Our Great and Perfect Savior - Part 2

Please take your Bible, turn back to chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 2. We're going to be in these verses that we started last week. We'll be in verses 14 down to verse 18. Now last week we started this section of Scripture. I said that this section starts in verse 9, verse 10, goes on down to verse 18. And this is what I am calling our great and perfect Savior. Last week was a part 1. This morning will be a part 2. And just like last week, I believe we need to make sure that we see how all that we learned in chapter 1 is related to all that we're learning here in chapter 2. Now chapter 1 is primarily theological.

Theologically the author was writing in chapter 1 to exalt Christ above man, and especially to exalt Christ above the angels. Of course we know why. These Jews, this original audience, they had these erroneous views about angels. And that led them to exalt angels to a very unbiblical and unhealthy place. So theologically the author was writing to exalt Jesus above man and even above the angels. He was explaining that Jesus was in fact the Supreme, the preeminent one. He was in fact, He is in fact, God. And then chapter 2 we see the practical and the theological.

Practically the author was writing to warn these Jews not to be careless with the message of salvation in Christ that had been brought to them. And he was warning them not to neglect so great a salvation that was right before them. Practically he was writing to explain how they reacted to all that they heard concerning Jesus determined their destiny. If they rejected or even neglected salvation in Jesus, they would lose this destiny to rule the world to come, which was and is for the redeemed. But if they accepted and received salvation in Jesus, they would attain this destiny to rule the world to come.

But also we see the theological in chapter 2 as well. Starting in verse 9 the author continues to exalt Jesus as God's promised Messiah of God. We can say that He picks up where He left off in chapter 1 because at the beginning of chapter 2 verses 1 to 8 the author was very practical. But starting in verse 9 here of chapter 2 and continuing to the end of the chapter, the author continues to exalt Jesus as God's promised Messiah. And to the shock of the Jews, he does this by continuing to enlarge on the humanity of Jesus. And he explains certain things that Jesus did and provided by going to the cross as the God-man.

Now let's go back to our verses, verses 14 to 18, and then I'll explain what we're going to do in the message. Verse 14, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He," that's Christ, "might destroy the one who has the power of death," that is the devil, "and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham.

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, for because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." Now this is how we'll continue with the message. I say continue because this is a part two of what we started last week. I want to quickly glance over what we saw in verses 9 to 13, and then we're going to divide and dive into the rest of the verses.

And if you didn't get last week's message, you may want to get that because I cannot go back into everything that we studied last week. Last week we saw Jesus was the author of "Man's Salvation." That's out of verses 9 to 10. Now, glancing back over what we studied here, I want us to make sure we keep these things in the context of this original audience. Remember, some of these Jews, many of these Jews, were struggling to accept a promised Messiah who became a man. So what does the author do? He says that all the things he is presenting concerning Jesus as the promised Messiah were first fitting for God.

And the point the author was making here is this. He was presenting a Messiah that was fully God and fully man, but more. He was presenting a Messiah who was the God-man who died a criminal's death on a cross to redeem a people for God. And some of these Jews, many of these Jews, were struggling to accept this particular Messiah. So the author was explaining that all these things were proper or fitting of God and for God. He was saying that for God to provide a Messiah like this was not in contradiction to the person of God and the plan that God had for his Messiah.

On the contrary, all these things that God did and through this Jesus were certainly consistent with the character and the person of God, the purpose and the plan of God. He says that all the things he is presenting concerning Jesus as the promised Messiah of God were the invention of God. And what the author was saying is this. God was the founder. He was the author of this salvation. God was and is the captain of this salvation. And because God was and is God and he was and is the author and the captain of the ship of this salvation, he certainly will sell the ship of salvation to its final destination.

And he also says that this salvation which originated from God had a particular purpose. And that was third to bring many sons to glory. Here the author is showing us one of the purposes of the cross and this echoes back to verse five. Here the author is speaking of all of those who would be saved. The many here refers to the many who will accept salvation in Jesus. And the author is saying that those who do accept salvation in Jesus will be brought to glory. They will be brought to heaven which is what glory speaks of or represents. But they will also be brought to the glory that God intended in the beginning.

