Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
Do you remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? Two little children lose their way in the woods because of their evil step-mother. It’s an interesting story with a few moral lessons. One of which is, of course, if you happen upon a strange lady’s house that happens to be edible, maybe don’t stop to eat her house. The two children are on their way home, but they get lost because the trail of breadcrumbs home has been eaten by the birds of the forest. Because they are lost, they walk deeper into the forest, are taken captive by an old witch, and only through their cunning and a little luck are they able to escape. But is it luck? There is a line early in the story where Hansel tells his sister, “Be easy, dear little sister, and go to sleep quietly; God will not forsake us.”
Perhaps you are facing your own tread through the woods these days. Maybe you are being tortured by your own wicked step-mother or some old witch in the forest. Hebrews has good news for you today.
“Be easy, God will not forsake you.”
Last week, we began our reading of Hebrews, and chapter 1 gave us these three points.
First, Jesus is the full revelation of God.
Second, Jesus proved his divinity and power through the Resurrection.
Third, Jesus should be the focus of our life because only Jesus can save us.
Chapter 2 is going to flesh out these points even further, but it begins with a warning. We must always remember the truths of God are not for academic purposes only. Christianity is not a hobby to pursue when you have time, nor is Jesus someone important to know when you have time. There are eternal consequences for following Jesus or not following Him.
Let’s begin reading in chapter 2.
Pay Attention to What Really Matters | Hebrews 2:1-4
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Hebrews 2:1-4
Any time we come across a “therefore”, we have to pay special attention. It is a transition word that is saying, “because of everything I just said, this is then what you should do.” So, because Jesus is the Son of God speaking directly to us, because Jesus is the Greater Prophet, and because Jesus has brought salvation through his death, burial, and resurrection, “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.”
What have we heard? Well, Hebrews said in 1:1 God has spoken to us by His Son. We must pay special attention to what Jesus said, because his words are God’s words to us. We have the Word of God, the Bible, but of course, specifically we have the four Gospels that record the things Jesus said and did. It may seem like a “Sunday school answer” or something trite Christians say, but the reality is the single best way to keep your focus on Christ and what He teaches is to read your Bible.
I once heard a pastor say, “The Bible will keep you from sin, but sin will keep you from your Bible.” It is an amazing phenomenon. When you find yourself distracted from the things of God, you will quickly find yourself returning to old sins. But when you focus your life on the things of God, especially in maintaining the habit of prayerful Bible study, you will find the old sins having less influence on your life.
If we desire to be faithful to the Lord, we have to build the discipline to keep our attention on the Lord.
And the Lord does not leave us without help in this battle for our attention. We will return to this point further in the chapter, but for now, let’s consider this phrase in verse 1 “drift away” with the clause in verse 3, “if we neglect such a great salvation.” Sometimes we read ‘salvation’ and we think about ‘getting to heaven’ or ‘having our ticket to heaven’. If I’m ‘saved’, then I’m on my way to heaven. The problem with this line of thinking is that ‘salvation’ is a bit more involved than just having a Golden Ticket to Heaven. It is the process by which God restores Creation. Yes, it begins with humans, but all of Creation will one day be saved. The next passage points us to this truth and mindset.
Let’s read the next bit, and then we can return to this warning.
Don’t Let Your Opportunities Slip Away | Hebrews 2:5-9
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? 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.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who 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.
Hebrews 2:5-9
The psalm quoted here is Psalm 8, and it is an interesting choice because the psalm itself is not necessarily Messianic, and yet, Hebrews says, “This psalm points to Jesus.” And not only to Jesus Himself, but to the nature of what it means “to be saved.” Let me explain.
First, Jesus is the truest ‘man’ there ever was. Man was created in God’s image and was meant to be God’s physical representatives on earth. Humanity was given the task of administering Creation as God would administer it. Of course, our first parents messed that up, but we all mess up our job of being God’s Image. That’s part of the problem with sin. Jesus, however, fulfilled this image-bearing job perfectly. He lived his life without sin, and he is the image of the invisible God—the truest idea of “God’s image” (i.e. “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” in 1:3).
Now, back to Psalm 8, this psalm says that God made man for a little while lower than the angels, but then he is crowned with glory and honor. But look at that verse again. It begins “what is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man.” In God’s providence of Scripture writing, there is a little Messianic nugget tucked away in this poem. Jesus was made lower than the angels, for a little while, but now he is crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Further, everything will be put in subjection under his feet.
