From: Hebrews 2:14-18
Jesus, Man's Brother, was Crowned with Glory and Honor
Above the Angels (Continuation)
[14] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself
likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might
destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and
deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
bondage. [16] For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned
but with the descendants of Abraham. [17] Therefore he had to be made
like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make
expiation for the sins of the people. [18] For because he himself has
suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Commentary:
14. As in the prologue of St John's Gospel (In 1:12-13), "flesh" and
"blood" apply to human nature in its weakened condition. Jesus has
assumed man's nature: "He has taken it on without sin but with all its
capacity to suffer pain, given that he took a flesh similar to sinful
flesh; he 'shared therefore in flesh and blood', that is, he took on a
nature in which he could suffer and die--which could not occur in a
divine nature" (St Thomas, "Commentary on Heb.", 2, 4).
Christ chose to submit to death, which is a consequence of sin, in
order to destroy death and the power of the devil. The Council of Trent
teaches that, as a result of original sin, man "incurred the wrath and
indignation of God, and consequently incurred death [...] and, together
with death, bondage in the power of him who from that time had the
empire of death" ("De Peccato Originali", Can. 3; cf. Rom 5:12;
6:12-14; 7:5; etc.). To explain this power of the devil, St Thomas
comments: "A judge has one kind of power of death: he can punish people
with death; a criminal has a different kind of power of death--a power
he usurps by killing another [...]. God has the first kind of dominion
over death; the devil has the second kind, for he seduces man to sin
and leads him to death" ("Commentary on Heb.", 2, 4).
Addressing Christ and his cross, the Church sings, "O altar of our
victim raised, / 0 glorious passion ever praised, / by which our Life
to death was rendered, / that death to life might thence be mended"
(Hymn "Vexilla Regis"). The death of Christ, the only one who could
atone for man's sin, wipes out sin and makes death a way to God. "Jesus
destroyed the demon", St Alphonsus writes; "that is, he destroyed his
power, for the demon had been lord of death on account of sin, that is,
he had power to cause temporal and eternal death to all the children of
Adam infected by sin. And this was the victory of the Cross that Jesus,
the author of life, by dying obtained Life for us through that death"
("Reflections on the Passion", Chap. 5, 1).
15. Christ has freed men not from physical but from spiritual death and
therefore from fear of death, because he has given us certainty of
future resurrection. Man's natural fear of death is easily explained by
his fear of the unknown and his instinctive aversion to what death
involves; but it can also be a sign of excessive attachment to this
life. "Because it does not want to renounce its desires, the soul fears
death, it fears being separated from the body" (St Athanasius, "Oratio
Contra Gentes", 3).
The fear of death which some people in the Old Testament had can be
explained by their not knowing what fate awaited them, and by the
possibility of being completely cut off from God. But physical death is
not something to be feared by those who sincerely seek God: "To me to
live is Christ, and to die is gain," St Paul explains (Phil 1:21).
"Don't be afraid of death. Accept it from now on, generously...when God
wills it, where God wills it, as God wills it. Don't doubt what I say:
it will come in the moment, in the place and in the way that are best:
sent by your Father-God. Welcome be our sister death!" ([St] J. Escriva,
"The Way", 739).
16. "It is not with angels that he is concerned": the original text
says literally "he did not take angels with his hand", " did not catch
hold of", "did not take [the nature of angels]"; meaning that Christ
took to himself a human nature, not an angelic nature. St John
Chrysostom explains the text in this way: "What does he mean by 'take
with his hand'; why does he not say 'took on/assumed' but instead uses
the expression 'took with his hand'? The reason is this: this verb has
to do with those who are in pursuit of their enemies and are doing all
they can to catch those who are in flight from them and to seize those
who resist. In other words, humankind had fled from him and fled very
far, for it says 'we were very far from God and were almost without God
in the world' (Eph 2:12). That is why he came in pursuit of us and
'seized us for himself'. The Apostle makes it clear that he did all
this entirely out of love for men, in his charity and solicitude for
us" ("Hom. on Heb.", 2).
"This single reflection, that he who is true and perfect God became
man, supplies sufficient proof of the exalted dignity conferred on the
human race by the divine bounty; since we may now glory that the Son of
God is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, a privilege not given
to angels" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 4, 11).
17. This is the first mention of the central theme of the epistle, the
priesthood of Christ. Because he is God and man, Jesus is the only
Mediator between God and men, who have lost God's friendship and divine
life on account of sin; he exercises this mediation as High Priest; his
Love saves men by bridging the abyss which separates the sinful stock
of Adam from God whom it has outraged.
It first refers clearly to our Lord's human nature: he is in no way
different from men (except that he is not guilty of sin: cf. Heb 4:15).
"These words mean that Christ was reared and educated and grew up and
suffered all he had to suffer and finally died" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on
Heb.", 5). "He partook of the same food as we do," writes Theodoret of
Cyrus, "and he endured work; he experienced sadness in his soul and
shed tears; he underwent death" ("Interpretatio Ep. Ad Haebr.", II).
Christ the Priest is able perfectly to understand the sinner and make
satisfaction to divine Justice. "In a judge what one most desires is
mercy," St Thomas writes, "in an advocate, reliability. The Apostle
implies that both things were found in Christ by virtue of his Passion.
Mankind desires mercy of him as judge, and reliability of him as
advocate" ("Commentary on Heb.", 2, 4).
Christ's priesthood consists in making expiation by a sacrifice of
atonement and a peace-offering for the sins of men: he takes our place
and atones on our behalf: "Christ merited justification for us [...]
and made satisfaction for us to God the Father" (Council of Trent, "De
Iustificatione", Chap. 7).
18. Suffering can link a person to Christ in a special and mysterious
way. "The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has
his own share in the Redemption. Each one is also called to share in
that suffering through which the Redemption was accomplished. He is
called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has
also been redeemed. In bringing about the Redemption through suffering,
Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption.
Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the
redemptive suffering of Christ" (John Paul II, "Salvifici Doloris",
19).
Christ's main purpose in undergoing his passion was the Redemption of
mankind, but he also suffered in order to strengthen us and give us an
example. "By taking our weaknesses upon himself Christ has obtained for
us the strength to overcome our natural infirmity. On the night before
his passion, by choosing to suffer fear, anguish and sorrow in the
garden of Gethsemane he won for us strength to resist harassment by
those who seek our downfall; he obtained for us strength to overcome
the fatigue we experience in prayer, in mortification and in other
acts of devotion, and, finally, the fortitude to bear adversity with
peace and joy" (St Alphonsus, "Reflections on the Passion", Chap. 9,
1).
A person who suffers, and even more so a person who does penance,
should realize that he is understood by Christ. Christ will then
console him and help him bear affliction: "You too some day may feel
the loneliness of our Lord on the Cross. If so, seek the support of him
who died and rose again. Find yourself a shelter in the wounds in his
hands, in his feet, in his side. And your willingness to start again
will revive, and you will take up your journey again with greater
determination and effectiveness" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way of the Cross",
XII, 2).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.