Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Do we fear dying? Certainly our culture is all about life-extending practices such as diet, exercise, medical procedures and medicines. Some will say they don't fear dying but do fear suffering. Knowing that death is a certainty and given a choice, most of us would rather just go to sleep and not wake up than to endure months or years of suffering prior to death.
Yet Jesus did not simply die. He did not just go to sleep one evening and not wake up the next morning. His death was a process of humiliation and suffering, two things we seek to avoid even more than death. Fear of public speaking always outranks fear of dying in polls of people's greatest fears, likely because of the percieved liklihood that one will be humiliated in front of others.
Jesus did more than take on our sins when he died on the cross. The author of Hebrews says that his dying put to death the fear of dying. Death lost its power over us. But that is not all. In being humiliated, Jesus put to death the fear of humiliation. Pride lost its power over us. In suffering, Jesus put to death the fear of suffering. Pain lost its power over us. Jesus, in giving himself for us, set us free from the bondage of pride, pain and death.
When I consider how much energy I put into the avoidance of humiliation, suffering and death, it is liberating to know that those fears can be nailed to the cross and I can live free of them because Jesus broke their power over me. He took my biggest fears on himself, and now by grace I am released from them. It is liberating to see the cross as the symbol of overcoming all the fears that threaten to dominate my life. May I accept this grace!
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