Hebrews 2: Drifting Away...

Introduction
An L.A. Times article titled "A sea cruise on a boat made of kiddie pools and buckets — what could go wrong?" dated May 9, 2021, recounts this story. Two college students in a homemade boat made from plastic kiddie wading pools, plywood, 20 5-gallon buckets, and duct tape were rescued off the coast of Santa Barbara early Saturday. The two male college students in their 20s set off from Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara sometime Friday evening or early Saturday. Fire personnel received an emergency call at 2 a.m. from someone on shore who saw strobe lights they carried on board. They appeared to be drifting out to sea, said Mike Eliason, the Santa Barbara County fire spokesman. Fire personnel rescued them about 300 yards from the shore at 2:37 a.m.
 
The students did not explain why they were out at sea at that hour. Eliason said alcohol was not involved and that the voyage may have been part of a school project. Their school was not identified. “If this is happening at 1 p.m., I’m not sure there’s much commotion,” Eliason said. “When you’re going out in the middle of the night in a pitch-black environment, the timing is odd.” The students were not wearing wetsuits in mid-50-degree weather. In photos, one student wore only swim trunks, while the other wore shorts and a shirt. They were in separate wading pools attached to a single large piece of plywood and appeared to be paddling out to sea.
 
Eliason said the natural course and strength of the tides pulled the duo south, despite their efforts to head north. “They didn’t seem to be in any distress, but they were just floating out there,” Eliason said. “We managed to bring them back to shore, and they were grateful. I just wish they had planned whatever they were doing a little better.”

Hebrews 2: 1 - 4
Hebrews chapter 2 states the purpose of this letter. The author saw the great difficulty the readers were facing and that many were crumbling under pressure. He writes to encourage, or exhort, the recipients to stay grounded and anchored in their faith in Jesus Christ. Verse one contains a warning to his readers. The writer states that since Jesus is the creator, the radiance of God’s glory, the exact imprint of God, and the sustainer of the universe, he sits at the right hand of the Father. His name is more excellent than the angels and superior to them. Thus, they need to pay attention to the message they received. They are to pay attention so that they do not “drift away” or lose sight of their salvation.

The phrase “drift away” implies drifting off course. The overtones suggest holding a ship toward port or being anchored or fastened to the seabed, so it remains grounded and immovable. The implication is that the recipients must keep a firm grasp on the truth, so they do not drift away from the faith out of carelessness or apathy. Drifting is subtle. You only need to go to the beach, get in the Gulf, and sit in an inner tube or other floating device. If you do not pay attention or take measures to stay close to the shore, you are in danger of slowly drifting further from it. If you are not fully careful, you could drift to a point where you are too far out and need rescuing. This is the picture the writer of Hebrews is painting. Be proactive in your pursuit, understanding, and planting yourself in the firm foundation of the truth.
 
Vs 2 – 3: “the message God delivered through angels…” is another way of saying the word of God was spoken through prophets.  This message is reliable and legally valid because God spoke it.  There is no indication that Angels were present at the giving of the Law; however, Deut. 33:2 does declare that “God came with ten thousand holy ones.  Holy ones can be defined from the Hebrew word that means “Set apart ones.” 
 
This critical demand to pay attention to what we have heard in verse 1 anticipates the warning that the message of salvation can be ignored, resulting in devastating consequences or just retribution.  A lack of concern and care for God’s word invites “just retribution.”  Just retribution is a fair payment proportional to the offense or crime, according to God’s judgment. 
 
“This great salvation” means that they are faced with greater responsibility and greater consequence.  The question of how to escape is rhetorical, and the answer is that no escape is possible.
 
Hebrews 2:5 – 9
Vs 5: ‘the future world’ is the main subject of both this passage and the letter to the recipients; this is why hope is a recurring theme throughout this epistle. A good deal of the argument in Hebrews is that, in Jesus the Messiah, hope has already come into the world and is giving signs of the new world that will eventually come to be.
 
The continuing theme of the previous two passages is that God, from the beginning, appointed his Son to be superior to the angels. This time, though, he speaks of this superiority in terms of the future role given to the Son. In the coming world, God intends that the original order of creation should finally be realized: the world is to be ruled, wisely and creatively, by human beings who live in trusting obedience to God himself.
 
V6: Quotes Psalm 8:4–6
In this Psalm, David recognizes the “smallness” of humanity in comparison to the expanse of the universe. He is in awe that, in our “smallness,” God still remembers us. He is not a distant God who is far off. God doesn’t merely acknowledge humanity; we are on His mind, and He thinks about us.
 
No branch of science proclaims God’s greatness and man’s insignificance more eloquently than astronomy. The simple fact that distances must be measured in light-years (the distance light travels in a year) illustrates the point. Light travels 186,000 miles per second, and there are 31.5 million seconds in a year, so it covers roughly six trillion miles in a single year! Yet some stars are billions of light-years from Earth. One might almost think God is too busy running the universe to take any part in our lives. Sometimes we think of Him as a busy, distant father so involved in his work that he neglects his family (children). David knows better, though; God is not too busy for us. We are always on his mind.
 
