18th August, 2010

BRUCE C. WEARNE

Read Hebrews 2: 10-13

This part of the letter might seem a little vague, until it is pointed out to us that here we have a poignant reminder of Jesus' suffering. On Calvary's cross, and in that suffering, the Lord Himself was praying in the words of Psalm 22 which begins with those well-known words: "My God, My God, why have you left me in the lurch?"

PICTURE: PLRANG Images for design (www.sxc.hu) "(T)he writer of this letter now tells us that the One who has suffered has indeed lived to praise God now in the company of His fellows, in the congregation of those whom He has personally delivered from the fear of death. This then, is a message of the Son of God's solidarity with those He came to deliver; those indeed who are in earshot of this letter because it is written for them."

That is the opening line of a psalm which recounts David's personal confrontation with unimaginable terror. We know this now, despite the fact that some of the people attending His agony were confused by Jesus' final cry. This now is to be understood as the cry of the Davidic King, not a cry in re-enactment of the bereft prophet Elisha who waited in vain for Elijah to come back and help him. And further on in Psalm 22, after all the evil has been recounted, we also read of the stupendous victory that God has granted His suffering one. And so David continues: "I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the midst of the congregation (where) I will the praise Thee" (verse 22).

By reference to this, the writer of this letter now tells us that the One who has suffered has indeed lived to praise God now in the company of His fellows, in the congregation of those whom He has personally delivered from the fear of death. This then, is a message of the Son of God's solidarity with those He came to deliver; those indeed who are in earshot of this letter because it is written for them. Indeed in and by His suffering and death He is the Prince of their deliverance, the one who has utterly vanquished their devilish Accuser, and as their sympathetic and faithful High Priest goes with them in all their suffering even unto death. This then is also the Jesus we now see (2:9).

The writer also goes on to appeal to Psalm 18. This is King David's song of thanksgiving composed after he was delivered from what appeared to be certain death at the hand of his enemies and the rampaging Saul. The writer in effect claims that David gives a royal stamp of approval to the Messianic King who will occupy His throne and rule all the nations of the earth with justice. Psalm 18: 2 is thus a royal paean that is also found in 2 Samuel 22. There the King confesses that it is none other than the Lord who, in His mercy, has delivered Him: "I will place my trust in Him - He is the One in whom I will take refuge."

The other Old Testament reference given here is from Isaiah where the prophet explains that his Holy Office, while "setting him apart" to do what prophets have to do, nevertheless binds him to the very ones to whom he is serving by his prophetic announcements.

These Old Testamental prophetic allusions confirm to the readers that the message that has elicited their faith, that which "in these latter days God has spoken to us in a Son" (1: 2), is the message that the Son of God too has bound Himself, flesh and blood, to them in His sufferings so much so that they can be assured that His sufferings are truly their own and that, whatever happens, He will certainly be available as their ready help in time of bitter testing.

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