Hebrews 2:5-9 - Homilies By J.s. Bright

The human nature of our Lord foreshadowed and his sovereignty over all things realized through his sufferings and death.

The author pursues his argument, which is to show the indisputable superiority of our Lord to the angels, unto whom the kingdom of grace is not made subject. In the quotation from the eighth psalm there is declared the condescension and goodness of God towards man in appointing him to be the lord and ruler of creation. When Jehovah pronounced the blessing upon Noah and his sons, he said, "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered" ( Genesis 9:2 ). This sublime promise is realized in the exaltation of the Son of God, who was made for a short time lower than the angels; and yet, even in his state of humiliation, showed his kingly power over the diseases of men, the storms of the sky, and the fishes of the sea. But there is the plain fact that all things are not put under men; yet we see Jesus of Nazareth made lower than the angels that he should fulfill the purposes of eternal grace, taste death in its unutterable bitterness and agony that life might be offered to mankind, and now crowned with glory and honor. There is a sacred lesson conveyed to Jewish Christians in the allusion to the death of our Lord, since the offence of the cross was likely to disturb their faith, and lead them to surrender a truth which was a stumbling-block to many of their countrymen. Jesus passed through this valley of the shadow of death to reach the throne where he is now exalted, angels, principalities, and powers, believers and unbelievers, being now subject unto him. The glory and honor which he has attained raise him far above all patriarchs, priests, prophets, and the whole angelic world; and therefore those that kiss the Son, in unlimited trust and loving obedience, may expect all the blessedness now and hereafter from their faith in the Redeemer.—B.