The Captain of Their Salvation - Hebrews 2:10

What makes Jesus the captain of our salvation and not Mohamed or Buddha etc...?

Author: Randy Pritts

Today's text:

kjv@Hebrews:2:10 @ 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.

Who is the Captain of Your Salvation?

It is an interesting phrase used here: "Captain". I bet you've never thought of your savior in such a light. Some Bible translations have it "forerunner", some "Author" or "Chief". The word in the Greek is dict:strongs G746 (Î±Ì“ÏÏ‡Î·Î³Î¿ÌÏ‚ archÄ“gos ar-khay-gos' From G746 and G71 a chief leader: - author captain prince) . What is it that makes Jesus this "Captain" and not somebody or something else? The answer given is not what most people nowadays would expect: made "perfect through sufferings".

Why would being made "perfect through sufferings" matter when it comes to the selection of a "captain of our salvation"?

Given the surrounding context of the chapter and the chapter before this, might I suggest that it not so much the act of suffering (lot's of humans can claim that), rather it is who it is that is suffering and for what divinely stated purpose they submit to such suffering.

Chapter 1 we find out that this person happens to be the God's Son, appointed Heir of all things whom also made the worlds plural meaning world and its ages, the brightness of His Father's glory, the express image of that Father's person, higher that any prophet, higher than any angel. Not your typical profile for "Captain" is it?

Chapter 2, we are beginning to find out that though Jesus had all of these high above all others credentials, He was then made lower than the angels temporarily, to enter our mortal human plane, partake of our flesh and blood, become acquainted with our temptations and even death so as to be able to call upon us without reservation as "brethren".

Do you remember that psalm that sang to us "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" kjv@Psalms:8:4? This is the significance the author of Hebrews here is attempting to convey by his usage of the word "captain". It conveys a person of the highest abilities and credentials condescending down to our lowly fallen human levels, to become intimately acquainted with our temptations and sufferings, in order to captain or guide or shepherd us back out and up.

What better Sherpa to steer us clear of Mount Dead to God's jagged crevasses and cliffs than He who has successfully steered Himself and others clear as well? What better captain to pilot the ship that has to sail these raging mortal waters safely to that distant eternal port? Who better to trust with your very soul and that soul's safe future than the one of supremely high estate, who even while you were not looking or wanting or inclined to Him in the slightest, came down without regard to the price, kept Himself dry and clean at the ready to toss His life line out, gathering many souls along with you back to His ship's stern. Who else than He that is confirmed by His own resurrection and then ascension back to His Father's throne and loving arms eternal?

Who in deed? This is why not Mohamed. This is why not Buddha. This is why not any other captain other than Jesus, the only begotten, the first brought back from the dead, the captain of brethren soon themselves to be resurrected.

"...for whom are all things, and by whom are all things..."

This phrase describes best the captain in this passage who has been perfected by His willing and voluntary submission to such mortal sufferings: "whom are all things, and by whom are all things" and yet, and yet, that is the key, felt so much towards man that He visited upon us even unto flesh and blood, temptation, even unto similar and complete death. Not even death though could hold Him down. Death, as was promised to Adam, as repeated by every prophet and even by angels according to this epistle to the Hebrews, death has now been conquered most mercifully.

"Perfected". Now there is a word needing further explanation. It is not the Jesus Son of God of whom and by whom all things consisted was not already perfect (perfect of morals and of deity and character). No, it is that the extension of His hand towards us was perfected/completed/consummated. That is what this word in the Greek is suggesting. It is not the same as our perfecting, where the foundry is super heated, the dross boiled off from silver, the silver poured out into the mold and cured then polished; our form of perfection. This where what is being poured out is already pure, has always been pure, remains pure even in the midst of surrounding contaminates, returns back to the mother source just as pure, but having accomplished what it had been sent pure to purely to do and extend.

"...for whom are all things, and by whom are all things..."

For the Hebrew scholars, this has been a intellectual quandary. How does a most holy God, one in whom there can be no darkness, become a man? take on less than holy (even said vile) flesh? sin not? then die as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice to atone for the sins of all mankind? In other words how does God become man without ending HIS sinless and holy perfection in the process?

