Hebrews 2:10-16

[0:00] Please take with me your Bible and turn to Hebrews chapter 2.! Yes, actually, Hebrews chapter 2.

[0:10] If you're a guest this morning, you have no idea what I'm talking about.! I've been purposing to preach this for the past two weeks, and I've made last-minute changes of plan both of those weeks, and so that's why I'm jesting a bit here.

[0:23] We have, however, talked some in the past weeks about suffering, and we're going to pick up the topic again this morning.

[0:35] I'd first like to remind you that the way of the Christian is the way of suffering. Jesus said in John chapter 15 and verse 20, Remember the word that I said to you.

[0:50] A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

[1:04] There will be people who have an aversion from the word of Christ, and they will not like us for sharing it with them. Also, Paul stated in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12, You should become familiar with this.

[1:21] Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And this is not a necessary call to world mission in dangerous places, although it's a comfort to those going to such places.

[1:39] This speaks to us here and today. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has kind of become the darling of the Democratic Party.

[1:51] This is not political commentary I'm about to do. She's commonly referred to as AOC, which I actually think is kind of cool. She was recently elected Democrat from New York.

[2:02] She's very young in Congress. And in her campaign, she repeatedly criticized luxury real estate developers, claiming that their buildings hiked up rent prices and pushed low-income residents out of their neighborhoods.

[2:18] And this is true. Certainly, gentrification is a thing, and it happens, and it should be carefully considered and looked at. She says, and I quote, We need to kick luxury real estate lobbyists to the curb and defend working people's way of life.

[2:35] She said this in March of 2018. She goes on to say, Skyrocketing cost of living is a national crisis that can be addressed. It's not just a New York City issue. It's happening in every U.S. metro area.

[2:48] And this was a large platform that found her elected. So she's now serving in Congress. She's moved to Washington, D.C., and she's living in a brand-new luxury apartment.

[3:05] In fact, it's a luxury apartment with security that won't let poor people inside. Now, we could find inconsistencies anywhere we would look.

[3:16] So again, I'm not simply picking on her for the sake of picking on the Democratic Party. I'm not sharing this example with you to make some kind of political point, but only to show you that our lives must be consistent with our messaging to be found credible.

[3:35] Who cares what she has to say about luxury apartment development anymore? If we say that we are followers of Jesus Christ and our Lord suffered and died, don't we appear uncredible if our lives are lived in comfort and in ease?

[3:56] Recall what Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae in Colossians 1 and verse 24. He said, Paul here is happy.

[4:22] He's rejoicing because for the sake of the church, he is putting on display the suffering of Christ. Christ certainly suffered.

[4:36] We read about him as the suffering servant. We can learn from the Scripture that he had nowhere to lay his head, that he was hated in his hometown.

[4:48] We often think of him as rejected in his hometown. They actually tried to kill him. They tried to throw him off a cliff in his hometown. At one point, his mother and brothers thought he was a lunatic.

[4:59] Thankfully, I didn't see it that way to the end, but they at one point thought he had lost his mind. Jesus suffered just with the state of the world.

[5:13] He was deeply grieved by the brokenness that he saw all around him. You remember at the death of Lazarus when he's told of what happened and he's asked to come and raise Lazarus and we know he does, he weeps.

[5:30] The shortest verse in the Bible. John 11, verse 35. Jesus wept. You can memorize that one. I hope you already have. Jesus wept.

[5:44] The one who held power. He had already done miraculous things over the wind and the waves, over illness, certainly over death.

[5:54] He knew that he could go and speak Lazarus back to life. Why did he cry? Why did he not just go, it's cool, I got this, and go raise him from the dead?

[6:09] I think it's right to understand that he cried because he saw his friends crying. He saw what sin was doing in the world. The kind of grief that it was bringing about.

[6:22] And so he was weeping with those who were weeping. Another example of this is found in Luke 19, verse 41. It's the week we find ourselves in celebrating, looking towards Resurrection Sunday.

[6:38] Jesus journeying to Jerusalem. Luke 19, verse 41 says, And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.

