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. (Hebrews 2:17)

Depending on which translation of the Bible you are using, this passage may cause one great confusion. If you have the King James, the verse reads, made Him perfect. So does this mean that Jesus was not perfect before this time?

But the Greek word used here, and other places in the New Testament, has nothing to do with perfection in a philosophical or abstract way. Instead, it has a very concrete meaning; it describes a person or thing made fully adequate to carry out the purpose for which it was designed. Examples of this include the spotless Lamb who was to be sacrificed; of a scholar who is no longer at the elementary stage, but mature; and a fully-grown human being or animal. So it was through His suffering that Jesus was truly identified with us. If Jesus had come in a form in which He was unable to suffer, then He would not be like us and could never serve as our Saviour. Jesus was perfect from eternity, but in His Incarnation He was perfectly fitted out in truly human flesh to be our Saviour; truly God and man.

And this Salvation was achieved because the Author, the one who begins something so that others may follow, was Jesus Christ. And this Jesus Christ became a propitiation for our sins. That means, that our sins alienated us from God. Our sins angered God so much that He would have nothing to do with us because of His Holiness and Justice. However, He still loved us, and put into action His plan of Salvation through Jesus. In His death and resurrection, Jesus paid the price for our sin, and thus God’s anger at sin has been assuaged. And even more than assuaged, but He is now our loving Father who bids us come to Him as dear children come to their dear father.

Prayer: Thank You Jesus for bringing peace with God and restoring a loving relationship with Him. In Your true humanity and true divinity, You have purchased my Salvation for me as a free and unmerited gift. For this let me give You thanks and praise now and forevermore, Amen.