In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers (Hebrews 2:10-11 NIV).

According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus grew up with several siblings in the tiny town on Nazareth. While the writers don't give us the names of his sisters, they do list at least four brothers: James (probably Jacob), Joses (Joseph Jr.?), Judas and Simon. None of these men believed in Jesus before His resurrection but at least two of them (James and Jude) were converted and even wrote letters in the New Testament. During Jesus' ministry, however, He was somewhat unwilling to give his physical family a place of respect. On one occasion, when His mother and brothers were trying to get Him to come back home (they thought He was out of His mind), Jesus looked around at the disciples and asked, who are my Mother and my brothers? The ones who do the will of my Father in heaven; those are my mother and sister and brother (Matthew 12:48-50, paraphrase, wjt).

Not only does Jesus claim us as kin, He is not ashamed to do so. That's an amazing bit of grace for you and me, but don't overlook the pathway He walked to purchase our place in the family! The Hebrew writer claims that Jesus was made "perfect" by the things He suffered. The word "perfect" in this passage does not imply that Jesus was, prior to His suffering, somehow flawed. The word might better be translated "complete." In the heavenlies, Jesus was "perfect" but He wasn't "us." By emptying Himself and taking on the form of a servant (see Philippians 2), He was able to fill Himself with the humanity He came to save – a humanity that made Him the perfect, complete, one-of-a-kind sacrifice. It was the price He paid to make us, His brothers and sisters, complete.

See you Sunday!