In the eleventh century, Anselm of Canterbury famously asked, “Why did God become man?” It is an important question to ask since it takes us into the rationale for the incarnation, and thus into the heart of the gospel. Anselm’s answer was that God the Son became man to fulfill God’s plan to save sinners by making satisfaction for their sin. No less can be said. But Scripture gives a number of reasons for why the incarnation was a necessity in the divine plan, and the most detailed text that gives us some of these reasons is Hebrews 2:5–18.
The entire book of Hebrews focuses on the supremacy and glory of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. By expounding multiple Old Testament texts, and by a series of contrasts with various Old Testament figures, the author encourages a group of predominately Jewish Christians with the truth that Jesus has come as the Lord in the flesh to fulfill all of the promises and expectations of the Old Testament.
Beginning in Hebrews 1:1–4, the author uses a series of comparisons and contrasts to unpack his thesis that Jesus is superior to all of the Old Testament figures before him, including Moses, Joshua, and the high priests. But he begins by demonstrating that Jesus is superior to angels. First, Jesus is greater than angels who serve God because he is the divine Son (Heb. 1:5–14). In contrast to angels, the Son is identified with the Lord due to his greater name (Heb. 1:4–5), the worship he receives (Heb. 1:6), his unchanging existence as the universe’s Creator and Lord (Heb. 1:10–12), and the rule and reign he shares with his Father (Heb. 1:7–9, 13). Angels, on the other hand, are simply creatures and ministering servants (Heb. 1:7, 14); they are not God-equal with the Father. Second, Jesus is superior to angels because he has come to do the work that no angel could ever do. By assuming our humanity, the Son becomes the representative man of Psalm 8—the last Adam—who undoes the first Adam’s covenantal disobedience and ushers in the new creation by bringing all things into subjection under his rule and reign.
In Hebrews 2:5–18, the author focuses on the centrality of the incarnation to the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan, which is his final argument for the superiority of the Son. In so doing, a four-part rationale for the purpose and necessity of the incarnation is given. Let us look at each of these glorious truths in turn in Hebrews 2:5–18:
5For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8putting 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. 9But 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.
10For 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. 11For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14Since 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, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore 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. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
1. The Divine Son Became a Man to Fulfill God’s Creation Intention for Humanity (Heb. 2:5–9).
The author demonstrates this point by an appeal to Psalm 8. In its Old Testament context, Psalm 8 celebrates the majesty of God as the Creator and the exalted position humans have in creation. The Psalm reminds us of God’s creation design for humans, namely that we were created as his image-bearers to exercise dominion over the world as his vice-regents (Gen. 1–2). In fact, in transitioning from the quotation of Psalm 8:4–6 to Jesus, Hebrews stresses the honor and glory of humanity by emphasizing how God intended that all things be subjected to Adam and, by extension, to all humanity: “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control” (Heb. 2:8b). However, as we know from Genesis 3, Adam disobeyed, and as a result, all humanity is now under God’s judgment. Hebrews makes this exact point: “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (Heb 2:8c). When we look at the world, we know that God’s creation design for humans has been frustrated; we do not rule as God intended us to rule. Instead of putting the earth under our feet, we are eventually put under the earth as God’s rebellious image-bearers.
Thankfully, this is not the end of the story. Just as Psalm 8 challenges us to look back to Genesis 1–2, it also challenges us, in anticipation, to look forward to our restoration. Given its position in the Old Testament, especially in light of God’s “first gospel promise” (Gen. 3:15) and the unfolding development of this promise through the biblical covenants, Psalm 8 speaks prophetically. David looks forward to a day when God will restore us to our created purpose, a restoration that will occur through another man—one who comes from humanity and identifies with us, who acts on our behalf like Adam of old, but who, instead of failure by Adam’s disobedience, gives us victory by his obedience (Rom. 5:12–21).
This is precisely how Hebrews 2:9 applies Psalm 8 to Christ: “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than 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.” Jesus is presented as the antitype of Adam. He is the representative human whose obedient humiliation in his incarnation and death kept the obligations of the covenant and secured his exaltation that he will share with his people. As Tom Schreiner nicely states, “In that sense, [Jesus] is the true human being, the only one who has genuinely lived the kind of life that humans were intended to live under God.”[1] The rule promised to humanity has been taken up by the man Christ Jesus, who is restoring a people to bear the image of God in truth, making us truly human again.
