Hebrews 2:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See how again he joins them to Christ, honoring and consoling them, and calling them Christ’s brethren because “all are from One.” Yet at the same time he defines his words and shows that he is speaking of Christ according to the flesh. Saying: “He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified.” Do you see the difference between Him and us? He sanctifies, and we are sanctified. Above, too, He was called the author of their salvation. “For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6). “Therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Do you see how again he shows His superiority? By the expression “He is not ashamed,” he shows that all this depends not on the nature of the thing, but on the mercy and great humility of Him who is not ashamed.

“For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from One.” Behold, again he shows that we are brothers of Christ and have been so greatly honored. For, he says, He who sanctifies, that is, Christ, and those who are sanctified, that is, we, are all from One, that is, the Father. Yet He is truly the genuine Son and from the very essence of the Father, while we are creatures. Notice also the superiority in the expressions. He sanctifies, and we are sanctified. From this come both identity and superiority. Therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren. See His superiority here also. By the expression “He is not ashamed,” he shows that this does not belong to nature, but to the tender love of Him who is not ashamed. Although we are from One, there is a great difference between us, as between the Creator and creatures.

Because He is the Only-begotten, He has no brothers. Yet because He is the Firstborn, He has deemed worthy to call brothers all who, after Him and through His firstborn rank, are born anew, adopted by the grace of God, as the apostolic teaching summons us.

For He who sanctified them, and those who were sanctified by Him, were of one nature. For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers, for He truly became their kinsman according to the flesh which He assumed from them.

“For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren. In the midst of the Church I will sing praise to Thee.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.’” This phrase “He is not ashamed” is enough to show the distinction of sonship. When speaking of masters and servants, and showing the humility of masters, we are accustomed to say: “He is not ashamed to eat and drink with servants, to sit with them, and himself to heal their sick.” Therefore the same thing is implied here. The One who accepted suffering for us is not ashamed to call brethren those for whom He endured suffering. He calls them not only brethren, but also children.

"For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one." Having spoken of many sons, he now says that they have one common Father. For "all are of One," he says: Christ who sanctifies, and men who are sanctified by Him; He who justifies, and they who are justified. Therefore God is His Father in common with them, as Maker and Creator. He is also the Creator of Christ according to His humanity. "For which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers." Since "all are of One," both Christ and men, He is not ashamed to call them brothers by the mouth of David.

As the body of the Lord was glorified and transfigured into divine glory and infinite light when He ascended the mountain, so also the bodies of the Saints are glorified and made radiant. For as the inner glory of Christ was so greatly extended and shone forth upon Christ’s body, so likewise the power of Christ dwelling within the Saints will, on that day, overflow outwardly upon their bodies. Even now, in their mind, they partake of Christ’s essence and Christ’s nature. For it is written: “Both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of One.” And again: “The glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given them” (Jn. 17:22). As many lamps are kindled by one fire, so the bodies of the Saints, these members of Christ, must become one and the same with Christ Himself.

"He who sanctifies," that is, Christ, and "those who are sanctified," that is, men, are all from one God and Father. But Christ is Son, lawful offspring, and from the essence of the Father, while we are creation and have been counted worthy of sonship by grace. "To call them brothers." He also united the flesh to Himself and assumed brotherhood. By saying "He is not ashamed," he showed the distinction. For He is not brother by nature, though He is true man, but by love for mankind, since He is also true God.

"Both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one." Here the one is God. The Apostle says that, by the very origin and dependence of all upon God, men are given the possibility of being brothers of Christ, the Son of God, and of receiving sanctification from Him. Chrysostom, Theodoret, and the Slavonic and Russian translations express this thought. But some interpreters understand "one" to mean one man, from whom all come, even Christ. They see here an indication that the possibility of imputing the merits of Jesus Christ, the Sanctifier, to all men who are sanctified rests precisely on this circumstance: Christ was the same kind of man as all. Therefore He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

These apostolic words disclose the need for the death of the Son of God as arising from Himself. The Apostle begins his reasoning by observing that, in the wondrous divine economy of men’s salvation, the Lord God had appointed that both the sanctifying Son of God and the sanctified men should proceed from one beginning. They were to have one vital source, in a word, to be of one and the same nature. This providential purpose of God for men was fully realized through the Incarnation of the Son of God. Saint Paul finds it necessary to confirm his thought about the unity of nature between Jesus Christ and men, and about their brotherhood according to humanity, by the God-inspired words of David the psalmist (Ps. 21:23) and the prophet Isaiah (Is. 8:17, 18). For among the Hebrews, the words of Scripture always had the greatest demonstrative force and persuasiveness.

But why was this means, and no other, most fitting for the goal? The Apostle explains this to the very end of the chapter. Touching first on the relation in which the leader of salvation stands to the many sons, the Apostle says that all of them were made such by the will of the one God, ές ενός. This includes the one who sanctifies, άγιάζων, that is, the one who grants participation in divine majesty and holiness, of course through the cleansing of sins. It also includes all those who are sanctified together with Him. Therefore Christ is not ashamed to call men His brethren, since they have been honored with such mercy from God. He is not ashamed of this, even despite His superiority over the Angels and His higher filial relation to God.