the sustainer of all things, the owner of all things. The radiance of God’s glory and the perfect picture of His nature. Jesus is God’s last Word. 

And where is He now? Church, where is Jesus right now? He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (1:3)! He is exalted! And we should fix our eyes on Him. And not take our eyes off of Him. And pay careful attention to Him and the great salvation He has announced and provided. 

Jesus is exalted. Last week, the writer said (v.9), “[W]e see Jesus...crowned with glory and honor!” And we sang, “Crown Him! Crown Him! Crown Him! Lord of All!”

But there was a step before that crowning that Jesus had to take. There was a step downward before that exaltation that the Son had to descend. And that is that He had to become a human. He had to take on (v.14), “flesh and blood.”

“Flesh and Blood.” 

The Son of God had to become one of us. That phrase “flesh and blood” is really good because it expresses a couple of different things at the same time. One is the literal fact of having actual flesh and actual blood. Jesus had both. 

He didn’t just seem to be human, but He was (and is) fully human. There was a heresy in the first few centuries after Christ called “docetism,” where the false teachers spread this idea that Jesus was fully God, fully divine, but He only seemed to be fully human. 

It would be gross and wrong, they thought, that the Son of God would have actual flesh and actual blood?! Eww. That would be beneath God and sully God if the Son had all of the weaknesses and indignities of humanity.

But that is, of course, what we were just celebrating two months ago at Christmastime, wasn’t it? 

The Word became flesh! And He dwelled among us. And He had blood. 

Stop for a second and feel your pulse. Put your fingers up on your jugular. Do you feel with your flesh the thump thump of your heart pumping blood through your body?

Two thousand years ago, when Jesus did that, He felt the exact same thing. He had flesh, and He had blood. And that’s what this section of the letter is all about. 

And we also use that phrase “flesh and blood,” to talk about family. Right? Pete and Isaac down here are my own flesh and blood. “We are family” as Sister Sledge might sing. We share in flesh and blood as a family.  And that’s also what this section of the letter is all about. 

There is all kinds of family language: brothers (and implicitly sisters), and children and descendants and sons.

Flesh and blood. Jesus in His mission to provide such a great salvation took on human flesh and blood. Why? 

This passage is going to say that it was “fitting” and appropriate and the right thing to do and even will say, He had to do so. He had to be made like His flesh and blood brothers. How come?

Because it takes flesh and blood to suffer and die a human death. It takes Christmas to get to Good Friday. Flesh and blood. So we need to fix our eyes on the humanity of Jesus. 

The writer has already started us on that focus. Last week in verses 5 through 9, he pulled out Psalm 8 and preached a message to us about how human beings were made and meant to rule the world. Remember this?

We were made to wear crowns. And, at creation, everything was placed under our feet. But we ruined it. We humans broke the world instead of ruling it wisely and well, and now we do not see things the way they supposed to be. Chapter 2, verse 8.

“Yet at present we do not see everything subjected to [humanity].”

“But [v.9] we see Jesus! ... now crowned with glory and honor.” At the right hand of the throne of God. How did He get there? He started there, but how did He get back there? First, He was “made a little lower than the angels” so He became a human being, like us, taking on flesh and blood, and then...He died a human death. Verse 9.

“But we see Jesus...now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

Jesus is exalted and crowned in this way because He suffered death. And to do that, He had to take on flesh and blood.

I have three points this morning I want to make to summarize what Jesus accomplished by partaking in flesh and blood, and here’s the first one. We’ve already sung this line this morning in “How Deep the Father’s Love.”

#1. TO BRING US TO GLORY.

Jesus took on flesh and blood to bring His children to glory. Look with me at verse 10. It flows right out of verse 9. Verse 10.

“In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

Now, there’s a lot there in that verse, and the logic is not obvious at first. He says it was “fitting,” so that means “appropriate.” It was the correspondingly right thing to do that God–the One Who made everything and that everything is for–would make the author (or your version might have “captain” or “source” or “pioneer” or “leader,” and that’s got to be Jesus) perfect through suffering.

Wow! “Perfect through suffering?” What a thought?! What does he mean?

One thing he cannot mean is that Jesus was morally imperfect and needed to be made morally perfect. No. Jesus was sinless, and this author insists on that more than any other book in the Bible (see Hebrews 4:15, 7:26)! He does not mean that Jesus was sinful and had to be perfected through suffering to become sinless. No way.