[6:49] And the text goes on to tell us why, very specifically why. It's because they did not, and he knew they would not believe that he was the Christ. And he knew the judgment that was coming upon them.

[7:02] He knew about the Roman army that was going to march on that city and lay it to waste. And he was grieved that they didn't see the way of peace, Luke 19 tells us.

[7:17] That they wouldn't come to him to have peace, ultimate peace with God. And then we know, and then this week, as we look towards Resurrection Sunday, that Jesus was mocked.

[7:31] He was beaten beyond recognition. And he was finally killed in the most gruesome way ever invented by man. Jesus suffered.

[7:44] And beloved, he is our Lord. Why do we think ourselves better than him? We are meant to display the suffering of Christ in our suffering.

[7:57] We are meant to bear the same discomfort with this broken world. If you have a proper biblical view of the world, all of the messiness that you see goes back to the garden.

[8:12] It all harkens back to that at the beginning of death in the world. It ought to break our hearts when we see brokenness. It ought to leave us longing for a restored kingdom.

[8:27] I'm grateful this day that with no direction from myself that Reese led us in a song of lament. How long? You read through the book of Psalms, over a third of the songs given to us, God's people to sing together, over a third of them are songs of lament, crying out to God and asking really honest and painful questions.

[8:55] Did any of you feel uncomfortable singing a song? It says, how long? And then we go, but we should know the answer to this. We should go quickly to an anthem song.

[9:08] I'm afraid that the American church has removed the suffering of the Christian life and therefore also gives us no room for lament in our meetings together.

[9:19] We've forgotten how to sing songs in a minor key. To come together to say, there's this disconnect in how I knew God is and the way He's working in the world and my experience today.

[9:37] I'm in pain and I'm hurting and I'm longing for something else. We don't have language for this because we've removed suffering from the life, the normative life of the Christian.

[9:51] So when people are suffering, they stay home. You're welcome to be honest with me on a Sunday morning. If I say, how are you doing? You are allowed to say, not good. I probably won't be able to get into the details of that with you in the moment, but you know what I will say?

[10:06] Well, then I'm glad you're here. It's the place we come to be reminded, to ask the question, how long? And then to be able to say, soon. We know it's coming soon.

[10:20] We're supposed to long for that restored kingdom. We're supposed to suffer insult, loss of relationship, and yes, even personal harm for the sake of making the suffering of Christ known.

[10:35] Paul says that our afflictions are Jesus' afflictions. So let's look together at Hebrews chapter 2.

[10:46] I'm going to start in verse 10, and we'll look through verse 16, and then, Lord willing, verse 17 and 18 next Sunday. Before I read it, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us, written for His glory and our good.

[11:00] Our good, our benefit. We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands. Speaking here of Jesus Christ, for it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

[11:25] For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers.

[11:38] In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, behold, I and the children God has given me.

[11:53] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

[12:11] For surely it is not the angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham. Now, when you come to a text like this and think, as I have done over the past weeks, this language is so complex, you will do well to join me in remembering that the book of Hebrews contains the most eloquent of all New Testament Greek.

[12:39] And none of us are Greek speakers. In fact, we are a people who are communicating in shorter and shorter forms. Some of you text me deep questions.

[12:51] We are now sharing video blitz with each other to communicate. We've even reduced much of our communication to tiny pictures. And just so you know, when you tag emojis on stuff, my eyes are too bad to even see what the faces are.

[13:07] I have no idea what you're saying to me. We're like going back to hieroglyphics. It's interesting. So, we should not be surprised that we have some work to do to rightly understand what God would have us learn from these precious verses.

[13:26] We've got to put in a little work to wrap our minds around what's being communicated here. And so, to help us do that this morning, I'm going to frame that work around three points.

[13:38] Number one, the reality of solidarity with Jesus. Number two, the nature of solidarity with Jesus. And number three, the deliverance of solidarity with Jesus.

[13:54] Before we consider any of those specifics, what do I mean by solidarity? Solidarity is a unity or agreement of feeling or action.