That is what we see here in verse five. The redeem will be brought into the glory of ruling and reigning the world to come obviously under the kingship of the Lord Jesus. So this salvation which was and is presented by the author here, it originated with God and it fulfills all of God's intentions. Which is to bring the many redeemed to glory and to make Christ Jesus perfect through his obedience to the Father even to the cross. And then we also saw number two, Jesus the source of man's sanctification. That's in verses eleven to thirteen. Here we saw a continuation of verses nine to ten and what we saw there.

Starting in verse eleven we saw the next logical step and that is the source of the believers sanctification. Now right away we saw the one who sanctifies and who is being sanctified. Jesus was and is the one who sanctifies and the redeemed are the ones being sanctified. But there's one thing that we must see here and I'm not sure I pointed this out last week as I should have. The sanctification spoken of here is not progressive sanctification. What we have here in verses eleven to thirteen is what scholars call positional sanctification, not progressive sanctification.

Second Corinthians five twenty one says the very same thing here but in a different way. Paul said for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Let me repeat that verse and make a few comments here. Paul is saying for our sake he, that's God, made him, that's Christ Jesus, to be sin who know no sin. So that in him, that's Christ, we the redeemed might become the righteousness of God. So by his sacrifice on the cross Jesus removed his redeemed people out of positional unrighteousness before God.

And he placed them into positional righteousness before God or as Hebrews two eleven says into positional holiness or sanctification before God. We see this later on in Hebrews ten fourteen. The author of Hebrews says by a single offering he, that's Christ, has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So Jesus by a single offering of himself on the cross he has perfected or sanctified or set apart he is redeemed. They have become the righteousness of God which is understood as positional sanctification or being set apart before God in right standing before God.

And in verses eleven thirteen we saw two important facts related to this positional sanctification. First the source of this sanctification. Simply the source of all these things is God. God is the source of he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified. This simply means that God is the initiator of this work. The legacy standard Bible helps us see this fact in its reading and capitalization of one word in verse eleven. It reads for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. One being capitalized referring to God. And then second the result of this sanctification. And what the author is saying here is simple.

This is profound but simple. Since Jesus was and is God the Father's appointed Redeemer to redeem a particular people. Those who are redeemed they are truly united with God in his plan and purposes in redemption history. And as a result Jesus is not ashamed to call the redeemed his brothers brothers and sisters. So this sanctification is a continuation of God's salvation plan. Through his son God sanctifies or he sets apart as holy those who have been redeemed. And as a result Jesus is not ashamed to call the redeemed his brothers and sisters. Now this leads us to right where we left off last week.

Number three Jesus the destroyer of Satan's control of man. We see this in verses fourteen to fifteen. Jesus the destroyer of Satan's control of man. Now let's go back and look at verses fourteen and fifteen because this is what we're going to divide here. 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. And deliver all those who fear through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Now here the author is just continuing on with what he said in verses twelve to thirteen.

And in those verses he gave three quotations that spoke of the fact that Jesus truly possessed the human nature or the nature of man. And those quotations were from the Old Testament. And although he had the nature of a man he was without sin. Well here in verses fourteen to fifteen he continues to develop this a little further. But before we get into the verses we must see something that had to happen in the salvation of men and men. And this is at the heart of these messages. Satan's power over man had to be broken. Satan's power over man and mankind had to be broken. And what was and is this power? The power of death.

So in the salvation of man Satan's power over man had to be broken and that power was and is the power of death. But this brings us to a dilemma or a seeming contradiction because we understand that God has the final authority over death. Jesus said in Matthew ten twenty eight and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him. That's God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. So what do we make of this seeming contradiction? Well let me explain. John eight forty four Jesus tells us that Satan is the author or the originator of sin.

And we know that Satan tempted Eve and then he tempted Adam to sin and they did. Therefore Satan brought sin into the human race and that sin brought death to all men. And then in Matthew five twelve says just as sin came into the world through one man. Well who was that one man? That would be Adam and Eve. Just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin. So death spread to all men because all sin. So that gives Satan the power of death which gives him power over man man and mankind. So we cannot fully understand the mystery of these things. We know that this is only because these things are permitted by God.