What he means, I think, is that Jesus, in His humanity, was being perfectly equipped to save His people.

Jesus was taking on all of the qualifications of a perfect savior. And one of the chief qualifications of a perfect savior was suffering. He couldn’t save His people without suffering.  Suffering was essential to being the perfect Savior, and so Jesus was made perfect through suffering.

Now, that’s counter-intuitive to us. We think that suffering should always be avoided whenever possible. But the Bible says that suffering is the path to glory, and God’s people will all walk it. And so must their Savior.

The writer calls Jesus, the “author” of our salvation. The same word that he will use in Hebrews 12:2 when he tell us to fix our eyes on Jesus and run the race set before us fixing our eyes on Him as the “author” of our faith.

The Greek word there is a little hard to translate. That’s why our English Bibles give us so many options. (Maybe Keith will talk about it tonight at the class on Bible translation?)

The basic idea is a something like a trailblazer. Somebody who goes first and makes the way? Like an author who is the source of the story, getting the story started and first to get to the end because it’s His story. 

Or like a pioneer who sets out first and makes the trail. Jesus took the route of suffering and made that the way of salvation.

And the writer says that that was “fitting” for God to do to Him! Why? Because everything is about Him, it was right for God to make Jesus perfect through suffering. Because He is worth it all. And because He’s gracious like that. And because the Son Who would suffer is that same God who would get the glory for stepping down into death for His children so that they would be brought to glory.

“In bringing many sons (and daughters too!) to glory...”

And what blew me away this week was realizing that he does not just mean “gloryland” there. I think about “bringing many sons to glory” as being “bringing many Christians to heaven.” And it does mean that, but the glory here in context is the glory of verse 7 and verse 9.

It’s the glory that we were originally supposed to have as God’s image-bearing rulers of the world! He’s saying that we’re going to get our crowns back.

Jesus is going to fix everything so that we, fellow-humans, will be crowned with glory and honor–not because we’re so amazing in and of ourselves but–because Jesus perfectly suffered for us in His flesh and blood.

We’re going to be brought to glory and share in it! Church, we’re going to be glorified!

And Jesus is going to exult in that. He’s going to be so happy that we are brought to glory. I think that’s the point of the next three verses where the author makes his points again from quotations drawn from the Old Testament. He knows that these Jewish Christians will appreciate arguments from the Hebrew Bible. Look at verse 11. It’s the verse that Jenni put on the front of our bulletins today. Verse 11.

“Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. [Notice the family language.] He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.’ And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ And again he says, ‘Here am I, and the children God has given me’” (vv.11-13).

The writer has 3 quotes from two different passages in the Old Testament. Psalm 22, verse 22 in Hebrews 2:12 and Isaiah chapter 8, verse 17 and verse 18 in Hebrews 2:13.

There is a lot going on here, but the basic point is not complex. The basic point is simple. The basic point is that Jesus is so pleased and excited that He is bringing many sons (and daughters) to glory. And He calls us family. V.11 again.

“Both the one who makes men holy [that’s Jesus] and those who are made holy [that’s us] are of the same [NIV has] family [your version might say “Father,” the Greek is simply, “one” but the basic idea ends up the same].”

You and I are made of the same stuff as Jesus.  Jesus is the made of the same stuff as us! Flesh and blood, right? It’s not like we’re one thing and He’s another. Yes, He’s more, but He is not less. He’s 100% human. Just like we say in Article 4 of our Statement of Faith echoing the Nicene Creed. That theology comes from right here.

“Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same [flesh and blood]. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t miss that. Jesus is not is not ashamed to call us brother or sister!

Did you get that?! Jesus is not ashamed to call you brother. Jesus is not ashamed to call you sister. Jesus is not ashamed of you. Jesus is not ashamed to be associated with you.

Do you believe that?

That doesn’t mean you and I haven’t done things that we should be ashamed of. But see Who Jesus is in verse 11. He’s the one who makes us holy. He’s One who sanctifies us. And He’s become one of us. So He’s not ashamed to be associated with us. He’s not ashamed that we are in His family.

Let that sink in. Some of you live in shame all the day long. Jesus is not ashamed of you. You don’t have to be ashamed. You don’t have live in shame. You can hold your head up high. Because of Jesus, your head is being fitted for a crown! He is bringing you to glory. Glory!

