Hebrews 2:17 - Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

So Christ had to be made like his brothers to the ultimate end of making propitiation for the sins of the people. That begs a question. What is propitiation and why does it need to be made? To the first question:

What is Propitiation?

Propitiation is defined by The New Bible Dictionary as “Propitiation properly signifies the removal of wrath by the offering of a gift.”(D. R. W. Wood, New Bible Dictionary (InterVarsity Press, 1996, c1982, c1962), 975.)

Here in our verse it is an infinitive, so it is to propitiate. To remove the wrath by the offering of a gift. Other verses that speak to this are:

• Luke 18:13 - mercy
• 1 John 2:2 - propitiation for our sins
• 1 John 4:10 - the son sent to be a propitiation
• Romans 3:25 - God put Christ forward, and this demonstrated God’s righteousness.
• Hebrews 9:5 - The mercy seat.

The main idea seems to be this: Christ was sent by God to be this propitiation. This propitiation is connected to the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant of  the Old Testament, and it is concerning the removal of sin and mercy from God. It also has to do with making sure that God’s righteousness stays intact because it seems like God’s not as holy as he claims because he has passed over sins in the past. But now by this propitiation, God has been vindicated and is both just and the justifier.

So propitiation is the removal of some hostile disposition that God has towards sin, that his son has removed by his giving of his life.

Why does it need to be made?

God is holy and cannot tolerate, wink at, put up with, and allow to go unpunished, sin. His Son, Christ Jesus , vindicated God’s righteousness, so that God would be both just and the justifier. Propitiation is needed because God is holy. Wrath demands satisfaction, and this then means two things about us:

1. We are in need of this propitiation and so we are at odds with God. This is sin. We disobey God’s word, directions, and purposes and because of that God’s divine wrath is against us. Either we have to not disobey him(see the Ten Commandments for that) or we have to have the wrath removed. Otherwise we will suffer under the wrath.
2. We can do nothing to satisfy God. If we could, Jesus would not have been put forward.

So what will you do with Jesus?

Christ’s Glory in our Suffering

Hebrews 2:17 - Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

It was absolutely necessary for Christ to be made like us. Why?

1. The words in this phrase “he had to be made like” carry the idea of ought. It was a moral obligation.
2. Had he not been made like us, he would have never been a merciful or faithful high priest. A high priest mediates. If he were not like us, he could not mediate for us.
3. He as high priest had to make propitiation for the sins of the people. This also is a result of his being made like us. If he had not been made like us, he could not have made propitiation.

Summary: The work of atonement, the work of propitiation, the work of redemption demands that Christ be made like us. It was a divine necessity that once God committed to save some, he must see to it that God the Son came in the flesh and dwelt among us. God did not have to save us, but once he chose to save us, then it became a divine necessity for God to come in the flesh. Mediation cannot happen with out both parties being represented, so Christ became the God man, that he might make propitiation for the people.

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Working Definitions:

1. Propitiation - to satisfy divine wrath.
2. Atonement - the act of atoning for, paying for sins
3. Necessity - something has has to happen.

Recently I have been thinking about blogging. I at one time had a blog, but it died a slow roasted death over the fire of busyness. However, this blog Post from Abraham Piper concerning 6 reasons pastor’s should blog, makes me pause and think.

So this is a test blog. How many people read this? How many people hit this site? How many people would benefit from a consistent article here? How many church members? How many visitors?

So let me hear from you on this. I will leave this post as the main post for a week, then I will rewrite it next Monday and give us a couple of weeks for response. Just send your response through the comments section so that others can see if this would be a good place for dialogue.

So would you read it?