“So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” Heb.2:11 NLT 

Footsteps #421 Think about that verse! You are one of the family, Jesus is your elder brother! Hebrews 1 talks of Jesus as the Son of God, the ruler over the angels, and “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Heb.1:3). In Hebrews 2, Jesus is the Son of man, who was made lower than the angels, and who adopted human nature with all its frailty, even to the point of death  (Heb. 2:7). In Hebrews 1, God says about Jesus: “‘You are My Son’” (Heb. 1:5). In Hebrews 2, Jesus refers to us as His “‘brethren’ ”  (Heb. 2:12). In Hebrews 1, the Father declares the Son’s divine sovereignty (Heb. 1:8–12). In Hebrews 2, the Son affirms His faithfulness to the Father (Heb. 2:13). In Hebrews 1, Jesus is the divine Lord, Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign. In Hebrews 2, Jesus is the human High Priest, merciful and faithful. In summary, the presentation of Jesus as a faithful and merciful Brother is depicted in the description of the Son as the ultimate manifestation of the eternal Creator God (Heb.1:1–4).  

Please read Heb.2:9-13. This passage introduces Jesus as the Goel redeemer. The easiest way to explain this concept from Lev.25:25-27, 47-49, is to see it illustrated in the story of Ruth, whose inheritance could only be redeemed by the closest relative – Boaz loved and married her. He was her Goel redeemer.  

In Luke 4:16-19 Jesus stood up in the synagogue one Sabbath and read from Isa’s 5^th Messianic poem in Isa 61:1-3, and then declared this to be His mission statement. The passage talks about ‘release’ and ‘liberty’ which is a reference to the year of Jubilee and the Goel redeemer concept. Now notice how Jesus is described in Heb.2:14-18. Please read this great passage of scripture. 

This passage describes us as slaves of the devil, but our nearest relative, Jesus, “who is not ashamed to call us brethren,”(NASB)  has redeemed us. Paradoxically, by taking our nature and redeeming us, Jesus revealed His divine nature, as well.  In the Old Testament, the true Redeemer of Israel, their closest Relative, was Yahweh (e.g., Ps.19:14, Isa.41:14, Isa.43:14, Isa.44:22, Jer.31:11, Hos.13:14). 

Hebrews says that Jesus was not ashamed to call us His brethren (2:11).  Despite being one with God, Jesus embraced us as part of His family.  This solidarity contrasts with the public shaming that the hearers and readers of Hebrews suffered in their communities (10:33). Is that amazing? There is more!