Hebrews 2:14-16 – Christ came to deliver us from the fear of death

There are two things to bear in mind. Firstly, the recipients of this letter were facing tremendous persecution and the writer wanted to encourage them to press on. Secondly, there were some of them who were at the brink of returning to embrace their former faith in Judaism. Hence, the aim of the author was to demonstrate the total sufficiency of Christ. He hoped to encourage them to go on in their faith by seeing Christ in all His humanity, and how He took God’s judgment on their behalf.

In verse 14, the writer showed that Christ became man in order to deliver them from their predicament. What predicament? It is the power and the fear of death. The drift of this verse implies that Christ’s victory over death was secured by His resurrection. Had Christ remained in the grave, He could not have rendered the devil powerless and delivered believers from the power and fear of death. 

Is the devil in control of death? This verse seems to indicate that the devil has the power of death. But is he? The answer is obviously no. The Bible clearly shows that death came as a result of man’s sin and disobedience. Death is God’s judgment on man’s rebellion toward Him. It is God that has a control over death. But the devil uses death that resulted from man’s fall to constantly remind man that death would be their ultimate end. And hence, subject them to lifelong bondage to the fear of death (verse 15). But when Christ died and rose from the dead again, the power of death had been broken. Believers need to fear death’s threat no more. Thus, in that sense, believers are delivered from the power and fear of death.

Verse 16 appears out of place if we do not see it in context. Bear in mind that some of the people reading this epistle were so absorbed with angels. The author sought to remind them that Christ did not come to rescue angels, but the descendants of Abraham. It was them that He came for. The point of the writer is this: Jesus did not come as an angel, but as a man. This is so because His mission is to provide salvation to men.  

So Paul boldly declared in 1 Corinthians 15:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”