25 Mar Hebrews 03 – Our Champion Our Brother

Hebrews 2:5-18

⁵ For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶ It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
⁷ You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.
¹⁰ 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 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
¹³ And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
¹⁴ 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, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Let me read you a quote about my favourite superhero. “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time you will help them accomplish wonders.” Anyone want to guess where this quotes from? This is what Jor El said to Kal El in Man of Steel. If you are not into Superhero, Kal El is Superman’s real name. This is a very powerful quote. People need a symbol of hope. They need to know that there is something better out there. They need someone to show them the way. They need an ideal for them to strive towards. But in doing so, they will stumble and fall. In all their imperfection they will continue to make mistake. But in due time, they will join the symbol of hope in the place of perfection. They will make it. The symbol of hope, the champion of people will help them to accomplish wonders. I love this quote. I mean, you could be forgiven to think that this what God the Father said to Jesus in the Bible. There are many similarities between Superman and Jesus. Superman was from out of this world. He was sent to earth to lead the people of earth into a better tomorrow. He is strong and powerful and he is able to do wonder. But as awesome as Superman is, he cannot lead humanity to accomplish wonders. Do you know why? Because Superman is not like us.

At the end of the day, Superman is a Kryptonian who lives on earth among humans but he is not fully human. He can show you wonders but he cannot help you accomplish wonders. Because he is different from us. In order for us to accomplish wonders, we need someone who is exactly like us in every way to show us the way to wonders. We need someone who experienced what we experienced, who felt what we felt, who are hurt like we are hurt, who are tempted like we are tempted. But we not only need someone exactly like us, but we also need someone better than us at the same time. We need someone who succeeded where we failed. Someone who kept on striving where we gave up. Someone who are tempted but hold on to the end. Someone who is 100% human but perfect at the same time. We need someone better than Superman. Jesus is the hero we need. Jesus is better than Superman.

Let me make a confession. There are many things in the Bible that bewildered me. And one of the area that often baffle me is on the area of pain and suffering. Why did God allow Christians to experience tremendous pain and suffering? If God loves us so much, why life is so hard? If God is powerful, why did he allow this suffering? Why did my parents get divorced? Why did my brother died of cancer? Why did my sister get raped? Why did my business went bankrupt? Why following Jesus is so hard? And this is the question of the book of Hebrews. And this is the question for many people as well. The question usually goes like this. “If God is good and powerful, why did he allows evil and suffering?” Two logical answers. Either God is all powerful and he is not loving OR God is loving but not all powerful. If God is all powerful, then he is able to get rid of evil and suffering in a single heartbeat. But because there is evil and suffering, that mean that God is not loving enough to do it. OR. God is loving but he is not powerful enough to get rid of evil and suffering. You will hear this argument a lot regarding the faith of Christianity. Because Christians believe in the all-powerful and all loving God. He is not one or the other. He is both powerful and loving at the same time. So how do we answer the problem of evil and suffering? Why is Christian life so hard? How do we know that God is both powerful and loving in all our trials and temptations? This is what our passage answer for us. The answer from the author of Hebrews to make sense of evil and suffering that we experience is simply – Look to Jesus. Let me be more specific. Look to Jesus because he is your champion and your brother. If you don’t get anything else from this sermon, get this. Look to Jesus because he is your champion and your brother. In other words, Jesus is not Superman. He is better than Superman. He is exactly like you in every way. He is 100% man. He knows exactly what you are going through. But he succeeded where you failed. And because of it, we now have hope to accomplish wonders.