“Son of man” emphasizes humanity's frail mortality. David’s question is, “Why does an infinite God even care about mortal man?” The answer is found in Jesus… Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man.
 
“Son of man” is Jesus' favorite self-designation, indicating the true meaning of his identity and ministry:

1. The humble servant who has come to forgive ordinary sinners (cf. Matt. 9:6)
2. The suffering servant whose atoning death and resurrection will redeem his people.
3. The glorious King and Judge who will return to establish God's kingdom on earth.

 
“care for him” means to pay attention, to visit, to look after. God cares so much for humanity that he became human, the lowest of humans, and gave his life as a ransom so we could forever be in fellowship with our loving Creator.
 
Vs 5: “You have made him…” We are created by God. We are not an afterthought or an accident of nature but a beautifully crafted creation of God.
 
“a little lower” … in the created order, we are created a little lower than the divine beings (some translations imply angels, while others suggest we are lower than God). This is a position of distinction and honor. God has placed humanity in the highest position of honor among any earthly creatures. We are a little lower than the heavenly beings, but God has put us in a place of honor. If we are not in awe that God cares for humanity, then it is certainly awe-inspiring to know that we are exalted to a place of honor.
 
“crowned them with glory and honor” … God has placed on our heads the right to be his Kingly representatives. We have the honor of bearing the image of God, since we are made in his likeness. We represent God… Let that sink in a bit. Maybe that will help you determine how you live your life. 
 
What responsibilities come with being kingly representatives? 
 
Vs 6: “You gave them authority over all things…” God has appointed humanity to have authority and rule over His creation. This does not mean an abusive, careless, or dictatorial authority, but rather one who lovingly and carefully tends to someone else’s belongings. If it wasn’t enough to be thought of and cared for by God, and placed in a position of honor, we are also given charge to care for His creation.  He has entrusted us with all He has created.
 
Hebrews 2:8 - 9
Vs 8: This clearly hasn’t happened yet. Humans are not ruling the world, bringing God’s order and justice to bear on the whole of creation. Everything is still in a state of semi-chaos.

Vs 9: Jesus is humanity’s representative. His exaltation as Lord after his earthly ministry, suffering, and death has placed him in the role set out for humanity from the beginning. He has gone ahead of the rest of us into God’s future, the future in which order and justice will come to the world. 

In the second half of verse 9, the author of Hebrews sums up: in his suffering of death, Jesus has, by God’s grace, been enabled “to taste death for everyone.” A good deal of the remainder of this letter will now be devoted to describing how this comes about and what it means. Until then, we need to rejoice that in Jesus, God has already conquered death on our behalf and is already ruling the world as its just and rightful Lord.
 
Hebrews 2:10 - 16
Since Jesus tasted death for everyone, it is fitting that he would bring salvation to the “many sons.” God’s purpose is to bring people to glory, and this happens through Jesus. Jesus was morally perfect, but through his suffering, temptation, death, and exaltation to the right hand of the Father, he is now adequate, complete, and fully qualified to carry out salvation and be proclaimed Savior or champion.  
 
Hearers familiar with the Hellenistic world knew that the legendary hero Hercules was designated ‘champion’ and ‘savior.’ They would almost certainly interpret the word savior in v 10 in light of the allusion to Jesus as the hero who came to the aid of the oppressed people of God. This representation of Jesus’s achievement was intended to recall one of the more famous labors of Hercules, his wrestling with Death, “the dark-robed lord of the dead.” The designation of Jesus as champion/savior in a context depicting him as a hero suggests that the writer intended to present Jesus to his hearers in language that drew freely upon the Hercules tradition in popular Hellenism.
 
Vs 11 - 13:  As the perfected and complete savior Jesus “sanctifies” and makes humanity holy.  Sanctify means to consecrate, make holy, or purify. 
to Jesus’ dependence on the Father in carrying out his earthly ministry.
 
Vs 14 – 16:  The purpose of Jesus becoming human.  Jesus needed to become human so humanity could be saved.  Salvation is attained through Jesus’ death on the cross.  What Jesus accomplished on the cross.

1. Jesus took on the form of mortal human nature so “he might destroy” the power of the evil oppressor who holds the power of death and “that he might deliver” those who had been enslaved.
2. He set free those in bondage to the fear of death. The author implies that the devil holds people in slavery because of their fear of death (15). Individuals can be freed from Satan’s “power” and liberated to serve God through forgiveness or cleansing made possible by Jesus’ death. He removes the danger of judgment and conviction for those who trust in him and gives confidence in life in the world to come.

Vs 16: The author continues his comparison of Christ to the angels, showing that Jesus did not come to save or aid the angels but extends his salvation and help to God’s children.

Conclusion
The warning of Hebrews 2 is not that we suddenly decide to walk away from Christ. The danger is that people slowly drift. They become distracted, careless, or simply stop paying attention. Before they realize it, they are farther from where they intended to be.
But the good news is that Jesus has not drifted. He has come to us, suffered for us, defeated death, and opened the way to God. So the answer is not to try harder to keep ourselves from drifting in our own strength. The answer is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ.
The question for each of us is simple: Are we holding firmly to Jesus, or are we slowly drifting away?
 

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