Hebrews and Jesus

I just started reading Hebrews, and I'm amazed - as always - at how explicit the writer of Hebrews is! He spells things out so clearly. In the second chapter, it talks about why Jesus had to come to earth, why he had to die for our sins.

Here are some of the reasons as listed in chapter 2:

1) Since Jesus is the "author" of our salvation, God wanted to make him "perfect", so to speak, through suffering. It's strange how it seems to refer to the fact that while God is omnipotent, all-knowing, all-powerful, he needed to experience something like physical suffering in order to totally be able to relate to and empathize with us (v. 10) Can't quite fathom how that all works together!

2) Along the same lines, it says Jesus had to become just like us and endure the same things as we endure so that he could become a "merciful and faithful high priest" in his intercession to God the Father for us (v. 17)

3) Also, because he experienced temptations and had to suffer through them while he was on earth, he is much more able to help us through our temptations (v. 18) That's a neat thought! Jesus knows the temptations we encounter and experience daily. He dealt with the same issues! But he also overcame them (even while being 100% human), which means that we can withstand temptations too! Somehow...through his enabling. :) It's pretty amazing to think that Jesus could withstand every temptation. Because in my understanding, while with God's help we should be able to withstand temptations that come our way, we are also human, and thus will continue to struggle and experience failures (although hopefully less and less!) with this for all of our lives on earth. But Jesus was in the same boat as us - yes he was God, but he gave up his ability to exercise that power while he was on earth. Was it his perspective, knowing the purpose behind it all, that enabled him to be that perfect man? Was it his dependence on God the Father that made it a reality? Both? Something else as well? Thinking that it was his dependence on his Father makes me realize how much more I need to depend on God to help me to become more like Jesus. I still don't know what that all looks like.

Ok, so back on track...

4) Jesus "tasted" death for everyone...why? (v. 9)

5) So he could pay the price required for our sins - my sins! - that separated us - me! - from God (v. 17) It's interesting how it goes back to the Old Testament idea of blood sacrifices made to restore Israel's relationship with God. There's such a huge picture - like a tapestry, where all the threads are interconnected and woven together to create a grand, magnificent image - throughout the entire Bible; I feel like I only catch a fraction of it.

5) Victory! Through his death Jesus conquered Satan, and overcame Satan's deathgrip on humanity. He freed us all from the bondage of our fear of imminent death.

Lord, would this knowledge of what you did for me and the realization of the greatness of your love change my life for you! So often I still live my life for me and not for you.