Tasting Death, Toasting Victory

5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
    or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
    you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8     putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2)

Christ, the Eternal Son, came to earth, making Himself "lower than the angels", like us, so He could "taste death" in our place. What a mouthful that is.  But by doing so, He also was doing something far more significant and broad-reaching - He was establishing His eternal Kingdom over all.  The preacher here helps us see that looking just at the cross is good for a time, but we must step back - way back, to see the bigger picture, both universally and chronologically - to see the full impact of that event. When we do, we can see Jesus not with the crown of thorns, but crowned with glory and honor because of the victory He has won.