“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 2:14 Mean?
The writer of Hebrews explains why Jesus took on flesh and blood: because the children he came to save are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. God became human because humans are what needed saving.
The purpose: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death — the devil. Jesus took on a body so that body could die. And in dying, he destroyed the one who wielded death as a weapon.
"Destroy" (katargeo) means to render powerless, to make ineffective, to abolish. The devil is not annihilated but disarmed. Death was his primary weapon. The resurrection took it away.
The logic is stunning: God became flesh so he could die. He died so death could be defeated. He defeated death so the devil could be disarmed. The incarnation was a strategic military operation — taking on human nature as the vehicle for destroying the enemy's greatest weapon.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Why did God need to become human to defeat the devil — why not simply overpower him from heaven?
- 2.What does it mean that death was 'destroyed' even though people still die?
- 3.How does Jesus disarming the devil change your relationship with the fear of death?
- 4.How does the incarnation being a 'strategic operation' reshape your view of why God became human?
Devotional
He also himself likewise took part of the same. God took on flesh. Not because he needed a body, but because you have one — and the body is what needed saving.
That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. Jesus took on a body so that body could die. And in dying, he destroyed the one who used death as his primary weapon. The incarnation was not just a visit. It was an invasion — God entering enemy territory in a body designed to absorb the worst the enemy could deliver.
Destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. The devil's greatest weapon was death. Jesus walked straight into it, let it do its worst, and then broke it from the inside. The weapon that was supposed to destroy him became the instrument of the enemy's defeat.
The devil still operates. But his primary weapon — the terror of death — has been disarmed. It no longer carries the same power over those who belong to Christ. Death has been dethroned. The one who wielded it has been rendered powerless.
The body you live in — fragile, mortal, subject to death — is the same kind of body God put on to defeat the enemy. Your humanity is not a weakness. It is the battlefield where victory was won.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And deliver them, who through fear of death,.... This is another end of Christ's assuming human nature, and dying in it,…
Forasmuch then - Since; or because. As the children - Those who were to become the adopted children of God; or who were…
The children are partakers of flesh and blood - Since those children of God, who have fallen and are to be redeemed, are…
Here the apostle proceeds to assert the incarnation of Christ, as taking upon him not the nature of angels, but the seed…
A fuller statement of the moral fitness of Christ's participation in human sufferings
14. are partakers of flesh and…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture