For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
3 sermons cite this verse
… Notice, just if you haven't noticed it before, the familial language. Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers. So, it's putting Jesus into the context of a family like us, His brothers, His brothers and sisters, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Ah, you all circle that. I know that word. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, so He's like the Adam that's tempted, but He doesn't fail. He is able to help those who are being tempted. Now, you have to go on to chapter 3, therefore, holy brothers, speaking to us as a family, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. It is putting it in the family, in the household of God, that Jesus came to be made like His brothers, like us, in every respect except for sin, tempted, except He did not fail, that He might be faithful to the one who appointed Him, to His heavenly Father, so that in Him as our brother, we might consider Jesus, His honor, His love, His loyalty to His Father, to enable us to do the same to our parents and forgive us for our own failings. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word, which is always right, always helpful, always true. Give us the grace to reinterpret our lives …
… He's acting on behalf of His church as our high priest. Hebrews 2.17, He is a merciful and faithful high priest, able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Hebrews 3.6, Jesus, the high priest of our confession, faithful over His house, whose house we are. Hebrews 4.15, a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. And then Hebrews 9, 11, and 12 gives a specific function of this high priest. When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, that's our future, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, not like a high priest, didn't go into a tent or a temple. And He didn't go through the blood of bulls and calves, but through His own blood He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. He comes as the high priest who has obtained eternal redemption. What is that saying? You remember that the high priest, before he went into the Holy of Holies, had to offer a sacrifice, a sacrifice for the sins of the people and a sacrifice for his own sins, and then he could, on Yom Kippur, go into the presence of God. …
… He doesn't give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation or satisfaction for the sins of the people. And then verse 18, for since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Amazing. He was made like his brother in all things. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He was overcome with weariness. He slept. He was taught. He grew. He loved. He was astonished. He marveled. He was glad. He was sad. He was angry. He was indignant. He was grieved. He was troubled. He was overcome. He exercised faith in his Father, he read the Scriptures, he prayed all night, he sighed when he saw a man in need. Tears fell from his eyes when his heart ached. He was like us. Why? So that he could come to the aid of those who are tempted. …