Bringing Many Sons to Glory
a“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
a“I will put My trust in Him.” And again:
b“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
| << Hebrews 2:9 | Hebrews 2:11 >> |
What Does Hebrews 2:10 Mean?
Hebrews 2:10-11
A keyword in these verses is "author," from the Greek word archegos, which is translated variously as "captain [KJV], author, pioneer, trail-blazer, and founder." One basic concept threads its way through all of the uses of this word: An archegos is one who begins something so that others may enter into it.
An archegos can found a school that others may follow him into learning. An archegos can found a city that others may dwell in. An archegos can blaze a trail that others may follow. An archegos can begin a family that others may be born into it.
If a ship is foundering on the rocks, and the only way to save the crew and passengers is for someone to swim ashore with a line and secure it to a tree or a rock so that others may gain the safety of the beach, the one who swims with the line is the archegos. He did a deed so that others may follow.
Jesus is the archegos of our salvation. He blazed the trail! He set the pattern! He entered into God's Family that others may follow! And in blazing the trail, setting the pattern, entering God's Kingdom—He too was perfect! That is what the author of Hebrews writes.
The author of our salvation was made perfect through suffering. Our Savior and High Priest completed His training in this way. Having done so, He is fully able to be the pioneer of our salvation, to ensure that we also will enter salvation and to be as He is.
According to this verse, God did this to bring many sons to glory—the same glory that the Trailblazer, the Pioneer, the Author, the Captain has.
Hebrews 2:10-11
God sanctifies us through Jesus Christ and graciously justifies us by means of Christ's blood, providing us with His Son's righteousness and granting us entrance into a relationship with Him. The sanctification process writes the laws of God in our hearts and minds, making His righteousness real and practical to daily life. During this process, which requires our cooperation with Him in His purpose, we literally become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The overwhelming majority of Christian works come to the fore within this process as part of the preparation for God's Kingdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Power Belongs to God (Part Two)
Hebrews 2:5-10
Now, since we are co-heirs with Christ, we are co-heirs with Him of all things—everything that God made through Jesus Christ: the universe and everything that is in it! Are we, in the rush of life, forgetting who we are? Are we neglecting the fact that God will turn the governance of the things He has made—this awesome universe—over into our hands? When that happens, we will not be as poor and pitifully weak as we are now.
But we should not undervalue what we are. If we do, we will not take Passover in the right attitude, because what Passover represents was done for us so that we would be in a position to inherit all things. We do not have to feel like we just crawled from under a rock! We have been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations, but for now in God's plan, we are a little lower than Elohim. Yet, what a future lies before us!
Even now, we are the "apple of God's eye," the focus of His attention. We are so important to Him that His Son died for us. Truly, He died for the whole world, but right now, before He calls and converts the whole world, it is for you and me that the Creator died so that we could become co-heirs with Him. He wants to share what He made with us because He likes what He made. It is beautiful and has awesome potential, and just as any artist who makes something beautiful wants to share his creation with others, so does Jesus Christ, so that we can appreciate it and emulate it in our own works.
John W. Ritenbaugh
A Pre-Passover Look
Hebrews 2:9-12
Hebrews 2:9-11 opens to us a spiritual reality that we must come to understand and appreciate if we are to make the most of this wonderful opportunity of salvation that God gave to us completely unbidden. Because of our disobedience and the resulting curse of death placed on us, we could never experience what is said of us in Psalm 8:4-8, which the author of Hebrews refers to here. However, Jesus suffered death and gained the victory for us. As a result, He wears the crown of glory and rules the universe. We know this Being as God-in-the-flesh, but the author uses His earthly name, Jesus, so that we can see the historical setting of His victory.
"Jesus" calls to mind the concept of salvation, as it means "savior." The author writes that Jesus accomplished the redemption of His people by "tast[ing] death," not—interestingly—by merely "dying." To taste death is a graphic illustration of the painful way He suffered and died. He was not spared this excruciating trauma because He was the Son. He experienced suffering, both physical and emotional, to the very marrow of His bones.
In Hebrews 2:10, we find that the "everyone" of verse 9 is, in reality, not in this context the whole world, but it is limited to the "many sons" being brought to glory—in other words, the church. He bore the suffering that should have come upon us as the wages of our sins. He is the Author, the Pioneer, the Trailblazer, the Forerunner, going before us to our salvation. He is the One clearing the path, as it were, as we make our way following our calling. In Hebrews 12:2, He is called "the author and finisher [or perfecter] of our faith." The Father made Him pass through gruesome suffering in our behalf.
He completed His preparation for the responsibility that He now holds as our High Priest; the Father has charged Him with the task of preparing many others to share life with them in the Kingdom of God. Jesus, therefore, is the One who makes men holy. The path to sanctification lies in obedience to doing God's will, and that obedience is to be given out of gratitude because one understands and knows the Father and Son from within an intimate relationship (John 17:3).
Verse 12 quotes Psalm 22:22, putting the words in Jesus' mouth: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praises to You." In the holy Family of God, this spiritual relationship supersedes all human aspects. Jesus died for our sins; He redeemed us from the curse of sin; He forgives our sins; He gives us gifts; and He leads us to glory. Because of His sacrificial work, He is not ashamed to give us the name "brothers"! This implies that we, in turn, may call Jesus our Brother. What a privilege to be called brothers of the Son of God!
John W. Ritenbaugh
Where Is God's True Church Today?
Hebrews 2:9-11
The "He who sanctifies" is Jesus Christ, as can be seen by following the flow of the pronouns that are being used within their context.
Contained within these verses is the overall reason for suffering. The entire wilderness experience of the Israelites, when God freed them from their slavery, was to prepare them for living in the Promised Land. In like manner, God has willed that we suffer because, as it did for Jesus, it prepares us for what lies ahead. It helps complete us for the Kingdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Wilderness Wandering (Part Five)
Hebrews 2:10
The NKJV reads "captain of their salvation." The KJV reads "author of their salvation," and He was made "perfect through sufferings." The word "author" or "captain" is translated from the Greek term archegos. It is a word capable of many translations. In secular Greek, in their pantheon of gods, Zeus was called "archegos" of the gods, meaning he was the head or the chief of all the gods. Incidentally, "head" or "chief" is archegos' simplest literal meaning.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Wilderness Wandering (Part Five)
Hebrews 2:10
Where did this suffering come from? It came as a result of having to live in this world of despair that Solomon lived in and wrote about. He had to be subject to circumstances that were beyond His control. If everything had been under the control of a righteous person like Jesus Christ, many events would never have happened. But surrounded by sin and despite His righteousness, He was subject to the futility, vanity, and meaningless of this world.
What did He do? He rose above it because He believed and lived the principle that is found in Romans 8:28.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 1)
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Hebrews 2:10:
| << Hebrews 2:9 | Hebrews 2:11 >> |
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The word "captain" or "author" comes from the Greek archegos, meaning head, leader, founder, or trailblazer. One idea unites its uses: an archegos begins something so that others may enter into it, blazing a trail for others to follow. Jesus is the archegos of our salvation, forging the path through this world of futility and despair, rising above it, and coming out glorified so others may follow into the same glory. "Perfect" translates teleioun, meaning not abstract perfection but being made fully adequate for one's intended purpose. Through sufferings—circumstances beyond His control—Jesus completed His training, was identified with human beings, and became fully able to be the Pioneer of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory.