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"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."
(Hebrews 2:17)
There is such rich theology in this verse. In it we see these two foundational doctrines of our faith: incarnation and propitiation. Jesus was fully God and yet He had to become fully man as well to relate to and redeem us. He was and is a merciful and faithful High Priest. The readers of this letter initially, the Hellenistic Jews, knew about high priests and the pivotal role they played in Judaism. The highest and holiest of days was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when the high priest of Israel would make an animal sacrifice of blood for the cleansing of the people or expiation of their sins.
Jesus did not find a sacrifice for our sins; rather, He became the sacrifice for our sins. In the fullness of time, He came to earth from heaven to show us the way to the Father and eternal life. But what is propitiation? It is an astounding word. It may be hard to pronounce, and one might suspect that it is such a deep doctrine that we will have problems understanding it, but it is not that complicated. Jesus became our atoning sacrifice. He took upon Himself God's just wrath toward sinners, and He bore it thus, appeasing the holy wrath of God. He took your place and mine on the cross, died for us, so we could be cleansed of sin and prepared to live for Him now and live forever with Him when we die or when He returns. This is a basic and fundamental doctrine and part of what soteriology means (the doctrine of salvation).
The eternal Son of God came to us, put skin on, lived in Israel, and began His public ministry at age 30. He did miraculous things in His ministry. His greatest achievement was purchasing our eternal salvation through His blood shed for lost humanity on the cross. This verse always stirs my soul: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Pause for a moment and pray to God, thanking Him for giving you His Son so you could live forever in heaven and not hell.
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