[14:10] You'll see sometimes in a movie, maybe, you know somebody who's had a cancer diagnosis and in the process of chemotherapy, they begin to lose their hair. And so, people in solidarity with that person will shave their heads and cut their hair off so very short to say, I'm with you.

[14:28] I'm joining you in this in the way that I can. This is what we mean by solidarity. To say that we have solidarity with Jesus is to say that He is in us and that we are in Him.

[14:40] He is shared in our experience and therefore brings us into sharing in His experience. We're unified with Christ. This is an astounding reality.

[14:55] It is a thing that we are going to amuse about for our entire lives and I'm fairly convinced for eternity to consider this union with Christ, our solidarity with Him.

[15:08] And as we take up a study of the suffering of the church, it gives us opportunity for careful application today. So let's do so together.

[15:20] Number one, the reality of solidarity with Jesus. We have solidarity with Christ if we are in fact in Him. If we have placed believing faith in Him.

[15:34] And we see this in verse 10 and in verse 11. Verse 10 says a rather astounding thing for it was fitting. For it was fitting.

[15:45] So it begs the question, what is He referring to? It was fitting for whom and by whom all things exist. To understand that, we need to back up a little bit in the chapter.

[15:58] Beginning in verse 5. The writer of Hebrews says, For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?

[16:14] You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.

[16:26] Now in putting everything in subjection to him, Christ, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

[16:50] So it's this idea that because Jesus suffered, he has been exalted. He is now crowned with glory and with honor. The writer of Hebrews is making the case that he's more excellent than angels up to this point and this is kind of the period he puts on that, right?

[17:05] He was made for a little while lower than angels, human, so that he would be exalted as the Christ. And it's from this idea that the author says for, it was fitting.

[17:20] It gives us this repetition of this idea for whom and by whom all things exist. Christ created the world and the world exists to serve him.

[17:33] And we see in the way he does that is in bringing many sons to glory. Now ladies, I think we can rightly say here, sons and daughters, the Bible uses this language to carry the weight of inheritance.

[17:51] So it's okay to be a son in Christ, right? To inherit all that is yours in him. So it was the purpose of Christ as he's made a little lower than the angels, right?

[18:05] That he would suffer so that he would be crowned with glory and he would bring many to glory. And I hope this morning that you're a recipient of that work on your behalf.

[18:19] That you have placed believing faith in Christ that we could say of you, son of the most high, of the exalted one. The author then goes on this very fascinating phrase that in bringing many sons to glory that he would be made the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

[18:45] Now this idea of Christ being the founder of our salvation and you could also put in this place the word pioneer or captain.

[18:55] Think forerunner, the one who's out in front and leading the triumphal procession. Recall that the original audience of this book is a storm-tossed little church.

[19:10] We see many examples of that throughout the text. We know a little bit about this fellowship. They had been persecuted. They were suffering for their faith and they were being tempted to go back to Judaism.

[19:27] They were being tempted to forsake Christ which is why this pastoral letter comes to them to say no. He's better than. He's greater than. Don't leave him.

[19:41] And so they're suffering. And it's to this group that this author writes. This wonderful thing that he would be made the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

[19:56] They had suffered and they would suffer. It's likely to the point of death. The writer says in Hebrews 12 verse 4 in your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

[20:12] at the very least implies that they would someday do that very thing. And they're tempted to believe that the suffering of Christ was incompatible with the Christian belief that he is the sovereign creator of the universe.

[20:31] That the one who is crowned with glory would come to suffer and to die. They're tempted to go back to the common Jewish understanding that the Messiah would be a conquering king in the earthly sense.

[20:45] That he would come and he would ride on a stallion and lead a grand army and drive out the Romans. And this is not the way the kingdom comes to pass.

[20:58] The writer of Hebrews speaks to them and to us at this point of temptation by effectively saying stay on the boat. storm toss church stay on the boat because Jesus is its captain.

[21:15] He is the founder of our salvation. The captain of our salvation. And we are safe on the boat. And this Jesus, this founder of our salvation was made perfect through suffering.