Do you need proof this is how Jesus thinks of you? Verse 12 says to check Psalm 22 where “He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises’” (2:12).

We’ve studied Psalm 22 before. It’s the one that is so clearly about Jesus and His crucifixion? It begins, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Jesus quoted it about Himself on the Cross. We read it this time of year. “...they have pierced my hands and feet” (v.16). “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing” (v.18). It’s about the crucifixion. 

But then the Psalm takes a turn towards the end that is clearly about the resurrection and the ascension to the right hand of God the Father! The Psalmist (who turns out to be Jesus) declares that He will be rescued. He will saved. And “we will feast in the house of Zion.” The kingdom will come in all of its fullness (see Ps 22:22-31). 

He is sure of it! So he says, “I will declare your name [God] to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”

He calls us brothers, and He says He’s going to sing with us! Have you ever thought about that? That the Lord Jesus is going to sing with us in glory?!

And what will He sing? Verse 13. 

“I will put my trust in him.” That’s Jesus’ song. He gets it from Isaiah 8:17 (look it up this afternoon), “I will put my trust in him.” And then Isaiah 8:18 says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

And the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus sings that one, too.

“Here I am! I’m right here. I’m alive! I’m on the throne. I’m at the right hand. And look who I’ve got here....The children God has given me.”

He’s talking about you and me. He’s got His arms around our shoulders, and He’s so excited and pleased to present us to God. “Don’t they look great in their crowns?!”

He’s not just “not ashamed.” He’s pleased to call us His family. That’s how He feels about you if He’s making you holy. 

He’s bringing us to glory, and He’s not ambivalent about it. No, no. It was the thing that sustained Him through the agony of the cross. For the joy set before Him of glorifying His father and bringing His children to glory, He endured the Cross. That’s what made it worth it to Him. That’s why He took on flesh and blood! To sing with us in glory.

#2. TO DEFEAT OUR ENEMIES.

Look at verse 14. “Here am I and the children God has given me.” Verse 14.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil–and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (vv.14-15).

Here’s where he uses the words, “flesh and blood” though in the Greek, it’s actually the other way around, “blood and flesh” but the meaning is the same.

The children have flesh and blood. That’s us. Everybody here has flesh and has blood. We can feel our pulse. So our Savior shared in that. Literally, “shared in the same.” 

The Son of God who had never suffered. Had always dwelled in unapproachable light. Was impassable. Could not suffer in His divine nature. Became a little baby that probably screamed for His milk. Took on flesh and infirmity. He got tired. He got sick. He didn’t know everything. He became limited. And He bled. And He died.

And in that dying, He defeated our greatest enemies. He defeated the devil, and He defeated death itself!

“...he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil...”

The devil does not have ultimate power over death (only God does), but he does have some power over death, and he sure loves death. He loves how he tempted us to sin and then how death came! And put a death grip on us. But Jesus died (and rose again) to destroy the devil and his work!

That word the 1984 NIV translates “destroy” can mean “render inoperable or ineffective” or “reduce to nothing.” The updated NIV has “break the power of” (NIV 2011). One commentator I read this week says that Jesus “defanged the devil” at the Cross (Douglas Moo).

He lost. Satan was beaten by Jesus’ death. That’s why he kept trying to get Jesus to avoid it.  He tempted him at the start of his ministry to skip the Cross and then again in the garden. But Jesus chose His death. Because He knew that He would be defanging the devil. So you and I don’t have to be scared of Satan any more. Wary of him, sure. He’s still prowling around. But if you resist him, he must flee. And someday soon, we will crush him underneath our feet once and for all.

But that’s nothing. In His death, Jesus defeated an even scarier enemy than Satan. Jesus defeated death itself. Remember verse 9. Jesus tasted death for us by the grace of God. And we know that He then spit it out! He took on the wrath of God death that we deserve, the death of judgment, and absorbed it so that we won’t have to. So that, yes, we might die physically, but after that, we won’t enter into the eternal death that we deserved. So now we don’t have anything to be scared of.

If we belong to Jesus, we don’t have to be scared of death. Did you get that from verse 14?

Here’s why He took on flesh and blood. He “shared in their humanity so that by his death he might...free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

We were supposed to rule the the world. But instead we became slaves. Slaves to fear. And specifically fear of death.