We see this taught and illustrated in the book of Job. Satan had to go before God before he could ever attack Job. And the way in which Satan did attack Job was only allowed because God allowed it. We see this in Job one twelve and Job two six. Now what is my point here? We must understand that in God's plan for the salvation of man, Satan's power over man had to be broken. And that power is the power of death which was in the hands of Satan and that has to be destroyed. And how does God do this? We see this explained in these verses verses fourteen to fifteen. Here the author tells us how Satan's power over death and man were destroyed.

Of course this was done by and through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And here the author shows us three things about Jesus and his incarnation in the cross. First, he shows us the humanity of Jesus. We see this in the beginning of verse fourteen. Here the author tells us what actually took place in the incarnation. And he does so by starting with the family of man. He says that the children of God, the redeemed, they share flesh and blood. This word share here in the original. It simply means to share in, to have fellowship, to partake in.

Simply this is a reference to the fact that all people, all mankind, lost and saved, all people have flesh and blood. We all have this in common. This is our common nature. But notice what the verse says about Jesus and his human nature. All the modern versions that we study say that Christ partook of the same things. And we need to see that this word partook is much different than this word share. In the original it means to become a partaker of. And this tells us that Jesus was not a man sharing flesh and blood, but he partook or took a hold of something that he was not before.

Mankind does not partake in flesh and blood because we are flesh and blood. We all share that in common. But that is not the case with Jesus. He partook that which did not belong to him before and that which was not natural to him. And that is because he was and is God. Now right here, I want us to take a step back from these verses. Now look at what we have here. In chapter one we have some of the clearest and the strongest teaching concerning the deity of Christ. If you want to know where the Bible exalts the deity of Christ, go to Hebrews chapter one.

Well here in chapter two we have some of the clearest and strongest teaching about the humanity of Christ. If you want to know where the Bible exalts and explains the humanity of Christ, come right here. I love something that the Bible scholar Tom Shriner says right here that brings this particular teaching into some great application for us today. He says he, that is Christ, he identifies fully and completely with the children God gave him since he shares the very same nature with him. Do you see that church? He shared the same nature that we have.

And if you see it, you realize that Christ comes nearer and nearer and nearer and nearer to us. But back to what we have going on here in verses fourteen to fifteen. Christ willingly partook of our human nature. He added to himself human nature not just to give us comfort but that he might die in man's place therefore destroying Satan's power of death and delivering God's children from slavery. So let's look at these things. Second, he became a man to destroy Satan's power over death. We see this in the second part of verse fourteen. Now this is simple but it needs to be explained.

Simply the only way to destroy Satan and his power was to take away his weapon. Well what was and is Satan's weapon? Death. And this is how Satan's weapon works. Satan knows what God's word says about God's law and the demands of God's law. Satan knows that physical death entered into the human race because of sin. And Satan knows that God's law demands death to those that sin. Not only physical death but spiritual death. Satan knows that all men who remain in their sin will die and have to suffer the consequences of their sin in eternal punishment and hell. So Satan's weapon is death.

So Satan simply wants to keep men and man in their sin and away from the salvation that is found in Jesus. And as a result they die physically and they die spiritually for forever and forever and forever in eternal punishment and damnation. And it was for the purpose of destroying Satan's power of death that Jesus came to earth. But we must not make a mistake here. This does not mean that Satan has been obliterated or annihilated. No. In the original this word destroy as seen in the English Standard Version. It means to become idle. It means to become inactive or inoperative. That is what the New American Standard says here.

That through death he, that's Christ, might render powerless him. That's Satan who had the power of death. That is the devil. So what we have here is this. Jesus came into the world as the God-man. He was God the son who became flesh, John 1.4. He was God the son who partook of flesh and blood, Hebrews 2.14. And he did so so as to go to the cross and die in the place of man so as to render powerless Satan and his power of death. And by Christ's death on the cross Satan was rendered inoperative. He has not been destroyed but he has been disarmed. So Christ's death on the cross disarms Satan power over death.

