Today's first reading, Hebrews 2: 5-12, speaks of God the Father's plan of salvation. He sent His only begotten Son, the Word of God, through whom all things came to be, to whom all things are made subject and through whom all persons are consecrated, to save us from the Evil One, the One who tempted Adam and Eve in Paradise to mistrust the Lord God and tempts us repeatedly today to question God. The One who consecrates us and those being consecrated all come from one Source and are returning to that Source.
Jesus, fully human, has already returned to the Father and sits at his right hand in the inherited royal Kingdom that lasts forever and that Jesus has secured for us by His life, death and resurrection. Jesus, who was like us in all things but sin, learned obedience to the Father from what He suffered in assuming human nature and all that being human entails. Jesus trusted God even to the point of death on the cross, whereas the Israelites failed over and over again to trust the Lord on their way to the Promised Land, worshipping idols and becoming like the pagan nations around them. Through his trusting obedience, however, Jesus reconciled us to God the Father, reopened the gates of heaven to us, and secured our salvation and sanctification.
Like Jesus, we are here to learn to trust God versus putting our trust in this world's idols. We are here to learn obedience from what we suffer, as modeled by Jesus. Many times when I face hardship, encounter the painful realities of this life and find myself frustrated by the limitations of human nature, I am rebellious, disobedient and mistrusting of God. At those times I need Jesus to mentor me, comfort me and restore me to right relationships with God, with others and with myself.
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