In the Flesh (Heb. 2:14-18)
Famed Jewish historian, Josephus, called Jesus
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man.”[1]
Napoleon Bonaparte, French general and statesman during the French Revolutionary war, boldly declared,
“I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man.”[2]
One of the great distinctives of the Christian faith is the teaching that the Creator of all things willingly clothed Himself in the frailty of human flesh. This doctrine is unique to Christianity. While other traditions may speak of prophets or inspired men, only Christianity proclaims that God Himself became fully human in Jesus Christ.
At Christmas—when His humanity should be the focal point of our celebration—we often rush to emphasize His divinity over His humanity. Yet it is vital that we pause at the manger and the cross before hastening to the throne room, for it is in His humanity that He shares our weakness, bears our suffering, and redeems our lives.
Grab your Bibles and go with me to Hebrews 2:14-18. I’ll get us started at verse fourteen.
Hebrews 2:14-18
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Out of Necessity
The Hebrew writer gives several reasons for why the Incarnation is of such infinite value to us.
First, Jesus became human because we are human (Heb. 2:14, 17). That is the simplest and most succinct explanation for why God takes on the frailty of humanity. Of course, this doesn’t tell the whole story, but it gives us a glimpse into the purpose and plan of God for our redemption.
Look again at verses fourteen and seventeen.
14a Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same…(Heb. 2:14 NKJV).
17a Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren…(Heb. 2:17 NKJV).
To a degree, these verses are redundant. The words , likewise and had to be, emphasize the necessity of Christ taking on human form. And how does He accomplish this? Well, through the virgin birth of course. More than seven hundred years before Matthew penned his Gospel, the prophet Isaiah declared,
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isa. 7:14 NKJV).
Matthew later stresses to his Jewish audience, and to us today, that this Sign, this virgin born Child is God in the flesh! Immanuel!
For a long time, the Incarnation of Christ was heavily debated, even within the Church. Some folks, in what seems like an attempt to play up His divinity, ended up downplaying the humanity of Jesus, circulating the idea that Jesus only appeared to be human. That His “flesh” was some sort of avatar or phantom.
In 451 A.D., the Council of Chalcedon issued a formula which the church accepted as the orthodox statement regarding the person of Jesus. The formula says that Jesus is ‘one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-Begotten, made known in two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the difference of the natures being by no means removed because of the union [of the divine and the human].[3]
Ignatius of Antioch , in his letter to the Ephesians, matter-of-factly stated,
There is one only physician, of flesh and of
spirit, generate and ingenerate, God in man, true Life
in death, Son of Mary and Son of God, first passible
and then impassible, Jesus Christ our Lord.[4]
What the church fathers and mothers eventually came to agree upon is that, Jesus is not a god who appears to be human, but that He is actually 100% divine and simultaneously 100% human.
John introduces Him as,
14 …the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 NKJV).
It was in the flesh of Christ that men looked into the face of God. It was through the fragile tent of mortal flesh that an eternal dwelling place was erected for the faithful.
There is no other religion on the face of the earth with a god who is so concerned about the lives of His people that He would enter their world in the same fashion as He had created them in order to save them. Only Jesus does that!
As Stanley Grenz writes,
In short, Jesus of Nazareth had no predisposing advantages. He traveled no shortcut to maturity, transcended none of the limiting aspects of embodied existence, was spared no difficulty in living in this fallen world. He was not Superman, an alien housed within a human body but inherently capable of superhuman feats. On the contrary, as the church has confessed throughout the ages, Jesus was fully human.[5]
Because we are flesh and blood, it was necessary that Christ became like us. But why?
The Takedown
Second, the reason that Jesus became human was so
14b that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (Heb. 2:14 NKJV).
In John’s first letter to the churches scattered across Asia Minor he writes that,
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8 NKJV).
These two pieces of scripture are almost verbatim and rich with theological significance.
Both John and the Hebrew writer tells us that Christ’s coming, the underlying purpose in our Christmas celebration, was to bring down the devil!
There are around 30 unique descriptions or designations for the devil found in the Word of God. I won’t list all of them here, but I want to mention a few that you are probably familiar with. He is described as the tempter (Matt. 4:3). As an accuser of the brothers (Rev. 12:10). As the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). He is the god of this age who is blinding the hearts and minds of those who do not believe (2 Cor. 3:12-4:6) and a thief.
Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, BUT JESUS has come in the flesh in order to give us abundant life!
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10 NKJV).
