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)

He Is Made Like Us

The sacrifice of Jesus was deity becoming flesh to experience every aspect of the human story. It is impossible to fathom how great a sacrifice Jesus made when He submitted to the will of His Father to become one of His creations. Man was made a little lower than the angels, and Jesus would become a man made in His own image, a creation lower than the angels who served Him. He was conceived in the womb of a woman to grow for nine months in the order of creation. As a small baby, Jesus would be totally dependent upon His earthly parents to care for Him and protect Him. They would teach Him how to read and write.

Jesus would learn to walk, chew His food, and help in Joseph’s workshop. The word of God was read to Him. This was the same word He inspired many generations before. Joseph and Mary told Jesus about the creation and the terrible flood that destroyed the world in the days of Noah. Jesus would learn the story of Moses and the history of the Hebrews through the teachings of the word. At the age of twelve, Jesus amazed the teachers at the Temple with His perception and inquisitive mind of the Law. Luke shows that Jesus was subject to His parents, growing in favor with men and God.

The life of Jesus was not unlike that of all those in Nazareth. He spent many hours in carpentry work like Joseph. Mary had four other sons and at least two daughters, who would be Jesus’s half-siblings. Seven children grew up together in the city of Nazareth. A family united in the love of God and keeping of the Law of Moses. Jesus was like His brethren in every way but one. The oldest son of Joseph and Mary never sinned. There was never an occasion where He broke any of the laws contained in the Law of Moses. He endured the temptations of the flesh and the eyes and faced the pride of life, but He never wavered.

Luke records that Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry. The gospel writer emphasizes that Jesus was like His brethren. How can a deity be thirty years of age? Jesus was before time began and is everlasting. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Yet He spent thirty years on earth like His brethren and died three years later on a cross outside Jerusalem. Every part of Jesus’ ministry revealed His nature as a man. He grew weary, thirsty, hungry, and on occasion expressed anger at the heart of the rebellious people. In all this, He never sinned. The highlight of His experience to be made like His brethren was the scourging and crucifixion. He felt every part of the human story. The soldiers offered Jesus medicine to dull the pain, and He refused. His desire was to be made like His brethren and suffer in every way like His brethren.

There is joy and comfort to know that Jesus willingly became like His brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God. The hope of eternal life is anchored in the love Jesus had to be like His creation. As a High Priest, Jesus knows and understands the plight of man and shows mercy and love for the frailties of the challenges of life. His faithfulness is the beacon of light in a dark world, giving hope that death is only a sleep between this world and eternal rest. His death is how He propitiates the sins of all humanity through His blood. Everyone who comes to God can know that Jesus died for them because He became one of them. What joy. Thank God for Jesus to be like His brethren.