Introduction:

We have some budgies at home – and although they are usually quite well behaved, they sometimes cause a bit of an uproar in our house! Like the time I was cleaning their cage and they managed to escape, for instance. There were only two of them, but it seemed as if there were twenty! They were on the window sill, they were on top of the fridge, we had to dash for the door or they would have been outside… but eventually we managed to get them back into their little cage.

It does seem cruel, doesn’t it, keeping birds in a cage like that. Maybe I should go home just now and just open the door of their cage and let them go…

On the other hand, I realise that they wouldn’t have much of a chance if I did that! They would have their freedom, but for how long would they make it out there? Maybe a cat would get them. Or even one of our big dogs! Even if they managed to keep away from other animals, they probably wouldn’t even know how to look for their own food! No, I guess our budgies should rather just stay in their safe little cage – because freedom wouldn’t really mean freedom to them – instead, it would mean death.

Scared to death of death? Well, I guess there are many people for whom this is true. Death is just such a horrible subject to think about! There could be pain, there could be sickness, there could be tragedy… and who knows what will happen to us after death? And so there are people who go through life, too scared to really live and make a difference with their lives, because they are afraid to die. Their fear of death becomes a cage to them. A bondage.

People have been afraid of death for many centuries. If one looks at the old Egyptian tombs, one finds all sorts of things there – provisions, weapons, idols, all because what happens after death, is unknown! It’s a scary thing!

It is that fear, that bondage, that cage, that Jesus came to do something about. You see, Jesus came to live on earth as a man, and he died on the cross in our place, in that way gaining victory over death! He did that so that death might no longer be a scary thing to us!

Let’s come back to the thought of a bird in a cage. That bird needs 3 things (at least!) in order to be really free. He needs firstly:

1. An open door.

An opportunity to get out. The picture that comes to my mind is that of a school when the bell rings at the end of the day – and the children just burst out from the door – out of the classroom into freedom!

What opens the door for us not to be afraid any longer? The death of Jesus. Do you remember what happened in the Temple when Jesus died? The curtain, that heavy, thick piece of material that hung between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies, tore from the top right down to the bottom. A door opened! The door between God and the people was opened because of the death of Jesus! Because the death of Jesus took away that thing that has always stood between God and man – that thing called sin.

There is an open door for us to fly away from our fear – our fear of death, our fear of living full lives, our fear of becoming what God wants us to be.

And yet too often something holds us back.

We sometimes sit like a bird in a cage, afraid to fly out through the open door – why? Because of another fear – a fear of failure. "What if I don’t make it?" "What if my wings aren’t strong enough to fly?" "What if I just go and make the same mistakes again and get caught again?"

So we need more than just an open door.

We need some reassurance.

We need

2. hope.

Let’s read v 17 of Heb 2………

Jesus was made like us in every way.

Did you know that Jesus was (and is) human like you and me? O yes, he is more than human, he is ALSO divine – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how we feel.

He knows what joy feels like. He celebrated weddings and feasts!

He knows what sadness feels like. He cried over Jerusalem.

He knows what loneliness feels like. He begged his disciples to stay awake with him that last evening but they didn’t, and Jesus was so alone!

He knows what hunger feels like. He fasted once for 40 days, remember?
And pain? He knows what that feels like too. He died on the cross with much pain, so that we can go to that place one day where the Bible promises us there will be no more pain!

The Bible says that Jesus was made human – so that he might be merciful and faithful as a high priest – as one who stands between God and the people.

That is our hope. That is more than just an invitation to go into freedom through an open door – that is someone, a human being who knows our inmost feelings, to take our hand and walk through that door with us.

Maybe you are aware that you have often struggled with fear. Maybe you have been offered the open door before – you know the death of Christ can set you free but you just haven’t had the courage to move out into freedom. Remember you don’t have to walk alone. You don’t have to be afraid that you might fail. We have such a very human high priest to walk along with us.

So, suppose I find myself like a bird in a cage, sitting there looking at the open door and longing to be free. Knowing there is hope. Knowing I won’t be alone. Knowing the price for my freedom has been paid. Yet I still don’t go. Still I wonder: What about the future? What if the enemy comes and gets me?

Another thing I would need to set me free is

3. Help.

Listen to v 18…………..

Because of his suffering, because of his death, Jesus is able to help us!

Yes, there are temptations. They come to us in different ways. To the working parent they come sometimes after a long day when we are tired and there is a little one needing some love or attention for his small problems. The temptation is to snap, not so? To take out the burdens of the day on our closest loved ones.

Temptations come to the student who hasn’t studied for an exam and knows he can just bend across the desk to see the answers on someone else’s paper.

Temptation comes when times are hard and there is some company money that no one would notice if you just slipped it into your pocket…

Temptations come in every day life. In every day situations. Our enemy is subtle and yes, he is stronger than we are.

And when Jesus sets us free, our enemy is waiting out there like a cat for a bird. BUT there is help! Jesus, says our reading, is able to help those who are being tempted, because He himself suffered when he was tempted.

Jesus knows temptation. When the Devil tempted Jesus, there in the wilderness and at other times too, those temptations were real. Some say: "O, but Jesus was divine! Jesus could never give in to temptation." Do you think Satan would have wasted his time trying to tempt Jesus if Jesus couldn’t yield to him? The truth is not that he couldn’t give in to temptation – it’s that he wouldn’t. And it took real will power and a real struggle!

Because of that struggle Jesus can truly set us free.

By his death he sets us free from the fear of death. He opens the door for us.

By his human life he sets us free from our fear of failure. He gives us the help we need and walks with us as a merciful, faithful high priest.

By his own temptations he has a deep and real understanding of our temptations. And he knows the enemy that prowls like a roaring lion – but our Saviour Himself IS the lion of Judah! And he can help.

Application:

I wonder how many of us tonight feel like birds in a cage.

Captives. Bound by fear. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of the Devil.

Do you know the door of your cage is open?

You can fly out free!

You don’t have to do it alone, you don’t have to be afraid of being caught and locked up again, all because of what Jesus has done for you!

Won’t you be free?