[21:34] And I think there's a dual meaning here. we know that Jesus was always perfect. So it wasn't that he was corrupted and had to be made perfect, but that he did in fact grow in his faithfulness.

[21:46] And he did so through suffering. He was obedient even to the point of death. But I think the larger meaning, and I think the more important meaning, is that this word here translated perfect could also be translated consecrated.

[22:02] It's a way of saying set apart. He was set apart to be the founder, the captain of our salvation through suffering.

[22:13] It was the way in which that he was set apart. So that he would share in our suffering. Those of us living in this fallen world that will suffer, Christ in every way and in higher order experienced the very same thing.

[22:33] He's not unable to sympathize with us because he also suffered. And so he can be then the captain of our salvation.

[22:45] And then verse 11 says, for he who sanctifies sets apart and perfects those being saved and those who are sanctified all have one source.

[22:57] And here it's believed that the writer of Hebrews is referring to the humanity of these believers and ours and the humanity of Christ. I'll let you wrestle with that one a bit on your own and I'll save you my complicated thought process on it.

[23:14] It's believed that's what's being said because in the rest of verse 11 the author goes on to say that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. He is unified with us in our humanity.

[23:29] And what an astounding thing that we are called brothers. He's not ashamed and the positive of that is to say that Christ rejoices to give us family designation.

[23:43] So if you are in Christ then Christ is in you and there's a reality of this solidarity that you have with Jesus the suffering servant.

[23:55] This should be massively encouraging to us that the Catholic of our salvation also suffered and sympathizes with us in our suffering. Secondly let's look at the nature of our solidarity with Jesus.

[24:12] And there's three sub points at this point. Intimacy dependence and confidence. The nature of our solidarity.

[24:27] And we see this in these three Old Testament quotations. I don't know the exact nature of when Jesus said these things but I believe it's right to say that he said these things.

[24:42] Some commentators have suggested that the writer of Hebrews is saying because the Old Testament was inspired by the Spirit often referred to as the Spirit of Christ this was Jesus as he said it then I would like to suggest I think it's more probable that Jesus said it during his ministry and that the author of Hebrews had either first hand heard this or he had heard it told that Jesus said these things either during his pre-death ministry or his post-resurrection ministry that he cited the Old Testament in this way so I think it's right to look at it in that way and the first thing the author of Hebrews says Jesus said I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise and here he is quoting from Psalm chapter 22 and verse 22 let me invite you to keep a marker your finger something piece of paper on

[25:43] Hebrews chapter 2 and turn with me to Psalm chapter 22 Jesus takes this up as his declaration Jesus says I Jesus will tell of God's name to his brothers so those who are not in Christ who don't share this intimacy solidarity with Jesus can know some things about God can see his character revealed in nature but can't know him here Jesus says he will speak of God to his brothers to those who are part of his family and in the midst of the congregation those who are called together by

[26:44] Christ the church he will sing the praise! of God this is all incredibly astounding John Calvin said of this text this teaching is the very strongest encouragement to us to bring yet more fervent zeal to the praise of God when we hear that Christ leads our praise and is the chief conductor of our hymns he's the great song leader as we sing songs of praise to our God so we get to know God and intimacy with the king of all the world because of the work that Christ has done and us being found in him now we are often far too unfamiliar with our old testament and so I would like to believe that the readers the original readers of this letter immediately went on to think about the rest of psalm 22 the author says he said

[27:50] I will tell of your name to my brothers in the congregation I will sing your praise and the song kicks off in their head many of us do that think in songs so you give a line and somebody can just complete it for you I would imagine that they were doing this very thing so look at verse 22 and 23 and 24 I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation I will praise you verse 23 you who fear the Lord praise him all you offspring of Jacob glorify him and stand in awe of him all you offspring of Israel verse 24 for he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the affliction and he has not hidden his face from him but he has heard when he cried to him so in the midst of suffering we have the solidarity with Christ in our intimacy with