Let’s recap for little bit what we have learned so far. Hebrews chapter 1 talks about the supremacy of Jesus. Jesus is better than everything. Jesus is not a prophet or messenger or angels. He is better than all of them. He is God himself who took on flesh. That’s the point of chapter 1. Jesus is God and he has accomplished and completed every work that needs to be done for our salvation. Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of God, reigning over all creation. He has defeated all of his enemies. He inherited the name above every name and he has the special authority and status that no one has in all creation. Jesus is on a level on his own. Jesus is God. And then we are told to pay much closer attention to this truth. Beware of drifting away but be obsessed with your great salvation in Jesus. Don’t walk away from the truth that Jesus has purchased you completely. But rather, think about it. Ponder on it. Meditate on it. Focus on it. And let the truth of the gospel saturate every area of your life. You do not move on from the gospel to the next checklist but you need to grow deep in the gospel and let the message of Christ’s superiority changes every area of your life. Jesus has won the battle. He completed his works with perfection. Jesus is fully God.

But then the author of Hebrews shifted his focus. Because the question remains. If Jesus has completed all the works of salvation, if Jesus has defeated all his enemies, if Jesus is reigning right now, then why is it so hard to follow him? Why all these pains and sufferings? Why all these temptations? And the author’s answer is – look to Jesus. By the way, you will find this rhythm continue to play throughout the book of Hebrews. Someone says that “If you are asked a question in the church and you don’t know the answer, Jesus is never the wrong answer.” Throughout the book, he keeps saying that Jesus is not only never the wrong answer but Jesus is the right answer. Look to Jesus. Focus on Jesus. Consider Jesus. See Jesus. You see this rhythm all the way throughout the book. But he won’t just tell you that Jesus is the right answer and you need to figure out the rest on your own. He will explain to you why Jesus is the right answer. Are you with me?

Three things that this passage teaches us. The tension that we live in; the hero that came; the hope that we have.

The tension that we live in

Hebrews 2:5-8 – ⁵ For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶ It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? ⁷ You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, ⁸ 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.

Now, this is massive. In these four verses, the author gives us a framework for us to understand our life. And he will take us to the very beginning of our story. He begins by saying that the angels are not given authority to govern the world. They never have that authority and they never will. But do you know who does? I know you are tempted to say Jesus since Jesus is never the wrong answer but it was not to Jesus that God subjected the world to come. To whom then? The author then continue and quotes Psalm 8. “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Psalm 8 is about us, it is about human. And then he continues to say that man are crowned with glory and honour and God puts everything under his feet. He makes human the apex of creation. He crowned us with glory and honour. What does it mean? It means we are elevated to positions of royalty. And he put everything in subjection under our feet. Listen to how Genesis say it. Genesis 1:27-28 – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

This is what theologians called Imago Dei. It means we are created in the image of God. God makes man the head chief of all creation. We are to rule and have dominion as a representative of God. So here is the truth about you and me. We are given dominion and we are to exercise that power over the rest of creation. Yet at the same time we are accountable to God in the way we used that power. We are to image God in the way we exercise our dominion. Genesis 1 tells us the glory of mankind. It is extremely glorious. You are created in the image of God. You are created to reflect God. You are God’s representative over his creation. You are very precious in God’s eyes. You are not an accident. You are not a product of evolution. You are crowned with glory and honour. You have dominion over creation. This is a majestic description of you and me. Here lies the problem. When I look at me, I don’t see it. Rather than reflecting the image of God, I often make a mess of God’s image. I failed to bear his image. I failed to reflect his glory over creation. When you look at our society today, when you look at the people in your right and left right now, you know they are a mess. Humanity does not look like the picture we are given in Psalm 8 at all. Not only we witness the evil nature of men everyday on the news, but we also witness the destructive power of creation. E.g. Hurricane, storm, flood, earthquake, volcano. I do not see the full reality of Psalm 8. I do not see myself crowned with glory and honour. I do not see the world subjected under our feet. Let’s not talk about the world. I can’t even control myself. Do you know the person who lie, hurt and cheated on you the most? It’s not your ex. It’s you. No one lie, hurt and cheated on you more than you. I keep telling myself “this week I shall return to the gym.” 3 months later, I still say the same thing to myself. But I will return to the gym next week. Anyone?