Are you afraid of death? It’s normal to be. And it holds us back from so much living. But we can be free! You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be ashamed (because Jesus calls you His sibling).  And you don’t have to be afraid even of dying. Because Jesus died for you! You don’t have to be scared. You don’t have to be scared of death because what is waiting for you now on the other side. Because of Who is waiting for you now on the other side!

Death is still an enemy.  But like the devil, death is a defeated enemy. And it really can’t hurt you if you belong to Jesus. Because He let it hurt Him. The Son took on flesh and blood so that He could die and kill death in the process (and see Revelation 20:14!). And one day, death will be no more. Do you believe it? Verse 16.

“For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.”

He’s back to angels!

Jesus is not an angel. Jesus never was an angel. Jesus didn’t become an angel. Jesus became a human. He came to save humans. He came to save Abraham’s descendants. And that doesn’t just mean biological Jews. It means all of those who have faith in God’s promise like Abraham did. Jews on the inside (see Romans 4:16, Galatians 3:9). Jesus came to save all who will believe in Him. Is that you? Verse 17.

“For this reason he had to be made [had to! Had to be made] like his brothers in every way [flesh and blood], in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

Last point for today. Why did Jesus take on flesh and blood?

#3. TO BECOME OUR PERFECT PRIEST.

This is going to be a major theme in the rest of the letter. In fact, he’s going to come back to the idea of Jesus being our high priest again and again, and in chapter 5, he’s going to focus on Jesus being merciful and compassionate and in chapter 3, the very next chapter, he’s going to focus on Jesus being faithful. 

So we don’t have say everything right now. But what I want to point out for sure is that Jesus is our perfect high priest. He is the total package. Merciful and faithful in service to God. He did all that was needed once and for all. And He made atonement for the sins of the people! That means that He dealt with the problem of sin once and for all. Both wiping sin out and absorbing the wrath of God for sin in our place. And the only way that He could do that is if He was flesh and blood. He had to be like us in every way. 

It takes a human priest to be the high priest for humans. And it takes a flesh and blood priest to offer His own flesh and blood!

Because Jesus is like and unlike every other high priest there ever was. He is like them because He’s a human like every other high priest was. But He’s unlike every other high priest because the sacrificial offering He presents to God is His own flesh and blood. He made atonement for the sins of the people. 

And then He sat down. Remember chapter 1, verse 3. “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” It is finished. Our sins are forgiven. They are paid for. They are gone. Because Jesus suffered for us.

His suffering was real. There wasn’t anything fake about Jesus’ suffering. It was agony. It was torment. It was excruciating in every way. He didn’t just seem to suffer. There is no saying that Jesus got off easy or that Jesus doesn’t understand what it means to suffer. Jesus’s suffering was as real as it gets.

And because of that, He can help us. He can help us to be forgiven forever, and He can help us to get through trials and temptations every single day. That’s where he goes in verse 18.

“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he [Jesus] is able to help those who are being tempted.”

What’s he talking about? It was so hard for Jesus. He was tempted, and it never stopped. Our temptations often stop because we give in to them. But Jesus never gave in. And He hated sin more than ever had, so when He was tempted to sin, it was even more painful than we can imagine.

How much He felt like giving in! Think about Jesus in the garden sweating drops of blood. “Take this cup away, Father. Please!” But not my will but your will be done.

He didn’t give in. He never gave in. And we don’t have give in either. He is able to help those who are being tempted to give in. And to give up.

These Jewish believers were tempted to give up. They were tempted to throw in the towel.

They were tempted to go back to Judaism alone. They were tempted to drop out of the race and stop following Jesus.

But this pastor wrote them this letter. "Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Jesus became flesh and blood for you to bring you to glory. He is not ashamed to call you brothers and sisters.  You don’t have to be ashamed no matter what they throw at you! Jesus took on flesh and blood for you to defeat your enemies. You don’t have to be scared of the devil any more. You don’t have to be scared of death any more! And you certainly don’t have to give in to temptation any more. Because He suffered, and He paid for your sins. You don’t have to give in to them either. Don’t quit! Don’t stop!"

Fix your eyes on the humble, suffering humanity of Jesus.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9

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“We See Jesus” [Matt's Messages]

“We See Jesus”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

February 22, 2026 :: Hebrews 2:5-9  

We’re going to start today with a pop quiz. See if you’ve been paying attention! Are you ready? Five questions.

QUESTION #1. “In the past God spoke to [us] through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by...[What? Or Whom]”? 

