Hebrews 1 has been all about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is shown as superior to the angels. The first half of Hebrews 2 has continued the same theme. But as we get half way through v9, a great change occurs and we have an amazing picture of the Lord of glory being made man and dying.

Why did he do that? Every Christian knows the answer: he did it to save his people from their sins. But narrow the question down even more. Why did Jesus have to become man to do all this? Couldn’t God have found some other way? Couldn’t He have planned things differently? Couldn’t Jesus have dealt with our sin without having to become man, without having to suffer so much?

The answer is no! There is no other way it could have happened. The only way any man, woman, boy or girl could ever have been saved was for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to become man! And the writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives us three reasons why Jesus had to become man in v10-18.

i To be our substitute

God hates sin with a pure loathing. So when Adam fell into sin in Genesis 3, he had to punish him. Genesis 3:17-19 shows what that punishment was: first, suffering; then, death.

But what has this got to do with the question, “Why did Jesus have to be made man?”

Look at v10. It says, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

Notice firstly that Jesus is called “the author of salvation” there. He is the one who has gone before us to obtain salvation.

Notice secondly that it was fitting for God to make the author of salvation perfect through suffering. This does not mean that our Lord was ever imperfect. It means that to be the perfect author of salvation, to be the completely effective trail-blazer of salvation, he had to suffer. To be the perfect Saviour, Jesus had to suffer.

This brings us back to our question. What was the first element in the punishment for Adam’s sin? Suffering. So why did Jesus have to become man? He came to take the punishment which we deserved. He came to suffer in our place. He came to be our substitute. And how he suffered!

There’s more in v14. What was the second element in Adam’s punishment? Death. So it wasn’t just that our Saviour had to suffer to be our substitute. He also had to die to be our substitute. To be the perfect substitute, he had to reach into the darkest corners of human existence. He had to die. And he did!

Why did Jesus have to become man? He couldn’t have suffered on our behalf if He hadn’t done that. He couldn’t have died if He had not been made man. By being made man Jesus became the perfect substitute we need.

v14-15 give the glorious results of our Lord’s substitution for us. We are delivered from the fear of death. This does not mean that we never have any fear of death whatsoever. It does not mean that the process of dying is easy. However, Christians know that death’s sting has been drawn. It’s like a wasp with no sting: it still looks horrible, but it can’t really harm us any more. They know that the final victory will not be death’s. They know that when they have passed through that last and worst of life’s trials, they will be ushered into the very presence of the one who died to save them. And how do they know that? Because Jesus became man so that he could be our substitute. Worship him for coming this Christmas!

ii To be our brother

Look at v11. It says, “Both the one who makes men holy [that’s our Lord, of course] and those who are made holy [that’s us] are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Here is a second reason why our Lord became man. He did it so that he could be our brother! He wanted to identify himself with us so closely that he became man. He could never have been our brother if he had not become a man, could He? But now if we’re Christians, we’re family members of Jesus Christ. He wanted to draw us so close to himself that he became man! That is stunning!

It’s even more stunning to realise that he is not ashamed of us. He is so much greater than we are. He is so much purer than we are. Yet he is not ashamed of us. Even though sometimes we are ashamed to own up to belonging to him, he is not ashamed to admit before a hostile world that we are his brothers and sisters.

Why did he have to be made man? He could not have become our brother if he had not. Worship him for coming this Christmas.

iii To be our priest

Much of Hebrews is taken up with explaining how Jesus Christ is our priest. Just look at the NIV headings and you’ll see that at a glance.

Now look at v17. It shows that he had to be made like his brothers in every way (ie he had to become man) in order to become our high priest. To be our priest, he had to be made like us. Representation requires identification. He had to be made man. He had to know all the woes of mankind. And because he does know all the woes of mankind, he is able to sympathise with us in all our experiences, trials, difficulties, and, as v18 shows, temptations. He is able to be our priest.

Our Lord, then, has been through all the situations we might have to go through. He understands us perfectly. He’s been there. He’s man.

The Old Testament priests stood between man and God. And what does he do as our priest? Having carried out the one sacrifice necessary when he sacrificed himself, he now appears before God on our behalf. He bears up our cause in heaven. And who better could we have doing that? Because he is man, he can represent us perfectly. Worship him for coming this Christmas.

Hebrews 3:1 tells Christians how they should respond to such a Saviour. It says, “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.” That’s what you must do, Christian.

And if you’re not a Christian, you must start to trust in him.