Hebrews 2:10

The writer proceeded to give a commentary on the last clause of Hebrews 2:9, particularly on the phrase "by the grace of God."

The Son of Man is not the only One God intends to glorify (Hebrews 2:6). All of His sons, believers, will experience glorification. "Him" is God the Father. "Author" is Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. The unusual title "author" (Gr. archegos) describes Jesus as a file leader, pioneer, pathfinder, and captain of a company of followers (cf. Hebrews 12:2; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:31). [Note: See J. Julius Scott Jr., "Archegos in the Salvation History of the Epistle to the Hebrews," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:1 (March 1986):47-54.] However, it also views Him as originator or personal source. [Note: Moffatt, p. 31.] God perfected Jesus by charting His path to glory through suffering, and He does the same for Jesus’ followers. We must go through suffering before we get to glory. By having experienced suffering, Jesus can more perfectly help us as we suffer (Hebrews 2:18). He was "perfected" in this sense. "To perfect" (Gr. teleioo) is another favorite word of this writer, who used it nine times, more frequently than it occurs in any other New Testament book.

"Since His sinlessness is an accepted fact, it is clear that the perfection is viewed as a fitness for the fulfilling of the office assigned to Him." [Note: Everett F. Harrison, "The Theology of the Epistle to the Hebrews," Bibliotheca Sacra 121:484 (October-December 1964):338.]

"This representation of the achievement of Jesus was calculated to recall one of the more famous labors of Hercules, his wrestling with Death, ’the dark-robed lord of the dead’ (Euripides, Alcestis, II. 843, 844 . . .). The designation of Jesus as archegos in a context depicting him as protagonist suggests that the writer intended to present Jesus to his hearers in language that drew freely upon the Hercules tradition in popular Hellenism . . ." [Note: Lane, p. 57. Cf. W. Manson, The Epistle to the Hebrews: An Historical and Theological Reconsideration, pp. 103-4.]