[28:50] God and the psalm goes on to say he has not turned away he is there he has not hidden his face he is present we maintain this intimacy in the midst of our suffering second there's a solidarity of dependence the next Old Testament quotation found in Hebrews chapter 2 and again this is verse 13 I will put my trust in him the second quotation is from Isaiah chapter 8 the very last part of verse 17 it might benefit you to be there you don't have to be but if you'd like to turn to Isaiah chapter 8 it could be a help to you Isaiah chapter 8 is a rich messianic chapter speaking of Christ and it's placed between chapter 7 where we read of the prophecy of the Christ's birth

[29:50] Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 will give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel and it's bookended by chapter 9 where we learn of Christ's names these things are likely familiar to you Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful counselor prince of peace so just imagine right beleaguered small Hellenistic Jewish church right they've got these scriptures which are precious to them and the writer of Hebrews says Jesus quotes from Isaiah chapter 8 this is where their mind goes whoa messianic stuff is happening in Isaiah 7 8 and in to 9 but interestingly chapter 8 is packed full of messianic language and it's quoted heavily in the new testament to speak of

[30:59] Jesus Matthew first Peter Romans are common places for this but verse 17 does not specifically refer to Christ it's a really interesting place for Jesus to quote from at this point in chapter 8 Isaiah's prophecy has not been received!

[31:23] common amongst prophets and he is instructed by God to seal it in verse 16 bind it up and then Isaiah states in verse 17 I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob and I will hope in him this is the interesting thing that Jesus quotes Isaiah saying right I will wait till the time when God no longer hides his face and begins to gather his people and I will hope in him and so Jesus depended on God he depended on God in the same way that we need to depend on God as we walk in this world when Jesus suffered he turned in faith to God he joins us in that we have solidarity with him in that this is what the writer of

[32:27] Hebrews is trying to teach us yes even Jesus who was God incarnate God the son turned to God the father in dependence as he suffered so we have a solidarity of dependence third we have a solidarity of confidence solidarity of confidence writer of Hebrews says this is still verse 13 and again behold I and the children God has given me this final quotation is also from Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 18 that's the very next verse now in this place Isaiah originally said behold I and the children God has given me he's referring to his biological sons so he says behold I and the children the Lord has given me are signs and portents or you could think of that as warnings so signs and warnings in

[33:29] Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion so again a very interesting place and our non Jewish likely very unfamiliar minds with the book of Isaiah go what do we do with that but remember this original audience and where their minds I believe would have gone so Isaiah is talking about his biological children he had two sons I'm going to try to pronounce their names for you those of you who lived in Israel don't make fun of me his first son was named!

[34:08] Meher Shalah Hashbaz or something like that which means the spoil speeds the prey hastes about that for a name the spoil speeds the prey haste and God instructed him to name his son this because he was speaking of the speedy removal of Syria and Israel as enemies of Judah it was meant to mean something as he was prophesying to the nation that there would be a removal from the land the second son was named Shear Jeshub congratulate me later if I did it right which means a remnant shall return so there's going to be a removal but there's going to be some that will return and then Isaiah's name means Yahweh is salvation so imagine if I think these people would have seen in their minds

[35:15] Isaiah standing between his two sons one hand on one hand on the other hand on the other son's shoulder stating behold I and the children God has given me right I Yahweh is salvation and the spoil speeds the prey haste and a remnant shall return and this is what Jesus quotes Jesus imagine him standing between us placing his hands on our shoulders and declaring behold I and the children God has given me we are going to be okay Isaiah had this immovable confidence in who God is he had promised while I'm going to punish I will return I will restore and Jesus picks up this language and makes it his for us today we're going to be okay we will weather the storm of this life because we have a confident captain of our salvation he stands in the midst of us and he says look it's all going to be okay

[36:36] Samuel Rutherford Puritan I like once said your heart and I think he means your feelings your inclinations he said your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by praise God so in the midst of our suffering in the midst of the way we feel as our confidence is shaken we can remember Christ and we can remember his confidence and remember that we're unified with him so there's a reality of our solidarity with Jesus that's a bit about the nature of our solidarity with Jesus lastly let's consider the deliverance of our solidarity with Jesus and we'll do this briefly verse 14 down through 16 since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of the same things right he became flesh and blood that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil right that in his death he put death to death right he put it away from those who are in him and deliver all those who through fear of death are subject to lifelong!

