Heb 2:10-15 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 10 For it became him - It was suitable to the Divine wisdom, the requisitions of justice, and the economy of grace, to offer Jesus as a sacrifice, in order to bring many sons and daughters to glory. For whom - and by whom - God is the cause of all things, and he is the object or end of them. Perfect through sufferings - Without suffering he could not have died, and without dying he could not have made an atonement for sin. The sacrifice must be consummated, in order that he might be qualified to be the Captain or Author of the salvation of men, and lead all those who become children of God, through faith in him, into eternal glory. I believe this to be the sense of the passage; and it appears to be an answer to the grand objection of the Jews: "The Messiah is never to be conquered, or die; but will be victorious, and endure for ever." Now the apostle shows that this is not the counsel of God; on the contrary, that it was entirely congruous to the will and nature of God, by whom, and for whom are all things, to bring men to eternal glory through the suffering and death of the Messiah. This is the decision of the Spirit of God against their prejudices; and on the Divine authority this must be our conclusion. Without the passion and death of Christ, the salvation of man would have been impossible. As there are many different views of this and some of the following verses, I shall introduce a paraphrase of the whole from Dr. Dodd, who gives the substance of what Doddridge, Pearce, and Owen, have said on this subject. . For it became him, etc. - Such has been the conduct of God in the great affair of our redemption; and the beauty and harmony of it will be apparent in proportion to the degree in which it is examined; for, though the Jews dream of a temporal Messiah as a scheme conducive to the Divine glory, it well became him - it was expedient, that, in order to act worthy of himself, he should take this method; Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - that glorious Being who is the first cause and last end of all, in pursuit of the great and important design he had formed, of conducting many, whom he is pleased to adopt as his sons, to the possession of that inheritance of glory intended for them, to make and constitute Jesus, his first-begotten and well beloved Son, the Leader and Prince of their salvation, and to make him perfect, or completely fit for the full execution of his office, by a long train of various and extreme sufferings, whereby he was, as it were, solemnly consecrated to it. . Now, in consequence of this appointment, Jesus, the great Sanctifier, who engages and consecrates men to the service of God, and they who are sanctified, (i.e. consecrated and introduced to God with such acceptance), are all of one family - all the descendants of Adam, and in a sense the seed of Abraham; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them, whom he thus redeems, and presents to the Divine favor, his brethren. . Saying, in the person of David, who represented the Messiah in his sufferings and exaltation, I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church will I praise thee. . And again, speaking as a mortal man, exposed to such exercises of faith in trials and difficulties as others were, he says, in a psalm which sets forth his triumph over his enemies: I will trust in him, as other good men have done in all ages; and again, elsewhere in the person of Isaiah: Behold I, and the children which my God hath given me, are for signs and for wonders. . Seeing then those whom he represents in one place and another, as the children of the same family with himself, were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself in like manner participated in them, that thereby becoming capable of those sufferings to which, without such a union with flesh, this Divine Sanctifier could not have been obnoxious, he might, by his own voluntary and meritorious death, abolish and depose him who, by Divine permission, had the empire of death, and led it in his train when he made the first invasion on mankind; that is, the devil, the great artificer of mischief and destruction; at the beginning the murderer of the human race; who still seems to triumph in the spread of mortality, which is his work, and who may often, by God's permission, be the executioner of it. . But Christ, the great Prince of mercy and life, graciously interposed, that he might deliver those miserable captives of Satan - mankind in general, and the dark and idolatrous Gentiles in particular, who, through fear of death, were, or justly might have been, all their lifetime, obnoxious to bondage; having nothing to expect in consequence of it, if they rightly understood their state, but future misery; whereas now, changing their lord, they have happily changed their condition, and are, as many as have believed in him, the heirs of eternal life."

Hebrews 2:10-15

Verse 10

For it became him - It was suitable to the Divine wisdom, the requisitions of justice, and the economy of grace, to offer Jesus as a sacrifice, in order to bring many sons and daughters to glory.

For whom - and by whom - God is the cause of all things, and he is the object or end of them.

Perfect through sufferings - Without suffering he could not have died, and without dying he could not have made an atonement for sin. The sacrifice must be consummated, in order that he might be qualified to be the Captain or Author of the salvation of men, and lead all those who become children of God, through faith in him, into eternal glory. I believe this to be the sense of the passage; and it appears to be an answer to the grand objection of the Jews: "The Messiah is never to be conquered, or die; but will be victorious, and endure for ever." Now the apostle shows that this is not the counsel of God; on the contrary, that it was entirely congruous to the will and nature of God, by whom, and for whom are all things, to bring men to eternal glory through the suffering and death of the Messiah. This is the decision of the Spirit of God against their prejudices; and on the Divine authority this must be our conclusion. Without the passion and death of Christ, the salvation of man would have been impossible.

