Hebrews 10:36Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

You need only one thing: to endure the delay in the fulfillment of what was promised, and not to struggle anew. You are near the very crown. You have endured all the contests: bonds, afflictions, and the plundering of your possessions. What remains for you?

You are close to being crowned. Endure only one thing, the delay of the crown. What great consolation! He comforts them as one might speak to a combatant who has defeated all and has not a single opponent left.

"You have need of patience." You need nothing else except patience alone. You have everything else, and you need add nothing. "So that, having done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." The will of God is that we endure to the end. For He says, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Mt 10:22). The Apostle persuades them in this way. It is as though someone saw a combatant who had defeated all his opponents, but then wanted to leave because those giving the prizes were delayed. Unable to bear thirst and heat, he is told: having accomplished everything, wait a little and you will receive the crowns. Struggle also against the delay of the crowns. Conquer this too by patience.

"For you have need of patience, so that, having done the will of God, each may receive the promise." For the reward corresponds to the labor, and the recompense is allotted according to the deed. To encourage them, since they were becoming too negligent because the assaults of their adversaries were fierce, the Apostle points to the approaching Contest-Giver, who in a short time will also give the crowns.

"For you have need of patience": patience for the contests that lie ahead. "So that, having done the will of God": by patience to the end. "You may receive the promise": that which Christ promised in the Gospel.

Do not cast away your hope, which is shown in your works, faith, temptations, and steadfastness. For all this gives us great confidence that what has been promised will be granted to us. The will of God is to believe in Him sincerely and to perform works of virtue, and, when the time calls, to struggle for them even to blood (Heb 12:4). For such people will receive what has been promised.

Christian courage and patience are very useful to have at the present time, because the day of Christ's coming and of recompense to each according to his works is already not far off.

The prophet Habakkuk also said that the righteous shall live by faith, and that if he does not stand firm in the struggle, God will have no pleasure in him. Nevertheless, the Apostle comforts his readers: we do not belong to such unstable people, but believe firmly, so that we may hope for the salvation of our soul.