[38:05] slavery for surely it is not the angels that he helps but he helps the offspring of Abraham humans that's what he's suggesting here all of our suffering whatever its variety or shape should remind us of our coming death I think it reminds us of it whether or not we recognize it reminds us of it or not right it works inside of our conscience to say someday right apart from Christ your eternal state is death this happened in the fall Genesis chapter 3 right after Adam eats of the fruit God says to Adam because you have listened to the voice of your wife!

[38:46] and have eaten! of the tree which I commanded you you shall not eat of it curses the ground because of you in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field now just is anybody doing yard work right now this ought to really ring for us it is so!

[39:06] hard to make our yards look pretty pollen is a great curse and it's because of sin that this is happening ask each other that question sometimes you know why you're sneezing somebody says pollen nope it's because of sin the fall the fall has brought this upon us verse 19 by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken!

[39:32] for you are dust and to dust you shall return death dying was brought into the world by the fall we may not always be as cognizant of this as we should be but at our core too many of us are gripped by death the writer of Hebrews actually says enslaved to it we're gripped by death but Christians beloved are not those who should fear death because we have been liberated from it by Christ our suffering speaks not to death but to eternal!

[40:14] Praise God! Our suffering now and the way in which we suffer speaks to the way we'll be rewarded later to our eternal glory Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 beginning in verse 55 O death where is your victory O death where is your sting the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Thomas Watson this is on your bulletin so I have to reference it once wrote when God lays men upon their backs then they look up to heaven and so we're meant to be turned and to rejoice in our Savior to recognize we have this solidarity with Jesus and therefore we have a deliverance from the death of this world

[41:14] I did this with you a couple of weeks ago but I want to do it again and just in brief but this quick tour through the book of Hebrews as this writer is trying to make this case to his audience that they once had a joy unshakable immovable joy in Christ that Moses did and that Jesus himself had this unshakable confidence in the deliverance that is to come so turn with me if you will to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 32 the writer of Hebrews says but recall the former days when after you were enlightened came to faith in Christ you endured a hard struggle with sufferings sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction so sometimes you suffered and sometimes being partners with those so treated how how were they partners with them for they had compassion on those in prison and as they're having compassion on them as they're going to serve them as they're in prison for their faith you joyfully!

[42:18] What strange people what strange anti-world people that in the midst of their suffering they invited more suffering by going and serving the saints being obedient to the call of Christ to love the family of God and then they saw the loss of their stuff as gain they said this will be for eternal reward and they joyfully accepted the plundering of their property beloved we are meant to be weird in this way Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24 by faith Moses when he was grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter he was an Egyptian prince choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin fleeting passing dust in the wind he considered the reproach of

[43:36] Christ and I love that the author of Hebrews does this here right because what was Moses doing even back then he was sharing in the afflictions of Christ the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt for he was looking to the reward he goes on to make the case from Jesus' living Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses all these people of faith that he mentioned in chapter 11 let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus here's the language again the founder the captain and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured so for greater joy for greater reward Christ himself set for us as our captain as the example for us suffered for something greater and then lastly in kind of the call to us the author of

[44:48] Hebrews makes chapter 13 verse 12 through 14 so Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured for here we have no lasting city right it's a fleeting city it said we have no lasting city but we seek the city that is to come and we cry how long do we see our home come down from the sky this is what we long for so there's a reality of our solidarity with Jesus there's a precious nature of our solidarity with Jesus and there's a deliverance now and forever that awaits us because of our solidarity with Jesus this is why the heidelberg catechism begins what is what is your only comfort in life and death what is your only comfort in life and death and this is the answer we're teaching right now our children an abbreviated version of this but here's the full answer from the heidelberg catechism that

[46:06] I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful savior jesus christ he has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil he also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall for my head without the will of my father in heaven in fact all things must work together for my salvation because I belong to him Christ by his holy spirit assures me willing and ready from now on to live for him let's pray together