Jesus Christ the Mediator

To answer that question, consider the words of Hebrews 2:10-18.  In these words, we learn about the necessity and nature of our Lord’s humanity as the high priest (mediator) of His people.  The author of Hebrews begins by pointing us to the necessity of the humanity of Christ in the work of redemption: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” It became Him, that is, it had to be that way.

The necessity is stated at the outset, but the actual reasons for it come in the following verses. The basic argument is this: for Jesus to become our Savior, He had to become one of us. You see this in verse 11: “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.” The one who sanctifies is Jesus and the ones He sanctifies are His people. They are said to be “all of one” which means they share a common human nature. The point is that for our Lord to be the one who sanctifies and cleanses His people, He had to share their nature.

Now why is that the case? Why did our Lord have to become incarnate in order to sanctify His people? The answer is that, in order to sanctify us, He had to participate in our sufferings and die: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (14). He had to die for us in order to defeat death for us, and that meant that He had to become human and mortal.

Of course, that leads to another question, which is: why did He have to die in order to defeat death? We see the answer in verse 17: “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people.” That is a very significant statement. It tells us that we are to interpret what our Lord did on the cross in terms of sacrifice, for he was a priest to God for us. As our priest, He made reconciliation for our sins, or, more accurately, he propitiated God’s just wrath against us on account of our sins. He did this by dying for us, by becoming a substitutionary sacrifice for us. As Paul put it very succinctly in his letter to the Corinthians, he died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). The basic assumption here is, of course, that only someone who shares our nature could stand in our place and satisfy God’s just requirements on our behalf. Our author makes this very point again in 10:4, when he says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Why is it not possible? It is not possible because there is no real correspondence between an animal and a human. Humans sin, and it is human death, not animal death, which is required by that sin. Only a human could be a substitute for another human. This is not the only reason why it was necessary that Jesus become incarnate. It wasn’t sufficient that just anyone stand in our place. For the reality is that any other human would not have gotten the job done.

Why? Because any other man or woman would not have been worthy or able to bear the punishment of the sins of the “many sons” who are being brought to glory. Consider, for example, what the psalmist says: “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.” (Ps. 49:7- 9). It is just not possible. No one can bear God’s wrath against sin.

Who could do such a thing?  Only one person: Jesus Christ. For He is not only a perfect human being, fit to represent us, but He is also the eternal Son of God, and, therefore, able to bear the infinite punishment due to sin. This is why our Lord is called the “captain” of our salvation. I love that word. It is use in three other places in the NT, every time with reference to our Lord: twice in Acts (3:15; 5:31) where it is translated “Prince” and twice in Hebrews (2:10; 12:2), with the translations “captain” and “author.” It carries the connotation of “champion,” and this is what I think best gets at what our writer is saying. Jesus is our champion in battle against sin and death.

Ancient armies used to decide the outcome of a battle by substituting champions who would represent each side, much like the combat between David and Goliath. In our case, the only champion who was able to stand in for us was Jesus Christ, and He has done just that. He has stood in our place and defeated the one who had the power of death, the devil (14). In defeating the devil, He conquered death for us.

Here we see just how important it is that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. If you take away either His humanity or His divinity from Him, He cannot stand in for us as the captain of our salvation. Take away His humanity and He couldn’t be a fit representative for us. Take away His divinity, and He wouldn’t be able to fully propitiate God’s wrath against sin. This is the reason why those who reject either Christ’s humanity (like the early Docetists) or His divinity (like the ancient Arians or the modern-day Jehovah’s Witnesses) end up making salvation a matter of works rather than grace. For if Jesus is not a man, then He really couldn’t stand in for us and it still remains for us to make things right with God. If He is not God, then He couldn’t have fully satisfied God’s justice on our behalf, and it still remains for us to make things right with God.

Praise God, the fact that Jesus is both God and man means that we who have fled for refuge can lay hold upon the hope set before us in Christ (Heb. 6:19).  Truly, we can sing with the hymn (“Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted” by Thomas Kelly):