Hebrews 2:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“The author of their salvation”; here, on the contrary, he distinguishes us. “He perfected through sufferings.” Therefore sufferings are perfection and a means to salvation. Do you see that endurance of sufferings is not a sign of those rejected? If the Father honored the Son above all by leading Him through sufferings, then truly to take flesh and endure what He endured is far greater than making the world and bringing it from non-being into being. The latter also is a work of love for mankind, but the former is far greater. The Apostle himself explains this when he says: “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace,” and, “He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7, 6). It was fitting, he says, for Him who provides for all things and brought all things into being to give the Son for the salvation of others, one for many. Yet he did not say it this way, but says, “He perfected through sufferings.” He shows that one who suffers for another not only benefits that person, but himself becomes more glorious and more perfect. This, he says, is for the believers, in order to encourage them. Christ too was glorified when He suffered. Yet when I say that He was glorified, do not suppose that He received an increase of glory. He always had the glory proper to Him according to essence, without adding anything to it.

As when we say, “creation was made for man.” The Apostle added “through whom,” explaining that “for whom” should be understood in the same way as “through Him,” that is, that all things came from Him. Therefore, when “through whom” is said of the Son, take it in place of “from Him.” “In bringing many sons to glory, He perfected the author of their salvation through sufferings.” This is connected with what preceded: “He crowned Him with glory and honor.” The meaning is this. The Father acted worthily of His love for mankind by making the Firstborn of all sons, who are to enjoy His glory, the most glorious of all through sufferings. Thus He showed the others how sufferings must be endured. “Author of salvation” means cause. See what a difference there is between Him and us. Although He is Son and we are sons, He saves and we are saved. We are joined to Him and again distinguished from Him. “In bringing many sons to glory”; through this we are joined. “The author of their salvation”; through this we are distinguished. Note that sufferings are perfection and a means to salvation. The one who suffers for someone not only benefits him, but himself becomes more glorious and more perfect. By perfection understand here the glory with which He was glorified, and understand it with reference to His humanity. Or else understand that He had glory by nature, but among us He was without glory, since He was not recognized. When, after the Cross, He was recognized and glorified, He is said to have received the glory that He had by nature, not to have received it from us. Saint Cyril calls immortality the perfection that Christ lacked according to His humanity. The Father supplied this to Him through the resurrection. When He rose, death no longer had dominion over Him. And He deemed the whole nature worthy of this perfection.

They say: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). For by offering His own body in sacrifice, the Word both brought to an end the law that condemned us and renewed in us the beginning of life, granting the hope of resurrection. Since it was because of man himself that death gained mastery over men, the Incarnation of God the Word again brought about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life. This accords with the word of the Christ-bearing man: “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,” and so on (1 Cor. 15:21-22). For now we no longer die as condemned men. Rather, as those who will rise, we await the common resurrection of all, which God, who accomplished it and granted it, will manifest in its own time. Such is the first reason for the Savior’s Incarnation.

Yet He Himself was always all-perfect and all-glorious. But see the difference between the sons. He is true Son, while we are adopted. He saves, and we are saved. “To perfect through sufferings” means to supply what He lacked. What did Christ lack as man? Clearly, immortality, so that He might have without interruption a form in which there were no deficiencies. The Father supplied what was lacking to Him through the resurrection. At the same time, together with Him, He supplied it to all men, as the Apostle says elsewhere. Being perfected, He became for those who hope in Him the mediator of indestructible salvation. Saint Cyril and Severus understand it thus in chapter 164 of the Philalethes.

It also points to the justice of the Lord God, who did not hesitate to require the fitting sacrifice even from His own Son, and did not will to be content with anything lesser. It points to the power of God, for whom it proved possible to exact a satisfaction corresponding to His offended majesty, something apparently impossible for guilty creation. It points to the wisdom of God, which found so wondrous a means for healing the greatest of evils. It points to the inexorable wrath and aversion of God toward sin, which came down in heavy sufferings upon His own Only-begotten Son. It points to the holiness of God, which did not endure sin to go unpunished even in the person of Him who is holiness and innocence itself, and who was burdened only with our sins. It points also to His extreme condescension toward us sinners, extending even to the delivering up to death, for our sake, of the very Author of life.