1. Thomas Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 382.
2. The Divine Son Became a Man to Bring Many Sons to Glory (Heb. 2:10–13).
In the context of Hebrews 2, the word “glory” is not a reference to heaven; rather, it is a term from Psalm 8 referring to God’s intention to restore us to what he created humans to be. The imagery identifies Jesus with Yahweh who led Israel out of Egypt in the first exodus to make them into a people for his own possession and purposes. Jesus has now brought about the new exodus through his death and resurrection. As the “founder [archēgon] of their salvation” (Heb. 2:10)—a word which conveys the idea of “pioneer” (leader/forerunner and founder/victor)—Jesus is now leading a people out of slavery to sin and death (Heb. 2:14–15) and into the covenant life and representative reign under God that he has planned from the beginning. Jesus is the first man of the new creation. He is the trailblazer/champion who has won the victory for new humanity by opening up new territory through his redemptive work.
This new exodus and the glory of a new humanity depend on the Son’s suffering, which requires his incarnation. To bring many sons to glory, “it was fitting that he [God] . . . should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). In fact, unless the Son took upon our humanity and suffered for us, there would be no suffering to help humanity, no fulfillment of God’s promises for humanity, and no return to the planned glory of humanity. Jesus’s suffering and death, then, was not a failed end to the incarnation but the precise purpose of it, all of which fulfills God’s plan to perfect a new humanity to rule over his good creation.
Also, Jesus himself was made “perfect through suffering,” or better, “through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). The precise meaning of “perfection” in Hebrews is debated. In the present context, it’s best to understand perfection vocationally, namely that our Lord was fully equipped for his office. In addition, “through sufferings” is not synonymous with “the suffering of death” (Heb. 2:9), but it speaks of the sufferings through which Christ had to pass, which entails his entire experience of suffering associated with and leading up to Christ’s death. Thus, in order for Christ to fulfill his office of Mediator for us, he had to become one with us, and his entire human experience qualified him to become “our merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb. 2:17).
Finally, his human identification and suffering was necessary to “bring many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10). God’s fitting action of perfecting the Son by the incarnation and his suffering serves as the basis for his people who are beginning to be restored to the purpose of their creation. Both the Son as sanctifier and the sons who are sanctified are all of one origin and “that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb. 2:11b). By the incarnation, then, the Son came to share in the source and suffering of our human nature. And his human identification and suffering was the only way to bring a ruined humanity into the glory of a new humanity.
3. The Divine Son Became a Man to Destroy the Power of Death and the Devil (Heb. 2:14–16).
Hebrews directly connects the incarnation with the destruction of all that holds the new humanity back from its divinely planned and promised glory: “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” (Heb. 2:14–15). In short, the destruction of our slave-master and our deliverance from the cage of fear requires that like us the Son would come to “share in flesh and blood.”
Scripture teaches that death is not normal to God’s creation; rather, it’s the result of sin (Gen. 2:17). Death is God’s penalty for our disobedience (Rom. 6:23). In judgment against our sin, God gave us over to the power of Satan (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1–3; Col. 1:13). Created to rule over God’s creation as his image-bearers, we now cower in fear before God as those who are spiritually dead, which ultimately shows itself in our physical death. Our only hope is found in our “pioneer” (Heb. 2:10) who goes before us and defeats our enemies. We need a Savior who can deal with sin, death, and Satan by first sharing our common humanity. We need a Savior who would suffer and die in that humanity so that by his death the power of death is destroyed.
In fact, only as the incarnate Son can our Lord accomplish our salvation and defeat our enemies. It’s not angels he helps since he does not identify with or take on the nature of an angel. Rather, the Son identifies with the offspring of Abraham, his people, and leads them to glory in a new exodus of victory and triumph. By his incarnation and cross-work, the Son becomes our victor who wins the battle, and apart from him, there is no salvation. Our plight is so desperate that it requires nothing less than the enfleshment of God’s own Son, and his entire work of redemption for us.
4. The Divine Son Became a Man to Become a Merciful and Faithful High Priest (Heb. 2:17–18).
The mention of Jesus as our high priest introduces the office and work of Christ that the author of Hebrews will explore in great detail throughout the rest of the book (Heb. 4:14–5:10; 7:1–10:25). In the context of Hebrews 2, however, the high priesthood of Christ places a capstone on the argument for the purpose and necessity of the incarnation. The author begins by stressing the mandatory and comprehensive nature of the incarnation: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect” (Heb. 2:17a). In other words, to come according to the plan of God, the Son could not take on a partial or pseudo-human nature. The Son was under obligation by the Father to take on our humanity that exactly corresponds to our human nature, except without sin.
More specifically, two purpose clauses tell us that God the Son had to become a man, (1) “so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God”; and (2) “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17b). Or, in the language of the early church, the Son could not redeem what he did not assume; representation requires identification. If the Son did not become one with us, he could not have redeemed us by his entire life and death for us.
Concluding Reflection
This four-part rationale from Hebrews 2:5–18 gloriously explains why the divine Son had to become human to redeem us from our sin and to restore us to the purpose of our creation. It’s no wonder that Jesus alone can save us, given our plight before God and the kind of Redeemer he is. May we ever learn to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord who loved us and gave himself for us.
