I have been reading some of Albert Vanhoye, A Different Priest: The Epistle to the Hebrews (transl. Leo Arnold; Miami: Convivium Press, 2011), in preparation for today's sermon. Here is a crucial passage:
In Christ God is with us in our suffering.
In Christ we have been freed from the fear of death.
Death, being a consequence of, and punishment for, sin (Gen 3,3.19; Rom 5,12), placed mankind in a fearsome state of separation from God (Ps 88,4; Isa 38,11) and oppressed them under the power of the devil (Wis 2,24). With his death, Christ broke the power of the devil, for he turned an event of terrible separation into a covenant event (9,15); he used his death to introduce his human nature into the heavenly intimacy of God (9,24) and to open up that same way to all mankind (10,19), doing so by accepting in his death the positive action of God who was «making him perfect» by inspiring him with perfect filial docility and full brotherly solidarity. (111-112)
Note: Vanhoye cites the Psalter in the numbering of the old Greek and Latin versions, so his reference to Ps 88:4 should be translated to Ps 89:3 in most English versions but the reference may be to Ps 89:49.In Christ God became one of us.
In Christ God is with us in our suffering.
In Christ we have been freed from the fear of death.
