By becoming fully human, Jesus was able to die in our place, break the devil’s power over death, free us from the fear of dying, and become the merciful high priest and perfect sacrifice we needed. Hebrews 2:14-18 explains that the Son shared our flesh and blood on purpose. Because he lived as one of us and faced real testing, he understands our weaknesses and is able to help us when we are tempted.
Setting the Scene in Hebrews 2:14-18
The opening of Hebrews celebrated the Son’s divine glory: he is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:1-4). Chapter 1 went on to show that he is greater than the angels. So a Jewish reader might ask an obvious question: if the Son is so exalted, why did he live as a carpenter from Nazareth and die on a Roman cross?
Chapter 2 answers that question. Quoting Psalm 8, the author explains that God made humans to rule over creation, but we don’t yet see everything under our control. What we do see is Jesus, made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory because he suffered death for everyone (Hebrews 2:5-9). He is the pioneer of our salvation, and he isn’t ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:10-11).
The theological word for this is the incarnation: the eternal Son took on a human nature without ceasing to be God. Christians call this union of two natures in one person the hypostatic union. For a topical overview, see Why Did Jesus Have to Become Human? Here we’ll walk through the passage itself.
Flesh and Blood Like Us
The passage begins with the reason for the incarnation.
Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
The “children” are the people God is bringing to glory (Hebrews 2:10, 13). They have flesh and blood, so the Son shared in their humanity. To rescue the human race, the Savior had to belong to the human race. In a courtroom, a representative has to be able to stand in your place. Only a human could represent humans before the justice of God.
The fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nazianzus put the idea memorably: whatever Christ did not take on, he did not heal. If Jesus had only seemed human, as some early heretics claimed, he could not have redeemed real human beings.
Breaking the Devil’s Grip on Death
The Son became human so that by his death he might break the power of the one who held the power of death. This is a stunning paradox. The eternal Son can’t die in his divine nature, so he took on a nature that could. The Author of Life became mortal in order to defeat death from the inside.
The Greek verb translated “break the power” is katargeō, which means to render powerless or put out of action. The devil still exists, but his weapon has been taken away. His power over death was his ability to accuse sinners and hold the sentence of death over their heads, a sentence God set from the beginning (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). When Jesus died for our sins and rose again, the accusation lost its force. The ancient promise that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15) came true at the cross.
Free From the Fear of Death
Jesus also came to free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. In the ancient world, death was a constant companion. Historians estimate that average life expectancy at birth was somewhere between twenty and thirty years, mostly because so many children died young. Greek and Roman beliefs about the afterlife were often vague and gloomy. Fear of death shaped everything.
Death still comes to all of us, but for believers its sting has been removed. Paul celebrated this victory.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fear of death drives many other fears: fear of illness, failure, being forgotten, or losing control. When Jesus frees us from the biggest fear, he loosens the grip of all the smaller ones too.
A Merciful and Faithful High Priest
Next, the author explains whom Jesus came to help and why it required him to become like us.
Hebrews 2:16-17 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
The verb translated “helps” is epilambanetai, which can mean to take hold of someone. Jesus didn’t take hold of angels to rescue them. He took hold of Abraham’s descendants, meaning all who share Abraham’s faith (Galatians 3:7).
Here, for the first time, Hebrews calls Jesus a high priest, a theme that will dominate the middle of the book (Hebrews 4:14-5:10). In Israel, the high priest represented the people before God, and once a year, on the Day of Atonement, he entered the Most Holy Place with the blood of a sacrifice (Leviticus 16). See Who Was the High Priest in Judaism? for more background.
Jesus is merciful toward our weakness and faithful toward God’s holiness. He came to make atonement for the sins of the people. The Greek word, hilaskomai, is connected to the idea of turning away God’s just wrath against sin. And here is the twist that sets Jesus apart from every other priest: in the old covenant, the priest offered an animal. In the new covenant, the priest is also the sacrifice.
Help When We Are Tested
The passage ends with a word of comfort to people under pressure.
Hebrews 2:18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
The Greek word peirazō can mean both “test” and “tempt.” Jesus faced hunger, exhaustion, grief, betrayal, and the devil’s direct attacks in the wilderness. He felt the full force of temptation, and because he never gave in, he felt it more intensely than any of us who have given up partway. When you are lonely, remember he was abandoned. When you are grieving, remember he wept at a grave. When you are tempted, remember he stood firm, and he stands ready to help you.
Hebrews returns to this idea a few chapters later with an invitation.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Because Jesus became one of us, God’s throne is no longer a place of terror for sinners. It is a throne of grace.
What This Means for Us
The first readers of Hebrews were being tested, and many wanted to quit. The author doesn’t tell them to try harder. He points them to a Savior who knows exactly what they are facing. You don’t have to clean yourself up before you talk to God, and you don’t need fancy words. You can come boldly, not because you are worthy, but because Jesus is.
If you are tired of living as a slave to fear or worn out from trying to pay for your own sins, Jesus came for you. He took on flesh and blood to die in your place and rise again. Learn more at How can I become a Christian?
The Takeaway
What did Jesus accomplish by becoming one of us? As a real human, he could die in our place, break the devil’s power over death, and free us from the fear of dying. He became our merciful and faithful high priest, offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins, and now helps us whenever we are tested.