ANSWER: His Son! The owner of all things, the maker of all things, the sustainer of all things. The Son! He’s the “radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.” He’s the full and final revelation of God to us! The Son.

QUESTION #2. Which is greater...this Son or the angels of God?

ANSWER: The Son is infinitely greater than the angels. Angels are great! Angels are amazing. But they are nothing compared to the Son. Angels are created. The Son is the Creator. Angels are winds and fire. The Son never changes. We don’t worship the angels. We join the angels in worshiping the Son. 

QUESTION #3. On Whom should we, as Christians, fix our eyes?

ANSWER: Jesus! We should fix our eyes on the Son. That’s the whole point of this letter.  

Chapter 12 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

The Son is worthy of our attention. He’s worthy of our focus. Last week, we learned in the first four verses of chapter 2 that we should pay careful attention to the Son so that we don’t drift away. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus so that we don’t neglect this great salvation that He has announced and provided. 

QUESTION #4, if we ignore His great salvation, will we escape? Yes or No?

ANSWER: No. We will not escape if we ignore such a great salvation. That’s the flipside. That’s the warning of what will happen if we refuse to fix our eyes on Jesus. We will drift away, and we will not escape. There’s so much at stake.

One more question in our pop quiz for today. Well done, so far. One more question, and [big hint] I have already said the answer in the last few minutes! 

QUESTOIN #5. According to the Book of Hebrews, where is Jesus right now?

ANSWER: At the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

I quoted it already from chapter 12, verse 2. It’s also right there in verse 3 of chapter 1, and the writer also quoted Psalm 110 verse 1 in chapter 1, verse 13, as applying to Jesus when he asked, “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?”

What’s the answer to that one? To which of the angels? Not one of them! But He did say that to the Son.  He did say that to Jesus. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for you feet.” And He did!

Right now, the Son is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Now, I think that’s what’s uppermost in this pastor’s mind as he writes this letter to this struggling church of primarily Jewish believers.

Jesus sitting at the Father’s right hand.

And this writer so wants to encourage these precious saints to focus on Him!

But it’s hard. It’s hard for them to focus on Jesus because life is hard. And because they are starting to be persecuted for following Jesus. And because they are feeling alone and insignificant and scared. And things just aren’t the way they are supposed to be.

Do you ever feel that way? “This is not how things are supposed to be.” I feel that way a lot.  There’s a reason we feel that way. It’s because they aren’t!

So this shepherd wants to encourage these struggling sheep to focus on the One who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high because that will get them through.

He reminds them, “We See Jesus.”

Those words are in verse 9. “We see Jesus.” We lift up the eyes of our hearts to see Jesus where He is. And we fix our eyes on Jesus. We see Jesus, and it makes all the difference.

Let’s work through the passage. It’s really part of a longer section that goes to the end of the chapter, but I felt like studying all of that was biting off more than we could chew. So we’re just focusing today on verses 5 through 9. The writer picks up his argument again about how much greater Jesus is to the angels. Verse 5.

“It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.”

Same deal. The angels are amazing, but they are not everything.

The angels are not going to be the rulers of “the world to come.” That’s an interesting phrase isn’t it? He says he’s been writing about a new world coming, and the angels are not going to rule it. They are servants but will not be the masters (see 1:14).

Now, that might be surprising. There are some ways in which angels are currently ruling this world. Remember back in the book of Daniel chapter 10, where the curtain was peeled back a little bit, and we learned that the archangel Michael was some kind of a “prince” (see also Daniel 12:2). And Paul’s letter to the Ephesians says that there unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (KJV: “principalities” and “powers”).

But in the world to come, it will not be angels who will be at the top of creation, ruling all of the world.

So, if not angels, what kind of being will rule the world to come?

I don’t think it’s the hippopotami.

The answer may surprise you. 

Of course, God is the Ruler over all. That’s the same forever and ever. The Ancient of Days sits on the eternal throne. Always has, always is, always will.

But the writer of this letter says that God has made a certain kind of being who He’s going to place over all of the world to come.

And it’s going to be the kind of being that He originally intended to rule over all of creation. And he’s got the Bible to prove it. Look at verse 6.

“It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet’” (2:5-6). Stop there for now.

What kind of being will rule over the world to come?

It will be human beings.

Not angels, amazing as they are. It will be you and me. The Bible says so.

