Saturday, June 19, 2021

Jesus sings our praises: Hebrews 2:11-12

One of the themes of the letter to the Hebrews is how Jesus stands apart from all other spiritual beings and how he is superior to all others, even to the angels. The writer of the letter also describes how, though he is exalted, he humbled himself and chose to take upon himself human flesh that he might dwell among us. The author writes, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9 NASB 2020). The author goes on to express the relationship between Jesus and those he came to save, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, ‘I will proclaim you name to my brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will sing your praise’” (Hebrews 2:11-12 NASB 2020). This last sentence is a direct quote from Psalm 22:22, and the writer of Hebrews puts these words in the mouth of Jesus.

The word translated here as “praise” is the verb form of the Greek word from which we get our word for hymn. This verse could be translated, “In the midst of the assembly I will hymnify you.” What an encouragement to think that, while we are here on Earth singing his hymns, Jesus is in heaven singing our hymns. He is speaking of us, of his love for us and our worth to him, to that heavenly assembly surrounding him. Sometimes, I think that God is just putting up with me and that he saved me only because he had to. However, the truth is that we are all valuable to him, so much so, that he cannot help boasting about us before the heavenly assembly! Regardless of how much or how little other people might think about us, Jesus loves us and is singing our hymns in that great heavenly assembly.

David Robison

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