Do you realize that we get to witness the works of the devil being destroyed all the time. Just a couple weeks ago we saw Jesus destroy the devil’s work in Surong’s life when she walked down this long aisle and committed to trusting Jesus all the days of her life. This year we’ve witnessed the works of Satan destroyed in the confessions and baptisms of Devon Johnson, Emily Jackson, Johnathan Adams, and Eli McLaughlin. The devil’s work is destroyed whenever this church stands as a lighthouse of hope in the face of spiritual darkness and injustice in this world. Satan is defeated anytime your faith is tested and you still hold fast to Jesus. When husbands and wives commit to honoring their vows. When children honor their parents. When the chains of addiction are broken and Satan is destroyed anytime one sinner surrenders to the saving grace of Christ.
Christ took upon the sinful condition of humanity that He might suffer and die as a man in order to free men from the bondage and punishment of sin.
Merciful & Faithful
The third reason given for why Jesus became human is so
17b that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Heb. 2:17–18 NKJV).
The late A.W. Tozer beautifully and poetically stated,
When through the blood of the everlasting covenant we children of the shadows reach at last our home in the light, we shall have a thousand strings to our harps, but the sweetest may well be the one tuned to sound forth most perfectly the mercy of God.[6]
There are only two places in the NT where the adjective, merciful, is used. One is here in Hebrews 2:17 and the other is in Matt. 5:7.
7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7 NKJV).
In the Greek, it is the word ἐλεήμων (eleēmōn), and it means to show lenience, compassion, or forgiveness; especially towards someone who has been offensive.
This perfectly describes our Savior.
As the early church father, Athanasius of Alexandria boldly confessed,
“...it was our sorry case that caused the Word to come down....It is we who were the cause of His taking human form, and for our salvation that in His great love He was both born and manifested in a human body.”[7]
This is why we confidently stand in agreement with the preacher of Lamentations.
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness (Lam. 3:22–23 NKJV).
God became Man in order to show us mercy, but also to be faithful as a high priest in things pertaining to God.
Folks, let me just say this about the faithfulness of God. The intentional discipline of remembering the faithfulness of God is arguably one of the most vital and transformative practices in the entire Christian life. I’m not talking about a passive memory but rather actively and consciously recalling the faithfulness of God in the past, the promises He’s kept and His unchanging character.
I call it a discipline because I’m convinced that this is not something that just happens in our lives, it’s something that we have to work at and train ourselves to do. I would encourage each of you to go home today and begin marking down those times over this past year where God has proven His faithfulness to you and your family. Start doing that today so that when the waters of life aren’t as calm as they are now, you will have a databank of memories to draw from where you can remind yourself that God is faithful.
This intentional practice of recollection is the very bedrock that will bolster and sustain you as you inevitably navigate the storms of this fallen world. Being absolutely convinced of the faithfulness of God, holding onto that truth even when your current experiences defy logic, cause pain, or simply don't make sense, is what will empower you to stand firm, take your next step, and press on with unwavering hope. When the trials of life hit you with so much force that they knock the spiritual wind out of you, the unwavering reality of God’s perfect, consistent faithfulness is the anchor that will hold you up and the breath that will refill your lungs.
By contrast, if you are unwilling to make this a regular practice—your refusal to remember the historical and personal evidence that God is faithful, your neglect to "taste and see" the goodness of God in spite of the crushing weight of hardship—will eventually crush your spirit. A mind focused only on the present trouble forgets the God who has already carried you through countless others, leaving you vulnerable to despair and doubt.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13 NKJV).
Therefore, no matter the magnitude of the difficulty, as followers of Christ, we must settle the conviction deep within our souls that God is actively, purposefully, and sovereignly working all things—the good, the bad, and the incomprehensible—out for the ultimate, eternal good of those who love Him and are called according to His divine purposes (Romans 8:28). This is not just a hopeful sentiment; it is a fixed promise from the God Who became like us at Christmas in order to show us mercy and to be faithful Himself.
For some of you, the approaching Christmas season will be experienced for the very first time without the physical presence of a beloved family member. The grief is real, and the loss is heavy. In this profoundly tender and painful season, please, do not let the enemy—the devil—rob you of the foundational assurance you possess in Jesus Christ: the unshakable certainty that God loves you fiercely, that He sees your pain, and that He has not, and will never, abandon you. Hold fast to the faithfulness of the One whose love transcends all loss and whose presence fills every void.
My friends, there is no pain, no temptation, no struggle that you or I can face in this life that Jesus has not already experienced. The situation may not be exactly the same, but its pull on our hearts to forsake God or remain faithful to Him is no different. For that reason, Jesus had to become a man.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 NKJV).
While considering our sinful and helpless condition, Athanasius of Alexander rhetorically questioned,
What, then, was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ?[8]
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us [who knew no righteousness], that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Who was righteousness incarnate] (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJV).
