thou hast subjected all things under his feet. For in subjecting all things to him, he has left nothing unsubject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to *him*,
The verse quotes Psalm 8, but stops short of where the psalm itself stops, and the writer then presses the word "all" as far as it will go.
Notice where the quotation stops. The psalm goes on to add words that seem to limit the "all things" set under His feet to the things on earth and in the sea. For the moment, the Old Testament view went no further than that. But in our chapter, as soon as we turn from the quotation to the explanation, a far wider range of things comes into view. We are told to give the little word "all" its full value, without the least shadow of qualification. Search the universe, and you will find nothing that is not put under Him.
Another writer names the one thing that word "all" does not cover:
His rule will have no limits at all. It will be as wide as the whole universe. Nothing is left out, as Paul teaches, except Him, God the Father, who put all things under Him (1 Cor. 15:27).
The "him" of the psalm is a man. That matters, because God first gave rule over the earth to a man who lost it.
But Adam was a picture of Him who was to come (Rom. 5:14). The first man could not hold the gift of rule, because he himself had become the defeated slave of sin and death. That gift has now passed into the hands of the second Man, with heaven added to it. The language of Psalm 8 describes the rule given in paradise, but it means far more than that. All things are there made subject to the rule of man. For in that Psalm the Spirit has the second Adam in view, not the first.
Elsewhere the Bible speaks of this subjection as already done. Commentators explain that the two statements look at it from different angles.
So here the writer of the letter to the Hebrews explains the eighth Psalm to his readers and says: we see now that this has not yet been fulfilled. This does not contradict Ephesians, where the same Psalm comes up and where it says that He has put all things under His feet. In Ephesians we have God's settled purpose. That purpose is that all things will be put under the feet of the glorified Christ, and when God purposes something it is as good as done. But here in Hebrews 2 the writer is speaking about timing.
One writer holds Psalm 8 up against what our eyes can check today.
We do not see all things put under Him. But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour. We see that half done, but not the other half.
So should we complain about the gap between the crown and the world we see?
Are we then to complain because, while Christ is on high, we do not yet see all things subjected to Him? He is crowned with glory; but Satan is still the god and prince of the world, so all who have faith meet hostility — and the more faithful they are, the more hostility they meet.
That includes what we see among Christ's own followers:
Even those who claim to be His followers show very little sign of being really subject to Him. The truth is that we live in a time when there is very little to see, unless we have the telescope-like sight that faith gives.
One writer explains what the Heir is still waiting for.
So He is raised to the highest seat, and that is the pledge of all that is to follow. For now we do not yet see all things put under Him, but we do see Him crowned with glory and honour. And we know from elsewhere why He has not yet entered that immense and glorious inheritance. He is waiting for all the joint-heirs to be called out. He will give them the inheritance at the same moment that He takes it Himself, for if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
- Decree. God has already put everything under the Son of Man. The word "all" carries no limit — the one exception is God the Father, who did the subjecting.
- Man. Adam was given rule over the earth and could not hold it. That gift has passed to the second Man, and heaven has been added to it.
- Delay. Ephesians gives God's purpose; Hebrews gives the timing. Both are true — the purpose is settled, but not yet on display.
- Sight. What we do see is a world where Satan is still god and prince. So faith, not eyesight, is how the believer holds the promise.
- Waiting. He has not yet entered the inheritance. He is gathering the joint-heirs, and they will receive it with Him on the day He takes it.
but we see Jesus, who [was] made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; so that by the grace of God he should taste death for every thing.
Psalm 8 said God would put everything under man's feet, but no one sees that world today. Verse 9 answers with a different sight: one Man, already crowned, and the death that brought Him there.
The psalm has not failed. Part of it has already come true, and that part guarantees the rest.
We do not yet see everything this psalm announces: that all things should be put under His feet. But a part is already fulfilled, and this is a guarantee to the heart that the whole will be. Made a little lower than the angels to suffer death, He is crowned with glory and honour. He has suffered death, and He is crowned as the reward for His work. By that work He perfectly glorified God in the place where God had been dishonoured. And He saved man — those who believe in Him — where man was lost.
He did not merely receive the crown. He has a right to it.
He has rights because of His suffering — He tasted death for everything (Hebrews 2:9). He is now crowned with glory and with honour. The cross entitles Him to the crown.
The "seeing" in this verse is not the ordinary kind of sight.
"But we see Jesus." This is faith's language. We see with the eyes of a believing heart. What we see is the Person of the Son of Man at the right hand of God. Since it is truth, then truth in the heart responds to it. He chose to be made a little lower than angels, though in nature He is infinitely higher than they are. Now He is crowned with glory and honour.
One reason took Him below the angels. That reason also shows why no angel could take His place.
It was "for the suffering of death" that Jesus was made lower than the angels. What a low abasement for the Son of God! What was Adam's highest honour was only the first immeasurable step down for God's Fellow. That descent for our sakes ended in the grave. Death has no power over angels. It never reached so high. Its prey is man. God appointed it so, judging His sinful creature with a penalty that could be paid — if only someone fit could be found to stand in his place.
Every person tastes death. The words "by the grace of God" show why His tasting of it was not like ours.
His work had to be real, matching the responsibility He had taken on Himself. It also involved the glory of God in the place where sin was. So He had to suffer; He had to taste death. It is by the grace of God that He did so — we, because of sin; He, because of grace for sin.
Commentators differ over the last words. The ESV reads "for everyone." An older translation reads "for every thing," and some hold that the wider sense fits the context best.
How blessed and exact are the words added: "that He by God's grace should taste death for every thing"! This rendering, rather than "man," seems to suit the drift of the context best. It means the whole sphere — not just a universe, but "every thing" that His death brings under its reconciling power. The following verse brings in persons, and different language is used there.
That wide reach raises a question. Does it mean every person can say their sins were borne?
Both things are blessedly true of the death of Christ — He died for all, and by the grace of God He tasted death for every man. But according to the teaching of Scripture, only believers are entitled to say that He bore their sins in His death on the cross. That claim involves faith in His work. It also involves the benefits of His death coming to those who have that faith.
- Down. He was made lower than the angels for one reason — death. Angels are beyond death's reach; only a man could die, and He became one to do it.
- Death. We taste death because of sin; He tasted it by grace, for sin. The same experience, opposite causes.
- Reach. That death touches "every thing" — the whole scene that will come under His feet. But only faith in His work lets a person say He bore my sins.
- Crown. The glory is the reward of the suffering, not a substitute for it. The cross is what entitles Him to the crown.
- Sight. We cannot yet see all things under Him. We can see Him. That half-fulfilled psalm is the guarantee that the rest is coming.