What happened? Let me tell you what happened. Adam and Eve happened. Adam was the one crowned with glory and honor. Adam had the whole world subjected under his feet. He was the perfect representative of God to exercise dominion on earth. For a little while Adam was made lower than the angels. But a day will come where Adam will be exalted and ruled the world together with God. But Adam failed miserably. He gave in to temptation and sinned against God. Adam tried to be his own God by defying God’s commandment and ever since then, everything went out of control. Adam’s sin caused a cosmic fracture in all creation. Rather than having dominion over creation, creation dominates us. Pains and sufferings entered the world and now we are subjected to pain and sufferings because of Adam’s sin. We were made to reign over the world but the world reign over us. So because of sin, we do not see everything in subjection to human. This is the problem. Adam failed to carry out his responsibilities as God’s image bearer. But that’s not the end of the story.

Hebrews 2:9 – 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. The author of Hebrews is extremely clear on this one. At this present time, in all our struggles and pain, we do not see everything in subjection to us. But we do see something. We do have hope. We do have answer. We see him, we see Jesus, who for a little while was also made lower than angels, namely human, but he succeeded where Adam failed. He completed his task perfectly. Adam’s life brought death upon humanity but Jesus’ death brought life for humanity. His death restored the balance and he is now crowned with glory and honour. At present time we do not see the world under our feet but we see Jesus and the world under his feet.

So right now, we are living in a tension. The tension between what we do not yet see and what we see. We do not see everything the way it is supposed to be. We still see pain, suffering, disaster, diseases. But at the same time we see Jesus on the throne. In Jesus, we see the completion of the promises of God. And the glory that Jesus experienced, we will one day experience. A day will come where we will reign over creation. But that world is to come. Jesus has purchased it for us but it is not here yet for us to experience fully.  Theologians refer to this tension as the already-not yet aspect of the gospel. Mohler says it beautifully, “The kingdom of God and the reign of Christ are in some senses already inaugurated, yet we are still waiting for the kingdom’s consummation.” If I can put it in different picture for you, it is like this. You are hungry and you ordered food through Gojek or Uber eats or Foodora or Deliveroo or whatever else you used to deliver food. But nothing beats Gojek my friend. Gojek is life. You ordered food through Gojek and you already paid with Gojek money but you are still hungry. Because Gojek has yet to arrive. But you know it is coming. A time will come where you will swallow that burger and not hungry anymore. Until that time come, you live in tension between experiencing hunger and knowing that food has been purchased and it is on its way. You already paid but it is not yet here. Gojek is coming! In the same way, Jesus is already on the throne and paid all the price to restore us to glory. But the consummation is still to come. We live in the already-not yet tension. But Jesus is coming again! And when he does, we will have the world subjected under our feet. We will rule the world to come with Jesus.

The hero that came

Hebrews 2:10-13 – ¹⁰ 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 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” ¹³ And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

Now we need to know not only that Jesus reigns but how Jesus accomplished the victory. How Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. Because the author of Hebrews argues that if you know how Jesus won his battle, then you can do the same. Jesus is not Superman. Jesus is not Kryptonian who lived on earth. Jesus is God. Yes and amen. But he is also 100% human. How is it possible? That’s one of the mystery of the Bible that is beyond me. But the Bible is clear that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Hebrews chapter 1 talks about the God-ness of Jesus. But now he turns to the humanity of Jesus. Jesus is not only a hero that show you the way but he is a hero who is exactly like you. He felt what you felt. He experienced what you experienced. He struggled with your struggles. He was tempted with your temptations. Jesus is our champion and he is our brother.

Let’s talk about Jesus our champion first. The word “founder” on verse 10 comes from Greek word archegos. This is a hard word to translate to English. That is why some translation used the word founder, pioneer, forerunner, author, or captain. But the idea this word communicates is the picture of a champion. When we think of a champion, we think of someone who won a battle or a fight or a competition. But Jesus is not just a champion, he is our champion. And this is very important. Do you realize that sometime when you talk about something you love, you put yourself in the equation? So when Manchester United won their game, I did not say to Edrick, “Bro, Manchester United won.” I said, “Bro, we won!” I put myself in the equation. I mean, I did not play for Manchester United. Mourinho does not even know I breath. But when they won, I feel like I won as well. I am involved somehow. In a similar but greater way, Jesus’ victory is our victory. Jesus is our champion. There is a story that describes this perfectly.

