2:17
Jesus came to save men, so He had to become like us. The Son of God being fully human is the only way that things could work. Notice that it says “made like His brothers”. There is a close relationship between our Saviour and us. God saving us is not a dispassionate act, but an act of love towards us. The thought then moves on to the priesthood of Jesus. If Jesus was to be a “faithful high priest in the service of God”, then He had to be made human. Notice that it is in the service of God. Jesus is our high priest and He acts on our behalf, but He does this in the service of God, i.e. to fulfil the plans and purposes of God. The Levitical priests made countless sacrifices, Jesus was the one true sacrifice, something else that will become a major theme of Hebrews. He makes “propitiation” for the sins of the people. He turns away God’s wrath. We are by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:3), and something needed to be done about this, and this was achieved through the blood of Jesus.
2:18
The thought then moves to the practical day to day help that Jesus can give. Jesus was tempted, and suffered because of it. He also overcame temptation, refusing to give in. Therefore He is able to help us when we are tempted. He is able to do this for two reasons, (i) He was tempted like us; (ii) He did not give in to temptation. Both aspects are absolutely essential.
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