As there are many different views of this and some of the following verses, I shall introduce a paraphrase of the whole from Dr. Dodd, who gives the substance of what Doddridge, Pearce, and Owen, have said on this subject. Heb 2:10. For it became him, etc. - Such has been the conduct of God in the great affair of our redemption; and the beauty and harmony of it will be apparent in proportion to the degree in which it is examined; for, though the Jews dream of a temporal Messiah as a scheme conducive to the Divine glory, it well became him - it was expedient, that, in order to act worthy of himself, he should take this method; Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - that glorious Being who is the first cause and last end of all, in pursuit of the great and important design he had formed, of conducting many, whom he is pleased to adopt as his sons, to the possession of that inheritance of glory intended for them, to make and constitute Jesus, his first-begotten and well beloved Son, the Leader and Prince of their salvation, and to make him perfect, or completely fit for the full execution of his office, by a long train of various and extreme sufferings, whereby he was, as it were, solemnly consecrated to it. Heb 2:11. Now, in consequence of this appointment, Jesus, the great Sanctifier, who engages and consecrates men to the service of God, and they who are sanctified, (i.e. consecrated and introduced to God with such acceptance), are all of one family - all the descendants of Adam, and in a sense the seed of Abraham; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them, whom he thus redeems, and presents to the Divine favor, his brethren. Heb 2:12. Saying, in the person of David, who represented the Messiah in his sufferings and exaltation, I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the Church will I praise thee. Heb 2:13. And again, speaking as a mortal man, exposed to such exercises of faith in trials and difficulties as others were, he says, in a psalm which sets forth his triumph over his enemies: I will trust in him, as other good men have done in all ages; and again, elsewhere in the person of Isaiah: Behold I, and the children which my God hath given me, are for signs and for wonders. Heb 2:14. Seeing then those whom he represents in one place and another, as the children of the same family with himself, were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself in like manner participated in them, that thereby becoming capable of those sufferings to which, without such a union with flesh, this Divine Sanctifier could not have been obnoxious, he might, by his own voluntary and meritorious death, abolish and depose him who, by Divine permission, had the empire of death, and led it in his train when he made the first invasion on mankind; that is, the devil, the great artificer of mischief and destruction; at the beginning the murderer of the human race; who still seems to triumph in the spread of mortality, which is his work, and who may often, by God's permission, be the executioner of it. Heb 2:15. But Christ, the great Prince of mercy and life, graciously interposed, that he might deliver those miserable captives of Satan - mankind in general, and the dark and idolatrous Gentiles in particular, who, through fear of death, were, or justly might have been, all their lifetime, obnoxious to bondage; having nothing to expect in consequence of it, if they rightly understood their state, but future misery; whereas now, changing their lord, they have happily changed their condition, and are, as many as have believed in him, the heirs of eternal life." Verse 11

For both he that sanctifieth - The word ὁ ἁγιαζων does not merely signify one who sanctifies or makes holy, hut one who makes atonement or reconciliation to God; and answers to the Hebrew כפר caphar, to expiate. See Exo 29:33-36. He that sanctifies is he that makes atonement; and they who are sanctified are they who receive that atonement, and, being reconciled unto God, become his children by adoption, through grace.

In this sense our Lord uses the word, Joh 17:19 : For their sakes I sanctify myself; ὑπερ αυτων εγω ἁγιαζω εμαυτον, on their account I consecrate myself to be a sacrifice. This is the sense in which this word is used generally through this epistle.

Are all of one - Εξ ἑνος παντες. What this one means has given rise to various conjectures; father, family, blood, seed, race, nature, have all been substituted; nature seems to be that intended, see Joh 17:14; and the conclusion of this verse confirms it. Both the Sanctifier and the sanctified - both Christ and his followers, are all of the same nature; for as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, i.e. of human nature, he partook of the same, and thus he was qualified to become a sacrifice for man.

He is not ashamed to call them brethren - Though, as to his Godhead, he is infinitely raised above men and angels; yet as he has become incarnate, notwithstanding his dignity, he blushes not to acknowledge all his true followers as his brethren. Verse 12

I will declare thy name - See Psa 22:22. The apostle certainly quotes this psalm as referring to Jesus Christ, and these words as spoken by Christ unto the Father, in reference to his incarnation; as if he had said: "When I shall be incarnated, I will declare thy perfections to mankind; and among my disciples I will give glory to thee for thy mercy to the children of men." See the fulfillment of this, Joh 1:18 : No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He Hath Declared Him. Nor were the perfections of God ever properly known or declared, till the manifestation of Christ. Hear another scripture, Luk 10:21, Luk 10:22 : In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, etc. Thus he gave praise to God. Verse 13

I will put my trust in him - It is not clear to what express place of Scripture the apostle refers: words to this effect frequently occur; but the place most probably is Psa 18:2, several parts of which psalm seem to belong to the Messiah.

