Wednesday in the First Week of Ordinary Time, January 11, 2023

Hebrews 2, 14-18

Since the children share in blood and Flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life. Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

The author of Hebrews here describes the action and effects of the New Covenant, and so begins to explain the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.  

“Since the children share in blood and Flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them.”  The “children”, that is, the children of Adam and Eve, share in blood and flesh with one another, making us sharers in humanity.  The Son of God, who assumed a human nature, likewise shares in our humanity.  “That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.”  Because the Son of God joined himself to a human nature, he became subject to death, but because he retained his divinity he possessed the power to destroy death — from the inside.  It is as though death swallowed him, as it swallows us all, but he burst forth from it, destroying it in the process.  And because of this, though we who believe enter into death too, it cannot hold us.  It cannot swallow us.  In union with Christ, the members of his Body burst forth from it with him.  “The one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”  The devil is said to have the power of death in that through his envy of Adam and Eve’s original blessed state, he brought death into the world: “God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world” (Wisdom 2, 23-24).  Death is the price we must all pay for our sins, but through his entrance into it, the Lord made it a place to be with him, just as he did with the water of baptism when he waded into the Jordan to be baptized by John.  “And free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.”  Before the Resurrection of Christ, death was the end of life.  For Jews and Gentiles alike, the afterworld was a dark, shadowy place dreaded by all.  The prospect of imminent death caused fear and terror, and still does for unbelievers.  This fear shapes their lives so that, for instance, they go to great extremes to preserve their health.  But for the believer in Jesus Christ, death brings an end to our longing for God as we fully possess him.  It is the doorway to everlasting bliss and love.

“Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way.”  The author explains that this wonderful covenant is not between God and the holy angels, but between God and sinful men, most undeserving of such a covenant.  The fact that God would initiate this covenant with us shows the enormity of his love for us, for he sent his Son, clothed in our nature to consummate it on the Cross.  “He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.”  We can understand the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Son as his ordination by the Father as our High Priest.  He exercised his Priesthood first by offering his prayers for us during his life, and by offering the Sacrifice of himself on our behalf to the Father on Cavalry.  He takes on himself the punishment God had set for Adam and then in his mercy postponed to be set on his Son: “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in what day soever you shall eat of it, you shall die the death” (Genesis 2, 17).  It was the Lord Jesus who “died the death” of sin for us, cancelling out our sins.

“Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”  The Lord’s perseverance in carrying out the will of his Father necessarily caused him to suffer in this world, and so we should expect to suffer in doing likewise.  But because he entered into suffering, he changed its meaning from inside of it and made this suffering also a way to be with him.  Suffering in Christ in service to the Father, we are helped by him and the graces he bestows upon us.  He makes it possible for us to persevere, and makes our perseverance a sharing in his own perseverance so that we might share in his reward in the Resurrection. 

In the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass, Mark 1, 29-39, the Lord heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and afterwards a large number of people.  He grasped her by the hand and entered into her suffering, healing her from inside of herself.  This is also how he heals us from our sins — not from the outside, but from within us, where only he can go.