Therefore his control of man has been disarmed. And my question for you this morning is this. Has the power of death, that is eternal death and punishment in hell, has that power that Satan has over those who are not born again, has that been destroyed in your life? Look if you've not been born again, if you've not come to the place where you've savingly believed in Christ, you must see that Satan used a scheme after scheme after scheme, plan after plan after plan. His schemes or plans are endless.

If you've not been born again, you must see that Satan uses scheme after scheme, plan after plan, and he even uses your own sin and sinfulness just to keep you in your sin and in your rebellion against God. Therefore he has power over you and it is the power of eternal death and damnation. Have you been delivered from that? There's only two kind of people here. Those who've been delivered from the power of Satan and his weapon of death and those who have not. And then third, became a man to deliver God's children from slavery. We see this in verse 15. Now this is simple but it needs some unpacking as well.

Now in verse 14 we saw that Christ's death made powerless Satan's power over death. Therefore destroying Satan's control over man. And the next logical step in that work is that the fear of death has been made powerless as well. But look at verse 15. I want you to notice two words. Delivered in slavery. Deliver in slavery. Verse 15. And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Here the writer of this letter brings up the age-old fear that cannot be escaped by any man. The fear of death has no favorites. Kings and peasants alike fear death. Rich and poor alike fear death. All men and men fear death. Fear.

The fear of death has no favorites. And this fear of death is legitimate folks. Ecclesiastes 3 11 says that God has put the knowledge of eternity in the hearts of men. That simply means that although man is living in time, he instinctively knows that eternity is out there. He instinctively knows that he is an eternal being and that eternity is out there after death. Although he is limited in his understanding of these things without the revelation of God's word, that man knows that beyond life is a world. William McDonald says there is the possibility of a shoreless ocean of time. Therefore men are slaves to the fear of death.

This word slavery at the end of verse 15 is simple. It means slavery. It means bondage. But here we see that Christ's death has made it possible that man can be delivered from this slavery. He can be delivered from the shackles of this bondage. This word delivered here, it simply means to be released, to be removed, to be delivered. So in verses 14 to 15 we see Jesus, the destroyer of Satan's control of man. He was the God-man who went to the cross to destroy Satan's power over death, therefore Satan's power over man. Therefore delivering men and men from the slavery of fear of death and eternity.

Before we move on into the next verses, I have to ask you a question. Are you haunted by the fear of death? Are you hounded by the fear of death? Does the fear of death chase you like a hound? Does the fear of death chase you like a hound? Does the fear of death chase you like a hound barking and barking and barking and barking, night and day, night and day, night and day, night and day? Are you running from the fear of death like a deer running from a pack of hounds? Some days you seem to outrun the hounds, but some days you feel like the hounds are right on your heels about to devour you. Is that you?

Am I describing the fear that is seizing you even now? Am I describing the fear of death that lives in you every day? Oh, this fear may come and go, but it is inescapable. It comes and goes. It comes and goes. It hounds you. It hounds you. You can't ever get away. And look, you must see that you can be set free. You can be set free, not only from the fear of death, but from death. This is eternal death and punishment in hell. You can be set free from the power and the control that Satan has over you, but you must come to Christ. You must savingly believe in Christ. And look, all Satan has to do is to keep men and women away from salvation.

That's all he has to do. That's all he has to do. It doesn't matter if he does that while you're on a bar stool or in a church pew. All he has to do is keep you away from salvation in Jesus Christ, and he does this by endless schemes, endless devices, and by using your sin in your own sinfulness. If that's you, would you come to Christ today? Come to Christ. Come to Christ and be delivered unto Christ. So Jesus is the destroyer of Satan's control of man. Then number four, Jesus the comforter of man in life. We see this in verses 16 to 18. Jesus the comforter of man in life. Let's look at these verses, verse 16 to 18.

"For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 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. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Now as we can see, the author seems to come out of nowhere by bringing up angels again. But this mention of angels is not random. Think about it. Angels have been central to all of this teaching so far. In chapter one, we saw that Jesus was and is superior to the angels.