And yet, this psalm is also about humanity in general, which points us to a reality about our own salvation. We are not saved to simply hang out in heaven. We are saved to become sons and daughters of God. We become co-heirs with Jesus. Paul says it this way in Romans 8,
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:16-17
Jesus is the firstfruit of all who will be saved. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we are his fellow heirs, provided we follow in the Way of Life that he lived. And so, when we come back to this warning of “neglect” or “drifting away,” something to keep in mind is the Greek that we translate “drifting away” also has the idea of “slipping away.” Outside the New Testament, authors used the same word to mean “slip away,” for example like a rope that got loose from a sailor.
Hebrews is reminding us that if we fail to follow in the Way of Jesus, we will let the promise of transformation and glory slip away from us.
Does that mean that we might not “make it to heaven”? Well, yes, if we ignore the offer of salvation from Jesus, then the opportunity to have our sins forgiven, to have eternal life, and to be raised in glory in heaven will slip through our fingers.
And you may say, “But I have repented from my sins. I surrendered to the Lord.” Then do not lose focus on the Savior! Perhaps you are on your way to heaven, but if you lose focus on the Lord, you will miss what He wants to do with your life here on earth—namely using you to save and help transform others.
Now, for the one who says, “Well, I have my ticket to heaven whether God uses me or not,” I have some troubling news for you. This attitude is the same as the Pharisees whom Jesus and John the Baptist called ‘dogs’ and ‘snakes.’ If your focus is figuring out where the line is between heaven and hell, then your focus is all wrong. Not only is Christianity not academics, nor a hobby, and nor is it a legal system which the crafty can find loopholes. Christianity is about knowing the Savior who descended from heaven to bring salvation to a lost and dying world.
Do you remember last week, I said, “Hebrews reminds us the only necessary component for salvation is following Jesus.” Jesus is the only factor in your salvation. Anything is trying to substitute false hope.
Now, before we move on to the last part of our passage today, let’s take another look at verse 8. It says, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” I mentioned last week Christians live in a state of “already, but not yet.” Jesus has already conquered death, and he is already raised in glory, but not everything is quite yet under his feet. There are still aspects of this world that resist the Lordship of Christ. And these are the aspects of this world that can distract us from the salvation that has come and is coming to us.
But the Lord does not leave us without help. Let’s continue reading.
You Can Overcome Because Jesus Overcame | Hebrews 2:10-18
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. 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; 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.”
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. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:10-18
Because Christ shared our human nature, he is able to empathize and actively transform us into the people God designed us to be before sin corrupted us. Sometimes we may wonder, “Why is it that God doesn’t just instantly change everything for the better?” Everything in nature testifies salvation and growth is a process.
Seeds do not instantly turn into plants and fruit.
Tadpoles take time to turn into frogs.
The caterpillar has to enter a chrysalis phase before it can be a butterfly.
Humans do not emerge from the womb fully grown (all the women said, “Thank the Lord!”).
Even the heavens testify to the process of life. Stars form and transform.
Everything in Creation takes time to become the thing that it will become.
Jesus did not even enter the earth as King of Kings. His Incarnation was marked by being a small baby born in a lowly manger in a backwoods town of a backwoods nation. Only after he went through the process of growing, suffering, and finishing the task of going to the cross and grave, did he emerge as the Resurrected King.
Salvation is a process that happens from the moment we first surrender to Jesus to the moment we open our eyes in glory. And I’ll bet, when we get to heaven, there will be even more we get to learn and grow into.
But for today, let’s read those last verses one more time.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus was made like us in every respect. He faced the same temptations. He faced the same problems. He knows what you are facing today, because he has dealt with it, too. He knows, not just in the sense that he is God and knows everything, but he also knows, because he has faced it too.
Jesus knows how to help you overcome your temptations, because he had to overcome them, too.
Sometimes this life feels like you’re in the woods trying to make your way out. Getting lost in the woods is no fun. But the beauty of our Savior is he has already walked these woods. He carved a trail to our home a long time ago. We just lose sight of it because we’re too busy looking at things off the trail.
“We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” We must be careful to stay on the trail Jesus has laid out for us, lest we find ourselves lost in the woods and taken captive by the things of this world. But if you do find yourself off the trail, I have great news for you. Jesus knows exactly how to get you back on track.