The story of David and Goliath. Israel was in war with the Philistine. Then Goliath, the champion of Philistine, step up and challenged the champion of Israel to fight with him. That’s how they do battles in the old days. They would send their champion to fight on behalf of the army. Now Goliath was a monster. He was a giant who was skilled in the art of war. No one from the Israelites camp dared to fight Goliath as the champion of Israel. Then came this young boy who was a shepherd with his sling shot. He did not not even wear a proper soldier’s gears. But he accepted Goliath’s challenge. David was Israel’s champion. The two champion faced one another on behalf their army and David killed Goliath with a single shot. This is a picture of what Jesus did for us. Jesus is not just a champion, he is our champion. He fought as our representative and he won. But pay attention. Jesus is not only our champion, but he is more than that. If Jesus is just our champion, we would cheer for him on the sidelines. But Jesus did so much more than that. Do you know what happen when David defeated Goliath? David won as their champion. But that’s not the end of the story. David’s victory enabled the rest of Israelites army to take up their weapon and fought the Philistines army. If David was a superman, the soldiers would say, “Well, he is a superman. That’s why he can win. He is different from us.” But no. David was not a Superman. David was a man just like the rest of them. But he won. And if David can win, then the rest of the army can win as well. Do you see what happen? Jesus is not only our champion. He is also our brother. And that changes the game.

The author of Hebrews says that it is fitting for Jesus to lead us to glory by being perfected through sufferings. It is fitting means this is the right thing to do, the inevitable solution, the appropriate action. In order to lead us to glory, Jesus need to be both our champion and our brother. He needs to win the battle as our representative but he needs to be our exact representatives. He needs to be fully human. He needs to be our brother. Why? Because the one who messed up in the beginning was a human by the name of Adam. Adam was the one who failed. All of us failed because of Adam. And if we are to come to glory, we need another exactly like Adam to succeed. It was a human who failed. Therefore it is only fitting for another human to succeed.

But think about it for a bit. Jesus is a glorious God. Jesus is the creator, the heir and the sustainer of all creation. He is the radiance of the glory of God and he is the exact imprint of God’s nature. He is the purifier of sin and he sit at the right hand of God inheriting the name above every name. He is that glorious and he is that exalted. His kingdoms knows no end and his throne is forever. But this glorious Jesus was made lowered than angels for a little while. This is so much more than a king who leaves the palace and pretended to be a commoner for a little while. Jesus did not pretend to be human. He was fully human. He experienced the weakness and the frailty of human in flesh. He suffered the way we suffered. He became like us. He was hungry, he grew tired, he ate, slept, cried, ached and he shared all human’s experiences. Then the author of Hebrews says that Jesus was made perfect through suffering. It does not mean that Jesus was not perfect before suffering. But because Jesus suffered fully as a human, because he succeeded where we failed in our suffering, Jesus showed himself to be the perfect man. Suffering did not make him perfect but suffering tested him and proof that he is perfect to be our champion and our brother. Jesus succeeded where we and Adam failed. He was tested with suffering and he passed with perfect score. In another word, Jesus is qualified to become our perfect representative. He is our champion and our brother.