Behold I and the children which God hath given me - This is taken from Isa 8:18. The apostle does not intend to say that the portions which he has quoted have any particular reference, taken by themselves, to the subject in question; they are only catch-words of whole paragraphs, which, taken together, are full to the point; because they are prophecies of the Messiah, and are fulfilled in him. This is evident from the last quotation: Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel. Jesus and his disciples wrought a multitude of the most stupendous signs and wonders in Israel. The expression also may include all genuine Christians; they are for signs and wonders throughout the earth. And as to the 18th Psalm, the principal part of it seems to refer to Christ's sufferings; but the miracles which were wrought at his crucifixion, the destruction of the Jewish state and polity, the calling of the Gentiles, and the establishment of the Christian Church, appear also to be intended. See among others the following passages: Sufferings - The sorrows of death compassed me - in my distress I called upon the Lord. Miracles at the crucifixion - The earth shook and trembled - and darkness was under his feet. Destruction of the Jewish state - I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them; they are fallen under my feet. Calling of the Gentiles - Thou hast made me head of the heathen; a people whom I have never known shall serve me; as soon as they hear of me - they shall obey me, etc., etc. A principal design of the apostle is to show that such scriptures are prophecies of the Messiah; that they plainly refer to his appearing in the flesh in Israel; and that they have all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles to the privileges of the Gospel. To establish these points was of great importance. Verse 14

The children are partakers of flesh and blood - Since those children of God, who have fallen and are to be redeemed, are human beings; in order to be qualified to redeem them by suffering and dying in their stead, He himself likewise took part of the same - he became incarnate; and thus he who was God with God, became man with men. By the children here we are to understand, not only the disciples and all genuine Christians, as in Heb 2:13, but also the whole human race; all Jews and all Gentiles; so Joh 11:51, Joh 11:52 : He prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but also that he should gather together in one the Children of God that were scattered abroad; meaning, probably, all the Jews in every part of the earth. But collate this with 1Jn 2:2, where: the evangelist explains the former words: He is the propitiation for our sins, (the Jews), and not for ours only, but for the sins of the Whole World. As the apostle was writing to the Hebrews only, he in general uses a Jewish phraseology, pointing out to them their own privileges; and rarely introduces the Gentiles, or what the Messiah has done for the other nations of the earth.

That through death - That by the merit of his own death, making atonement for sin, and procuring the almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, he might counterwork καταργηση, or render useless and ineffectual, all the operations of him who had the power, κρατος, or influence, to bring death into the world; so that death, which was intended by him who was a murderer from the beginning to be the final ruin of mankind, becomes the instrument of their exaltation and endless glory; and thus the death brought in by Satan is counterworked and rendered ineffectual by the death of Christ.

Him that had the power of death - This is spoken in conformity to an opinion prevalent among the Jews, that there was a certain fallen angel who was called מלאך המות malak hammaveth, the angel of death; i.e. one who had the power of separating the soul from the body, when God decreed that the person should die. There were two of these, according to some of the Jewish writers: one was the angel of death to the Gentiles; the other, to the Jews. Thus Tob haarets, fol. 31: "There are two angels which preside over death: one is over those who die out of the land of Israel, and his name is Sammael; the other is he who presides over those who die in the land of Israel, and this is Gabriel." Sammael is a common name for the devil among the Jews; and there is a tradition among them, delivered by the author of Pesikta rabbetha in Yalcut Simeoni, par. 2, f. 56, that the angel of death should be destroyed by the Messiah! "Satan said to the holy blessed God: Lord of the world, show me the Messiah. The Lord answered: Come and see him. And when he had seen him he was terrified, and his countenance fell, and he said: Most certainly this is the Messiah who shall cast me and all the nations into hell, as it is written Isa 25:8, The Lord shall swallow up death for ever." This is a very remarkable saying, and the apostle shows that it is true, for the Messiah came to destroy him who had the power of death. Dr. Owen has made some collections on this head from other Jewish writers which tend to illustrate this verse; they may he seen in his comment, vol. i., p. 456, 8vo. edition. Verse 15

And deliver them who through fear of death - It is very likely that the apostle has the Gentiles here principally in view. As they had no revelation, and no certainty of immortality, they were continually in bondage to the fear of death. They preferred life in any state, with the most grievous evils, to death, because they had no hope beyond the grave. But it is also true that all men naturally fear death; even those that have the fullest persuasion and certainty of a future state dread it: genuine Christians, who know that, if the earthly house of their tabernacle were dissolved, they have a house not made with hands, a building framed of God, eternal in the heavens, only they fear it not. In the assurance they have of God's love, the fear of death is removed; and by the purification of their hearts through faith, the sting of death is extracted. The people who know not God are in continual torment through the fear of death, and they fear death because they fear something beyond death. They are conscious to themselves that they are wicked, and they are afraid of God, and terrified at the thought of eternity. By these fears thousands of sinful, miserable creatures are prevented from hurrying themselves into the unknown world. This is finely expressed by the poet: - "To die, - to sleep, -

No more: - and, by a sleep, to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, - 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, - to sleep, -

To sleep! - perchance to dream; - ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: - There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life:

For who could bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear

To grunt and sweat under a weary life;

But that the dread of something after death, -

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, - puzzles the will;

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;

And enterprises of great pith and moment,

With this regard, their currents turn awry

And lose the name of action."

I give this long quotation from a poet who was well acquainted with all the workings of the human heart; and one who could not have described scenes of distress and anguish of mind so well, had he not passed through them.