Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 2:9

"But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, [even] Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every [man]." — Hebrews 2:9 (ASV)

But if we do not see the fulfillment of this passage from Scripture in the way we might have expected, we do see a fulfillment in another way. We see it fulfilled in Jesus. He has gone through the experience of living out this earthly life, and he is now “crowned... with glory and honor” (the very words of the psalm) because of his saving work for humanity. The writer calls the Savior by his human name, Jesus—a usage we find nine times in this letter (here; 3:1; 4:14; 6:20; 7:22; 10:19; 12:2, 24; 13:12); on each occasion he seems to place emphasis on the humanity of our Lord. That Jesus was true man meant a good deal to the writer of Hebrews. We do not see the psalm fulfilled in the human race at large, but we do see it fulfilled in the man Jesus.

He had a genuine incarnation because he “was made a little lower than the angels.”

But we do not now see him in this lowly place, for he is now crowned with glory and honor. He is in the place of supremacy that the psalmist envisaged. And he is there because of his saving work, “because he suffered death.” “So that” looks back to the reference to suffering rather than to “crowned”; the clause it introduces shows the purpose of the death of Jesus. This is one of several places in the NT where someone is said to “taste” (GK 1174) death (Mark 9:1). The verb means “to taste with the mouth,” from which the metaphorical sense “come to know” develops. It means here that Jesus died, with all that that entails. By God’s “grace” (GK 5921), Christ’s saving work was accomplished. Grace is one of the great Christian words, and it is not surprising to find it connected with the doctrine of the atonement here.