Isn’t it funny in verse 6 where he says, “There is a place where someone has testified...” Like he doesn’t remember where it is in his Bible. I feel that don’t you? That happens to me, too. “I don’t know. It’s in there somewhere.”

Actually, he’s probably assuming that they do know exactly where it is. So he can be vague, but they all know where it says:

“What is man that you are mindful of him, 

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the angels; 

you crowned him with glory and honor

and put everything under his feet.”

Where does it say that?

That’s in Psalm 8, which we read at the head of our worship time this morning.

It starts, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1).

You might want to read it again this afternoon.

You know how I said, that Hebrews is a lot like a sermon? It’s a letter, but it reads a lot like what I do every Sunday in explaining and applying the Bible to the flock. Well, here in the first part of chapter 2, the writer is preaching on Psalm 8. He’s taking it out and looking at it and applying to their lives.

And Psalm 8 marvels at the placement of humanity in the world. The focus here is on humanity. Look again at verse 6.

“...there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

King David was astonished to think that God would think about little old him!

David was blown away that the majestic God of the universe would care two figs for little David.

David says in the verse right before the one Hebrews quotes, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place...what is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3).

I have four implications of this passage for our lives today as applications for us this morning, and here’s the first one.

#1. BE AMAZED.

Let yourself be amazed at your place in the world and in God’s own heart.

David looked up at the night sky. He had been a shepherd, you know. A lot of nights looking up at the Milky Way, smelling sheep, and he says, “When I look up there and see just how small I am...the heavens, the moon, the stars...I am so small.”

And those things up there are just your “fingerwork.” Like Heather’s knitting. The stars the galaxies are just the fingerwork of God.

And when I think about that, I feel so small. And that’s right! We are small.

We like to think about ourselves as big. As the measure of all things. We act like we are the center of everything. No! God is the center of everything. God is the measure of all things. And He is immense! 

He’s majestic! But He’s also “mindful” of us. He cares about us?

What I always say about Psalm 8 is that it puts us in our place. Which is small and also significant. It’s tiny and also beloved. God knows your name. God cares about little you. 

I would imagine that the first readers felt insignificant, especially if they were experiencing government sponsored persecution. I mean, when the government comes after you, you can feel so small and defenseless. Who do you call?! You can’t call the police. They’re the problem. You feel so alone. And in the big old universe. So alone.

But Psalm 8 says that we are not alone. And that God has His mind on us. And that blows David’s mind!  Because we’re not just loved, but we we’re given a position of authority in this world. Verse 7.

“You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet’”

 

That’s amazing! Human beings were made just “a little lower than the angels,” and we were given “crowns.” King Adam and Queen Eve were made the rulers of Creation. They were given the glory and honor of bearing the very image of God. Listen to Genesis chapter 1:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Genesis 1:26-28).

That’s amazing?!!

That’s what human beings are supposed to be!

You and I were made to wear crowns.

That’s why we are supposed to be so respectful of other human beings.

Because they bear the image of God and are therefore royalty. 

That’s why abuse is so evil. That’s why mistreatment of other humans, no matter who they are, is so wrong. Inhumane means ungodly. That’s why we honor both men and women. Not one or the other. Both of the two sexes are made in the image of God. That’s why we put money in baby bottles to help convince parents to carry and raise their little princes and princesses. And it’s why take we responsibility for our domains. Because we were given a job to do. We’re supposed to tend the garden, so to speak, of this world.

God crowned us with glory and honor and put everything under our feet.

And by everything, what do you think he means? V.8

“In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him.”

“Everything” means “everything” in all creation! Human beings were made to rule wisely and well.

And yet...Look again at verse 8.

“Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.”

Things are not the way they are supposed to be.

Do you feel it? We all feel it. This world is broken. And we broke it! We are broken, and we broke the world. We failed to rule it well. We failed to rule it wisely. We failed to reflect the image of God. We fell into sin, and we spread it all around. And we invited the curse and death.

We’ve done a bad job of ruling the world. So much so that a fallen angel is often right now called, “the prince of this world.” We do not see everything subject to humanity. 

Oh, we still throw our weight around, but it’s nothing like what it’s supposed to be.

Do I need to convince you of this? Just scroll on your phone, and you will see. We are doing a bad job of ruling the world, and creation isn’t cooperating either. Our enemies are exercising dominion over us. 

Death, for example, is the reigning champion. Everybody here is living with it. It’s coming for everyone in this room.