Now, if that’s all Jesus did as our brother, I would be very happy. But Jesus did so much more. So picture this. Imagine you are being bullied every day at school. The people in your class made fun of you and tortured you all the time. They called you names. They beat you constantly. But one day as you are being harassed, your older brother comes. He comes to your defence. He fights for you. He rescues you. He beats up everyone in your class who makes fun of you. Would you be happy? I would. I would think highly of my older brother. He is my champion and my brother. But the question is now, what does my older brother think of me? He has every right to be ashamed of me. Do you have someone in your family that you are ashamed of? Maybe the weird uncle that you never know you have till one day he showed up at family reunion? I used to be ashamed at being called my sister’s younger brother. Me and my sister went to the same school for many years. And the teachers in high school used to refer to me as Debra’s younger brother. This annoyed me because me and my sister was very different. She was the hardworking diligent student. I was the one who never study and barely made it. I do not like to being called Debra’s younger brother because the connotations it involves. In fact, I am sure one of the athletic teacher had crush on my sister and that is why he was so nice to me. And I think my sister have every right to be ashamed of me. Jesus our brother has every right to be ashamed of me and you. But here is what’s beautiful. Jesus is not only our champion and our brother, Jesus is proud of us. In all our weaknesses and failures, Jesus did not only come to rescue us, he is not ashamed to call us his brothers. He grabs your hand, he look at you in the face and he says, “You are my brother.”

Jesus has every right to be ashamed of us. If I was Jesus, I would leave out my name in his resume. The last thing I want people to know is that I am associated with a brother who keep making mess after mess that I need to clean up. But when you look at Jesus’ resume, you would be surprised. If you look at his genealogies, you would find murderer, adulteress, and a woman who slept with her father in law. If you look at his family, Jesus was born out of a wedlock. And if you look at Jesus’ life, he keep associating himself with the wrong crowds. Can you see what happen? It does not matter who you are, it does not matter what you have done, it does not matter what parents say about you, it does not matter what your friend, sibling and boss thinks about you, it does not matter what the world says about you, in Jesus, we have an older brother who is proud of us. Where the world refused to affirm us, Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. This is the point of verses 12 and 13, Jesus is declaring to God the Father and to all congregation, “This is my brother. This is my sister. I am their older brother.” My friend, the King of the universe is not ashamed in calling himself our brother. And our older brother is committed in bringing us to glory. He became human and he was made perfect through suffering so that you and I, his brothers and sisters, will come to glory with him. He is not ashamed of us. He is our champion, our brother.

The hope that we have

Hebrews 2:14-18 – ¹⁴ 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, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

There are three things that Jesus accomplished as our champion and brother. Three kinds of hope: future, past and present. First, we have future hope because Jesus destroyed the one who has the power of death. The fear of death is the one fear that the world cannot solve. In the last century, the invention of technology has contributed a lot to human progress. Today, we are able to fly using plane. We can travel further than we have ever before. We landed on moon. We have many cures to diseases that was deadly just 20 years ago. We can communicate to someone on the other side of the world in a matter of second. Long distance relationship became possible. We solved many unresolvable problems. My eyesight was really bad and in matter of seconds, I have a perfect vision. That’s the world that we live in. Yet with all the new technology and advancement, we still can’t defeat death. The last time I check, the death rate of human kind is still 100%. Everyone die. Scientists die. Doctors die. Presidents die. Kings die. The rich die. The poor die. The health-freak die. Pastors die. Everyone die. 100% rate with money-back guarantee.

This is what the author of Hebrews is saying. Jesus became human so that he might die and defeat the one who has power over death on our behalf. Unless Jesus became 100% human, he won’t be able to die. But he needed to die. Because through his death, Jesus defeated the power of death. Jesus took on the punishment of sin upon himself, he died for our sin, so that he can set us free from slavery of death. The devil wants you to fear death and therefore maximise your life here and now. But Jesus broke that slavery. He showed you that there is a world to come where you and I will reign with him in glory. There is the world to come where everything is subjected under our feet. Where we will exercise dominion forever and ever. Death is no longer something to be feared but rather an entry point to something much greater. Jesus died on our behalf so that death no longer have power over us. That’s why Paul says, “O death, where is your sting?” Our champion and brother removes the sting of death for us.