In chapter two, we saw that rule over the world has not been promised to the angels. In chapter two, we saw that Jesus came to free a particular people from Satan and his control over men, not angels. Simply Jesus came to provide redemption for man, not the fallen angels who rebelled against God with Satan. And this redemption was and is for a particular people. And here we see those particular people are named. Verse 16 says that Jesus came to help not angels, but the offspring of Abraham. Now here is where we may ask, why so much about the angels?

We must remember that this was first written to those Jews who had these faulty views concerning angels. So this was corrected. But here in these verses, the author is explaining, "Father, why the Son of God became a man?" He is explaining, "Father, why he made power of Satan's power over man through death and the fear of death?" He is explaining, "Father, why he redeemed a people instead of falling angels?" But this leads us to a question. Who are the offspring of Abraham? Who are these people? Jews? Does this mean that Jesus came to redeem the physical descendants of Abraham? Well, the answer to that question is yes and no.

Simply verse 16 is about both physical descendants of Abraham and the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The spiritual descendants of Abraham are both Jews and Gentiles who savingly believe in Christ. You see? Spiritual descendants of Abraham are both Jews and Gentiles who savingly believe in Christ. Here the author is saying the same thing we see in Paul's writing where he describes all who savingly believe in Christ as the descendants of Abraham. Galatians 3, 6 to 9 clearly tells us who these descendants are.

Paul says, and I'm reading the verses, "Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, know then that it is those of faith who were the sons of Abraham. And the scripture for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." So the descendants of Abraham here are those ethnic Jews who savingly believe in Christ and those Gentiles who savingly believe in Christ. They are indeed, we are indeed true sons, are spiritual sons of Abraham.

Do you see that that's who you are? No matter your ethnicity, we are those of us who are born again are spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham. But notice what the author says. Jesus came to help the spiritual descendants of Abraham and this word help is imported. In the original, this can mean to take a hold of, like taking the hold of someone's hand, which is why some translations use the word help. This is what the Amplified reads. It really just captures it all and I'm reading the verse.

"For as we all know, he thus Christ does not take a hold of the fallen angels to give them a helping hand, but he does take a hold of the fallen descendants of Abraham. But as we continue, we will see how Christ Jesus helps the redeemed and why He did what He did." Notice, to help the descendants of Abraham, first, he had to become a man in every way. The beginning of verse 17 says that he had to be made like his brothers or mankind in every respect. And this term had to is a term which was used of financial debts in their day.

And scholars tell us this means that Jesus truly owed this or it was his moral obligation to partake of flesh and blood. This simply means that in order to make atonement for the sin of men, these things were totally necessary or Jesus had a moral obligation to become like his brothers, like his sisters, in every way except sin, Hebrews 4.15 tells us. And notice why he became a man. Second, so that he might become a faithful high priest. The second part of verse 17 says that Jesus became a man in every way except sin so that he may be the faithful high priest. But what does it mean that he became a high priest?

One scholar I read said the author could have been declaring that Jesus was superior to all of the other Jewish high priests. That was definitely the case. He went on to say the author could have been speaking of Jesus' saving work as a fulfillment of all that was seen in the ceremonies of the day of atonement for which the Jewish high priest ministry was indispensable. That could have been the case. Now all of those things may have been a part of what the author was saying, but those things are not the main point here.

Simply Jesus became a man in every way except sin so that he may be the faithful high priest so as to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1.29, which is what we see next. So notice why he did these things. He was the third to make propitiation for the sins of the people. The third part of verse 17 tells us that Jesus became a man in every way except sin so that he may be the faithful high priest to make propitiation for the sins of the people. But we have to ask a question. What does this word propitiation mean? What does this phrase make propitiation mean?

The original, this word translated propitiation in the English standard, it means to appease. It simply means to propitiate. And what is taking place here is this. This was not speaking to the atonement of Christ on the cross in a general manner. This is speaking of a specific aspect of the atonement that is dealing with the very wrath of God. That is what was happening in this verb, make propitiation, in the language. Now let me explain. The sin of man, all men, awakens the wrath of God, Romans 1.18 tells us.