We were made for so much more, “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to” us.

But! There is more to the story, isn’t there? Here’s our key sentence. Verse 9.

“But we see Jesus...”

This is the first time his personal name is written in this letter. Jesus. It always emphasizes His humanity and His mission to save us. “But we see Jesus!” And that makes all of the difference. Because see what Jesus has done?

The writer uses the language of Psalm 8 and takes it all to a new level. V.9

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [He became a human like you and me! Stepping down from heaven and assuming a human nature just like ours, taking a spot as a servant, a little lower than the angels, we see Jesus], now crowned with glory and honor [not just because He’s the image of God but] because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

What’s He talking about? He’s talking about where Jesus is right now.

Church, where is Jesus right now?

He’s at the right hand of the Majesty on high. How’d He get there? He is crowned with glory and honor. How come?  Because He suffered death, even death on a Cross.

And He was victorious!  He came back to life. He was raised on the third day and ascended into heaven! And all God’s angels are worshiping Him (1:6). 

That’s where we see Him. We don’t see Him with our physical eyes. We see with the eyes of our heart where Jesus is. 

He is crowned!

He is honored!

The First Adam failed. But the Second Adam, the Lord Jesus, won the victory!

And He’s waiting until the Father makes His enemies a footstool for His feet. And then He’s coming back to rule here as He does there. 

Implication number two:

#2. BE PATIENT.

Be amazed at your place in the world and in God’s heart, and be patient while you wait for Jesus to take His place over the world.

“It is not to angels that [God] has subjected the world to come...”

It is to humans that He has, and most specifically one particular human has led the way.

We see Jesus!

Jesus is the quintessential human. He’s everything that we are (barring sin) and everything we were supposed to be! And He’s coming again to rule the world as it should be.

I can’t hardly wait. But we have to wait.

But while we wait, we wait in hope. We wait, understanding where we are in the story. Creation, Fall, Redemption. New Creation.

We are not forgotten.

We are not alone.

We are small, but we’re on God’s mind and in His heart.

Things are not the way they are supposed to be, and it’s our fault.

But Jesus has tasted death and spit it back out!

Jesus has conquered death so that death will not have the last word for you and me. Jesus is going to fix it all. He’s going to fix everything. And everything is going to be put under His feet.

Implication number three:

#3. BE THANKFUL.

We see Jesus...suffering death, by God’s grace, in our place.

He tasted death, experienced the full force of death, for every one of us who are His. He died the death that we deserved.

We’re going to talk more about this next week because Jesus’ flesh-and-blood-humanity and death is the focus of the whole rest of the chapter. And all of what His death means to you and me.

But we know just from verse 9 that it was “for” us. And that it was a gift. It says “by the grace of God.”

We didn’t deserve. We couldn’t deserve it. 

We didn’t earn it. We couldn’t earn it.

We can’t even pay it back. It’s got to be a gift or nothing.

And, praise God, it is a gift!

Have you received the gift? The gift of eternal life that comes from the death of Jesus Christ? If you have not, you are headed to destruction. You are headed towards Hell. And you deserve it. But you don’t have to go there. There is such a great salvation you can have instead! You are invited to turn from your sins and trust in the Savior. To put your faith in Jesus and what He did on the Cross.

He endured the Cross.

He scorned the shame.

And He sat down at the right hand of throne of God!

And one day, He’s coming back to set everything right.

Jesus is the quintessential human. He’s the Son of Man (like in verse 6) and also like in Daniel 7 which we learned about this time last year.

Where Daniel saw, “...one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

Remember, all bad things must come to end.

And then we will reign with Him!

Daniel 7 also said, “Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him” (Daniel 7:27).

You and I will get to wear those crowns after all!

In fact, the Bible says that one day we will in some way judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3)?!

Be amazed.

Be patient.

Be thankful.

And lastly:

#4. BE FOCUSED.

Be focused on Jesus. Because it’s all about Him. Don’t take your eyes off of Jesus. Not for one second.

Do you see Him? He’s seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

Yes, things are a mess right now. Things are not as they ought to be. But things are going to change. Guaranteed by the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the accession of Jesus, and the present session of Jesus at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let’s stay focused, not on angels, not on ourselves, not on how hard life is, not on what we cannot yet see, but let us stay focused on Him.

We see Jesus.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14

03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4

Read More