Logos -- Hebrews 2:10-18

I was reading the lectionary readings for this week, and I was stopped by some of the phrases in the Hebrews passage -- 2:10-18.

• Part of verse 13: "I will put my trust in him." -- We spent Advent in Sunday school talking about hope. One thing I learned from those lessons is how much trust is tied up in hope. If hope if the certainty of what we cannot seen, it is grown in the soil of trust. We trust God; therefore, we have hope.
• Verse 15: and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. -- It is obvious (although wonderful) to say that we are given freedom from death by the sacrifice of Jesus. It occurred to me today that we are given freedom from the fear of so many different kinds of death. Can death be metaphorically defined by an ending? Don't you think that we find ourselves captive to our fear of endings? Our fear of the "what next?" Christ gives us freedom from that kind of fear, too. We know that endings bring with them the presence of God, and that by letting go, we open ourselves up to the gift of the future.
• Verse 16 -- For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. -- Isn't it wonderful to realize that Jesus came to help us? That we are important enough to him -- loved so much by him -- that he came to help us?
• Verse 18 -- Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. -- I find wonderful grace and comfort in that statement. He understands suffering, he understands testing, because he has experienced it. If he has experienced it, he will understand what I am going through.

He came to help us, including teaching us what it means to be human -- experiencing suffering and testing, but doing so in the light of hope. We are freed from hopelessness by trusting in God. Amen.