Jesus! That is how God does it. There is no other logical way. Yes, it is difficult to fully understand. I cannot rightly explain exactly how this is other than this is the way that the prophets for us long time had pictured it, and this is how in time and space the prophecies played out for us. Between what the prophecies said and the way the prophecies eventually played out, that is all that we have left to choose from, that is what identifies Jesus as our "captain". For the Jewish tradition this captain who would be translated as "Prince" of the highest.

"Bringing many sons unto Glory..."

But here is where the shoe really meets the pavement, the effect of said Captain upon His masses: "in bringing many sons unto glory". Let this not go unnoticed.

There are many religions and icons that would point you the way, but you would have to your own to earn back or achieve or deserve it. One particular religion that I can think of even has you go through this earthly suffering over and over, lifetime to lifetime, until you can figure out how to get their mysterious escape path right. No, these others are more like roads sign rather, not like captains. A real captain like Jesus comes down, pulls you into His lifeboat, takes you back to His homeland and sets you on solid eternal ground. Thus it is said: "Brings many sons unto glory".

There is an secular effort today that puts it that mortal man is here by random chance and un-designed/unintelligent nature and has no place other left to go, nowhere other than this suffering and inhospitable place to be "brought to". This man is liberated from the need for a captain by being sentenced to the punishment of his mortal sufferings. Some of these men have built a fairly safe place for themselves where they don't have to suffer quite as much as the masses, therefore they can justify themselves in believing that. They are their own captains, perfected in their own so called science and safe lilypad assumptions.

As for glory, the other icons don't have that much to say about it, other than seventy or so plump and obedient virgins and the such. With Christ Jesus, glory is being reunited into the Father's awesome presence, to behold, to encounter. It is like a bride and a groom being brought into a marriage, brought into the mansion the groom has spent a great amount of time and effort to build for her. It is a feast of love unadulterated, immeasurable, boundless, unending. Doesn't matter exactly what shape it becomes as long as we are with Him, for we will see Him as He is in all His glory, which He fought so hard and gave so dearly by dowry to show unto us.

Let's stand this glory up against all these other human notions of it, see which glory stands out and which is but idol.

It "became" Him

Lastly, it is written "For it became him..". In the author's Greek construction of the sentence "it became him" comes first. dict:strongs G4241 is a verb or action to tower up (be conspicuous).

By the Father's action of sending HIS only begotten Son for this expressed purpose "suffering", Jesus our captain towers in deed. There are no other contenders for this position, and certainly none that would condescend down to man's level, become his flesh and blood, acquaint himself with our temptations, innocently suffer at the hands of those he came to deliver, receive upon his soul brunt force of all punishment due to us for our multitude of transgression, suffer death, wash us clean of our sins with his own blood. Not a single other want-to-be savior towers as does Jesus, and it is because of the Father's direct action upon Him and the Son's direct unwavering obedience.

A Captain in this case is not formed by consensus. It is not by popularity that the captains chair is given, it is by perfection: perfection in cause, perfection in experience and ability, perfection in station and nobility, perfection proved out in righteous sufferings. It is a perfection like no other that because of where He has been and where He is going, who He is and what He has already been through, that allows Him most assuredly to call His fellow shipmates "brethren".

In this the Father towers as well. That this was preordained and decreed before there was a creation,

that from day one HE stuck fast to the plan,
that HE announced what was to happen before it happened,
that HE went out of HIS way with much time and patience and allowance and long-suffering to prove to man that there could be no other way,
watching man time after time again despite HIS covenant/Torah/interaction/law/reward/promised land/chastisement/angels and prophets, return right back unholy vomit

You see the love of the Father is proven, the Son glorifies the Father (makes HIM to tower) and the Father glorifies the Son (makes Him to tower) and the Holy Spirit seals and testifies of the entire "becoming" verb transaction.

Who then shall we say is our "Captain"

Well it would be the one who came down, became acquainted, lived as we live on this mortal plane, was confirmed by numerous signs and wonders, signified by a multitude of longstanding prophecy, attested to by angels, testified of by those who followed and knew Him, glorified by the Father and Holy Spirit by the power of resurrection. This is who we want our captain to be. The perfect person whose offer of salvation was perfected through His tremendous suffering.

These friend are the qualifications of God's only begotten Son - Jesus!

Is this Jesus the captain now of your soul and destination?

Comment Board: CaptainOfTheirSalvation Tags: Jesus, Salvation, Lord, Captain, Suffering, Perfection,

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