Respond
Think about this as we wrap things up.
When you’re going through difficulty in life, whose advice speaks to you most? Someone who has only read about experiences like yours or the person who has gone through the fiery trial and comes out on the other side with their faith in tact and hope restored? Doctors often talk about how their bedside manner changes after they are on the receiving end of medical care. It allows them to better understand their patients because they have become like their patients.
As a matter-of-fact, I read a great testimonial about this very experience.
Dr. Todd Burner, assistant professor of medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin (rheumatology), shared his own story of switching from care-giver to care-recipient in 2010.
One morning while making breakfast for his daughter Dr. Burner started to feel his back and left leg go numb and tingly. It was so strong that it affected the way he walked. He didn’t think it was too serious since he had been dealing with sciatic pain the night before.
Dr. Burner finished making breakfast, went to a meeting he had scheduled and then about midway through the meeting he realized that he should probably go to the ER. What he later discovered was that he was suffering from Guillain (gee-YAHN)-Barré (bah-RAY) syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder in which a person's own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and oftentimes paralysis.
That first day, Dr. Burner spent a total of 12 hours in ER and after the physicians couldn’t find a cause for his suffering he was discharged and sent home, but his suffering got worse as the night went on. For weeks he had to endure a Foley catheter and at four different times he was given four separate infusions of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVig) which "binds to the bad antibodies in your system and washes them out and/or neutralizes them."
Well, at some point, he gets discharged again. Still not completely healed, but definitely on the road to recovery. In his own words he said,
"It was horrible and it didn't get better right away. We did what we could and held our breath. I had two weeks of suffering at home and then came back to work with a cane and the catheter. It was debilitating, but I hobbled around and took care of patients, which was important to me. A month or so later, the catheter was removed, I was improving via physical therapy, and I ultimately bounced back."
And then he shared this incredible perspective about what he endured and how that changed the way he serves his patients.
"My experience with GBS has made me a better doctor, a better communicator. It took my level of empathy to a new high. In the hospital, when I heard my doctor talk to me about things I talk to my own patients about all the time, it was like an out-of-body experience. All of sudden I'm the patient – and he did a great job talking to me. It made me think about how my patients think about the ways I talk to them – which in turn made me think about how I can better communicate to my patients. There is a certain group of them with whom I share my experiences; I tell them a brief version of my story and how it has made me a better doctor – and they appreciate that. It also taught me what it means to be hospitalized, what it does to families, how to discuss illnesses with children. It has made me understand where the families are coming from and helped me to communicate better with them. Without a doubt, it has affected every realm of my practice."[9]
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Heb. 2:14–18 NKJV).
Again, in Jesus, we have a High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness. He has mercy on us since He became like us and He understands what we are dealing with in this world.
One of the greatest theological minds of the 20th century was a man named Charles Octavius Boothe. In his systematic theology book, Plain Theology for Plain People, he said this,
“We do not understand this mystery—that is, how the Son of God...took upon him the seed of Abraham, and was made in the likeness of men; but there are two things that we do understand: first, that a Being possessed of the divine nature and exhibiting superhuman excellences of mind and character has appeared in human nature; second, that such a Being was and still is the crying need and longing desire of mankind. We need an Immanuel, a ‘God-with-us.’…one whose nature, position, and character might enable him to appear between God and man, and lay hands on both. Such we now have in the God-man, Christ Jesus.”[10]
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5 NKJV).
This morning I want to give you an opportunity to receive the greatest Gift you will ever have, as cliche as that may sound, it’s true. Salvation is a gift of God - by grace through faith - and the singular way in which you can experience this grace of God is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This morning you can know Him if you’ll confess your need for Him. All you need to know is that You are a sinner. You need a Savior. And Jesus is the Answer.
Tre Clark
Britton Christian Church
12/21/2025
[1] (Josephus, Antiquities, 18.3.3)
[2] (The Improvement Era: Organ of Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, Volume I. pp218.).
[3] Grenz, S. J., Guretzki, D., & Nordling, C. F. (1999). Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. InterVarsity Press. pp24-25.
[4] IgnEph 7:2
[5] Stanley Grenz, Created for Community, 2nd Ed, p119
[6] A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 90
[7] Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, p16
[8] Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, 29
[9] On the Other Side of the Stethoscope: When Doctors Become Patients | Featured Stories | Medical College of Wisconsin. (https://www.mcw.edu/mcwknowledge/mcw-stories/on-the-other-side-of-the-stethoscope-when-doctors-become-patients).
[10] Charles Octavius Boothe, Plain Theology for Plain People, p45.
