Jesus Might?

 

I recently found myself confused while doing my night-time devotional reading.

 

The printed verse of scripture read: “Jesus might free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.” Hebrews 2:15

 

“Jesus MIGHT free those…” I questioned! “I didn’t think there was a question about it. I thought that Jesus WOULD free us.”

 

That night, I left the thought at that. I continued with the devotion, said my prayers, and went to sleep.

 

But each night after that, I found myself going back to that verse and that word MIGHT. I couldn’t fathom how scripture would put a condition on the freeing power of Christ.

 

Finally, last night, I decided to read the verse of scripture in context. I figured that something was not right—that the verse was taken out of context, that it was part of a larger passage, or that it was the second half of a sentence. I was correct.

 

The context of the printed verse, in the NIV, reads: 14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

 

Ummm. Yeh. The printed verse was not only taken out of context as the second half of a sentence, but it was changed! Look at verse 15 here: “AND free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” AND free those. And. Something else. What’s more. This will happen. Not MIGHT.

 

Might, in “Jesus MIGHT free those who all their lives were held in slavery by fear of death,” indicates a condition, a possibility, a picking of who Jesus chooses. Not the promised salvation of all who believe.

 

And where did the word JESUS come from in the printed devotion version? Yes. The passage is talking about Jesus’s humanity. But in verse 15, because of how the text is divided, there isn’t a reference to Jesus or he. It simply says “And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

 

Sigh.

 

I like this devotion book. It provides scripture passages, hymns, and beautiful prayers to meditate upon. And yet. I find myself disappointed in the editor’s revision of scripture without any indication that it had been edited. Where are the … before the verse to indicate that it was the second half of a sentence? Where are the [ ] to indicate that words have been changed? And not only changed, but drastically changed! The addition of the words “JESUS MIGHT” completely alters the meaning of the verse!

 

What is a passage of scripture that you have seen changed or taken out of context to try to prove a point?  Did it bother you as much as this bothers me?

 

There is not a MIGHT in Jesus’s promise of freedom. There is only an AND. Thank God for that.