Second, we have past hope because Jesus removed the wrath of God from us. The word for it is propitiation. I don’t want to talk in detail now because we will talk about in detail in later passages. It simply means that Jesus paid everything we owed to God in full and therefore we have no reason to be afraid of God. It’s like you owe someone money and you can’t pay it back. What happen every time you meet that person? You will try to hide. The more you owe them, the more you will hide from them. The fact is, we owe God a debt that we could never pay. It is called sin. And God is angry at you. His wrath is burning at you. Sin is not borrowing $5 from God and forget to pay back. Sin is you trying to remove God from his throne and be the king yourself. God has every right to be angry at you and kill you. But Jesus’ death removes God’s anger against you. Jesus took the wrath of God upon himself, he absorbed it fully, and he died for it. Therefore, if you trust in Jesus, God is no longer angry at you. The price has been paid in full. Jesus paid it all through his death at the cross.

Third, we have present hope because Jesus is able to help us when we are tempted. Because Jesus was fully human, because he went through the sufferings that we went through, he can help us in our temptations. Let me give you an illustration. I heard that the pain of woman giving birth is enough to turn an angel into a temporary devil. It was that bad. One of the reason I am thankful that I am a man. Let’s say that one of you women is in labour. You are in so much pain and you and your husband decided to call me your pastor for help. So I come to the hospital to see you. You are in so much pain that you are desperate for help. And here I am saying, “Don’t worry. You will get through this. I have seen many other woman went through the same thing as you. They all get over it. You will be fine. Woman, stop making life hard for your husband!” Do you know what you will do to me? You will probably throw whatever near you to my face. You will slap me in the face if you can. Right? “What do you know about giving birth, you man. It is your kind who make me go through this pain. Don’t tell me it’s going to be alright.” I’m guessing you will think something along that line. But what if, it is a woman who comes to see you? And not just any woman, but a woman who have given birth to 20 children. She went through what you went through times 20. She looks at you in the face, holds your hand, and say “It’s going to be all right. I’ve been there. I went through what you are going through. I felt the pain that you feel. But I also know the joy that you will experience when the child is born. It’s going to be worth it. Don’t give up now. Keep on fighting. A greater joy is just ahead of you.” How will you respond? You will find comfort. You will find hope. This woman knows what she is talking about unlike those man who never feel what you feel.

And this is what Jesus gives you. Jesus who is God became human so that he knows what you are going through. He felt what you felt. He experienced what you experienced. But he endured to the end without failing. Jesus went through what you went through times million. Which one is harder? To face the temptation of KFC for few days and then give in or to face the temptations of KFC every single day and never give in? Jesus, although he was tempted with the same temptation as us, he never gives in. He endures what we endures times million. No one endured greater temptations and sufferings than Jesus because he never gave in to sin. That’s why he can help us. He won his battle. He is our champion but he is also our brother. He can say to us, “I know what it feels like. I know this is hard. I know the temptations is strong. I know you want to give up. But look at me. Look at your champion. Look at your brother. I am just like you and I hold on to the end. So you can as well. I can help you. I will walk alongside you. Whenever you are tempted, look at me. Look to your older brother.” Because Jesus is our brother, he can help us when we are tempted. Jesus became like us in order to die for us so that he might be with us. Look to Jesus. He is able to help you. You can accomplish wonders with him.

I open the sermon with a superhero quote. I’ll close the sermon with another superhero quote. This one is about Batman. “He is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.” And with that, the movie Dark Knight ended with Batman fleeing the scene and being hunted by the police. But let me tell you we have a greater hero. He is the hero we do not deserves but we desperately need every moment. And he does not flee from us but he flees toward us. He is involved in our mess. He is our champion and our brother. His name is Jesus. Let’s pray.

Discussion

1. We lived in the tension of “already-not-yet” reality of the Gospel. Explain what it means. What is the implication of this reality in our daily lives?
2. What does it mean for Jesus to be “archegos”? Why is it important for us?
3. Explain why is it very important for Jesus to be our brother?
4. Read verses 11-13. What is the point of these verses?
5. “Jesus was made perfect through sufferings.” Explain.
6. How does Jesus’ victory over death comfort us in facing the fear of death?
7. How does Jesus’s temptations and sufferings help us faces our particular sufferings and temptations?