Flesh and blood … He also Himself likewise took part of the same.” Hebrews 2:14 KJV
Flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same…” Hebrews 2:14 NASB
In the days of His flesh” Hebrews 5:7 KJV
In the days of His flesh” Hebrews 5:7 NASB
A new and living way … through the vail, that is to say His flesh…” Hebrews 10:20 KJV
A new and living way … through the veil, that is, His flesh…” Hebrews 10:20 NASB
There are three mentions of the flesh of the Lord Jesus in the Hebrew epistle, as cited above. The “letter written unto you in few words,” is one which stresses the true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. These three references can be divided and understood as –
He Came in Flesh
The incarnation is viewed in several ways in the Scripture. In the Gospel accounts in Matthew and Luke, the Lord Jesus was conceived by Mary and begotten by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10 tells us that God prepared a body for His Son. Our Scripture tells us that since the children all partake of blood and flesh, He also Himself partook of the same.
Hebrews 2 says that the Lord Jesus voluntarily took blood and flesh to become a true Man. Earlier in the chapter, Psalm 8 is cited where we are taught that God’s intention was for a Man to rule over creation. Satan thought he had frustrated God’s purposes when he brought sin into the world and with it, death.
But another Man stepped into our world, a true Man possessing true humanity of flesh and blood, to reverse all that Satan had accomplished. 
He was “in Flesh” all the Days of His Life
We speak reverently of the “days of His flesh.” This stretched the entire period of His life, although Hebrews 5 may be highlighting the Garden scene. He experienced suffering and death in His flesh. He lived as a Man amongst men. He never utilized His omnipotence for His own benefit. He suffered being tempted. When faced with the ultimate suffering, He knew “strong crying and tears.” Peter stresses that His work on Calvary was “in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).
He took flesh into heaven
There will perhaps be some differences of opinion over the meaning of Hebrews 10:20. I personally cannot think of His flesh being a vail which was rent at Calvary. He came in the flesh to reveal God, not to hide Him. “That is to say” goes back to the original subject of the sentence (1), “a new and living way.” That new and living way is made possible because He took flesh into heaven. There never before was a Man in heaven with flesh and bone (Please do not ask me about Enoch and Elijah). His blood shed on earth (v 19), and His presence in flesh in heaven (v 20), have inaugurated this new and living way for us.
The Epistle has been stressing the value of Christ in heaven as our High Priest, our surety of the New Covenant. We now have a free and unhindered access to the Throne above that even the holiest man in Israel only had once a year.
Consider:
There are several ways in which the N. T uses the word “flesh.” Here in Hebrews, it employs it in a unique manner as it refers to the holy flesh of the Son of God.
Trace the different words used for His death in the epistle.
- Trace “that is” as found in the epistle in ch 2:14; 7:5; 9:11; 11:16; 13:15. Note how it always refers to the main subject in the sentence.