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;
The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians — people who had come to believe in Jesus but were under pressure to abandon that faith. The writer spends much of the book explaining who Jesus is. Here, "the children" refers to human beings — flesh-and-blood people, mortal and breakable. The writer makes a stunning argument: Jesus, though divine, chose to become fully human — taking on a physical body, experiencing hunger, pain, fear, and finally death — specifically so that by dying, he could defeat the devil, who is described as holding the power of death over humanity. The logic is almost paradoxical: the strategy for defeating death was to die.
Lord Jesus, thank you for not watching from a distance — for choosing flesh and blood and the full weight of being human. Help me stop treating my weakness as something that keeps me from you. Meet me in exactly the places where I feel most fragile, because that is where you already are. Amen.
There's something almost absurd about this verse if you sit with it long enough. The plan to defeat death — the master strategy of the God of the universe — was to die. Not to transcend the body, not to appear human, not to simulate suffering from a safe distance. The writer says Jesus *shared in* our humanity. Same flesh. Same blood. Same vulnerability to cold and hunger and grief and the way your heart pounds when you're afraid at 3 AM and can't stop your thoughts. He entered it all the way. What this means for you is stranger than you might expect: your humanity is not an obstacle to faith. Jesus didn't win by rising above it — he won by going through it. Your exhaustion, your grief, your body that gets sick, your mortality — none of it disqualifies you from the presence of God. These are the very things he chose to enter. Whatever you're carrying right now that feels too human, too messy, too fragile to bring into a conversation with God — that is precisely the territory he came for. He is not above it. He has been in it.
Why do you think the writer of Hebrews emphasizes that Jesus "shared in" human flesh and blood, rather than simply appearing to be human? What difference does the distinction make?
Has there been a moment in your life where Jesus's humanity — the fact that he experienced physical suffering and death — felt personally meaningful to you rather than just theologically interesting?
The verse says Jesus's death was meant to "destroy" the one who holds the power of death. How do you hold together the reality of suffering and mortality in your own life with the claim that death's power has been broken?
How does knowing that Jesus fully entered human weakness change the way you show up for people in your life who are suffering or struggling?
In what area of your life have you been treating your humanness — your limits, your pain, your need — as something to hide from God rather than bring to him? What would it look like to bring it instead?
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
2 Timothy 1:10
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8
But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Isaiah 49:25
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Romans 8:3
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Revelation 12:11
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly , triumphing over them in it.
Colossians 2:15
Therefore, since [these His] children share in flesh and blood [the physical nature of mankind], He Himself in a similar manner also shared in the same [physical nature, but without sin], so that through [experiencing] death He might make powerless (ineffective, impotent) him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—
AMP
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
ESV
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
NASB
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
NIV
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
NKJV
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.
NLT
Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it's logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold on death
MSG