And if man is to be saved from their sins and sinfulness, that salvation cannot take place by ignoring the righteous anger of God against man's sin. God's right and just anger against man's sin and sinfulness must be dealt with. So Christ came to be and to make propitiation for the sins of the people. So that means that as a merciful and faithful high priest, Jesus took upon himself God's righteous anger that was against man's sin. Jesus took upon himself on the cross. God's righteous anger that was meant for and intended for man's sin. Simply he took the place of the people. Look at the verse, verse 17.

"To make propitiation for the sins of the people. Therefore he, thus Christ, turned away God's wrath from the people," or God's people. Now question, do you see that if you are not born again, do you see that if you've not been savingly converted to Christ, you will have to suffer God's wrath for your sin? It has to be paid far. God's word says it has to be paid far. It has to be paid far. Do you see that folks? If you've not come to saving faith in Christ, do you see that you must suffer God's wrath for your sin? Not just for a little while, but for forever and forever and forever and forever, never-ending eternal punishment for your sin?

Every sinful word, every sinful deed, even every sinful motivation, every sinful thought. If you've not been born again, what keeps you a slave to Satan? What keeps you a slave to Satan? What keeps you a slave to death? And that fear of death, what keeps you a slave bound in shackles ultimately to spend eternity suffering the just and the righteous wrath of God for all eternity? What keeps you in that place? Why won't you come to Christ this morning? Is it your pride? Are you holding on to your pride? Is it your sin? Do you just love your sin and you don't want to let go of your sin? Is it fear? Is it fear?

Or is it that you love other things more? Do you love someone more? Do you love something more? Do you love yourself more? What are you holding on to? Why would you hold on to your sin facing what's been explained here this morning? Notice the results. Verse 18, "4th, all of this was to comfort the redeemed when being tempted." Simply verse 18 tells us that because Jesus suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help His people when they are tempted. Now something is a must here, folks. Listen close. We must see that Jesus' suffering and temptation and His temptation was real. His temptations while He was on earth was not play acting.

Jesus being fully man, His temptations were real, and His sufferings in those temptations were real, very real. I mentioned this verse earlier, but we need to see what Hebrews 4.15 says here, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin." Here we see that Jesus was in fact tempted as we are tempted in every way. A few questions here. In what ways are you tempted to sin? What sins are you tempted to commit? How often are you tempted to sin? Can you even list it out? A better question. In what ways are you not tempted to sin?

In what ways are you not tempted to commit sin? In what ways are you not tempted to sin? You see? Well, Hebrews 4.15 says that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are tempted, but He was without sin. And look, church, Jesus was fully man, so this temptation must have been unimaginable. His temptation must have been so exhausting. Jesus was not a robot just mechanically working through these things. These temptations must have been exhausting and relentless day after day, day after day, day after day. And verse 18 tells us that because He suffered in His temptations, He is able to help us.

I love what Leon Morris says, and I'm quoting only the one who has been through temptation can help. Now, what does that say to us? I'm speaking to Christians now. Look, brother, look, sister, our Lord who suffered greatly in His temptations can help us in our temptations. And my question is this. Do we take our temptations to Him? Do we take our temptations to Him? Do we take our sins to Him? Those sins that seem to ensnare us. Do we take those sins to Him? Look, folks, He can help. If we lack victory here as a believer, it's not His fault, it's our fault. We should take those temptations and those temptations to sin to Him.

And we can have victory. We must see that we can have victory, yes, even over the temptations. So in verses 16 to 18, we see Jesus, the great comforter in the life of the redeemed. He came to come alongside in the help, not fallen angels, but those who have been redeemed. He became a man in every way except sin. He became a merciful and a faithful high priest so as to suffer the wrath of God that was meant for the people. And this Jesus can and will comfort His redeemed in all of their temptations. Now, as I close, think about the title of the message, our great and perfect Savior. Last week I used the illustration of a flower.

I said that what we have here is just unfolding, just like a flower blooms, it begins to bud. And then slowly that flower opens. And when that flower opens to full bloom, we see its beauty and its fullness. That's what we see here. More and more of the greatness and the perfections of our Savior being opened up to us in its fullness. No, but in the fullness as His fullness is revealed in the Scripture. So let's pray and commit these things to the Lord.