Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 23 Sept. 2018
If any of you know Dr. Tony Mattia, you know if you hang around him long enough, it’s only a matter of time before he starts talking about the Civil War. Well, I got to hang around him a bit yesterday at the Preaching, Teaching, and Worship Symposium, and I was struck by an intriguing question and answer I heard from him. He asked, “Who won the Civil War?” Well, most people he asked sputtered a bit because obviously the Union won, but they knew Tony is a Confederate sympathizer and probably had something up his sleeve. Then Tony would say with his characteristic grin, “Jesus. Jesus won the Civil War!” You know, we get so wrapped up in the details of practical life that we easily loose sight of history’s main character. The spiritual revivals that swept through the nation during that war were truly remarkable, and, as unpleasant as all the death and destruction of that war were, it didn’t take the Lord Jesus by surprise or mess up His plans; He got what He wanted out of those circumstances and His kingdom keeps growing! Our passage this morning focuses on Jesus, particularly on His humiliation and sojourn in human flesh.
· Who is this taking about?
o Most English versions see this as God the Father doing something to God the Son. They refer the first two phrases about making the world and leading sons to glory to the Father and say that God the Father made Jesus, the author of salvation, perfect through suffering. I don’t think the theology of that is wrong, considering the interplay of all the persons of the Trinity, but I don’t think it is completely faithful to the Greek text.
o The Greek grammar of this verse ties together “the one for whom all things exist” and “the one who led” and the “captain/pioneer/author/chief” – all three substantives are Accusative Masculine and Singular, indicating they are all the same person. So, a divine being for whom the universe exists is the one who has authored and led the way to salvation and who has led many children (not merely toward, but the Greek preposition is eis) into glory.
o I see all three phrases as referring to Jesus. Jesus is the one that the earlier part of Hebrews emphasized was the one who created the universe and for whom it would be subjected. Jesus is the one the previous verse (9) was talking about, and Jesus is the one that the subsequent verse (11) is talking about, so it stands to reason that v.10 is about Jesus too.
o Thus, I looked for another way to translate the infinitive verb τελειωσαι in v.10, and I found that the number one definition in the Greek lexicons was not “to perfect” but:
§ “to complete, that is, (literally) accomplish” (Strong),
§ “…1a) to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end” (Thayer).
§ And in the United Bible Society’s database of word meanings corresponding to each word in the Greek New Testament, this word is tagged with Louw & Nida’s semantic domain number 68.31 “to be completely successful in accomplishing some goal or attaining some state – ‘to be completely successful, to succeed fully.’”
§ Jesus’ goal of saving and glorifying many children was accomplished through Him participating in many afflictions (plural in Greek). This passage in Hebrews seems to paint the incarnation itself as a form of suffering for the perfect Son of God. How painful it must have been for Jesus to suffer the effects of sin as a human being – sickness, poverty, injustice, sadness, hunger, deprivation, mocking. How excruciating it would be for Jesus to suffer the curse of sin by dying on the cross. But this was the way He would fully achieve success in saving a people for Himself.
· V.10 has an interesting title in Greek: Archēgon
o ATR: although he supported translating it “author” wrote: “Old compound word (archē and agō) one leading off, leader or prince as in Act_5:31, one blazing the way…”
§ arche is the word translated “chief” in the New Testament title for “chief priests,” but here it is combined with the Greek word for “leader” as in the “chief leader.”
§ Throughout the Greek Old Testament, this word was used to designate the tribal chiefs who led their people and represented them and made decisions for the group.[1]
§ When the apostles later called Jesus their Archegon, they were, in effect, saying, “You Pharisees and Sadducees are no longer our tribal chieftains; we have a new chief-leader that we identify with named Jesus.
o The word appears three other times in the NT
§ Acts 3:13-15 "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” (NKJ)
§ Acts 5:30-31 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” (NKJ)
§ Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” (NKJ)
o Vincent: “…render[ing this word as] author… misses the fact that the Son precedes the saved on the path to glory…”
o Louw & Nida: a person who as originator or founder of a movement continues as the leader – ‘pioneer leader, founding leader.’… ‘their pioneer leader to salvation’
o JFB: “literally, Prince-leader: as Joshua… led the people into the Holy Land, so will our Joshua, or Jesus, lead us into the heavenly inheritance (Act_13:39)…
· Jesus, the Son of God did not merely pull some strings in heaven to get you saved, nor was He merely a man who did something extra good to improve your life. He is the Son of God who, as Philippians 2:6-10 says, “while existing in God's form, did not consider being equal to God a prize to be clutched, but rather, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And while He was found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death – even death by crucifixion.” (NAW)
o His salvation involved getting down and dirty in human existence so that He would be able – not only to tell us what to do but – to lead the way Himself by doing it before us as the “Chief-leader of our salvation… leading many children into glory.”
o 1 Pet. 2:21 “…Christ suffered on our behalf, leaving behind an example for you in order that y'all might adhere to His tracks” (NAW)
o 1 Pet. 3:18 “…Christ suffered concerning sin, [only] once – the righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, in order that He might lead us to God...” (NAW)
o Romans 8:29-30 mentions that glory as the end of the process of our salvation: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (NKJV)
· It is “fitting/appropriate/becoming” not only for our Lord to be the heavenly, exalted king, but also for Him to be the humble man so that He can bring God and Man together in restored relationship. The two other places this verb appear in the NT highlight these two natures of Christ,
o first the exalted divine nature: Hebrews 7:26 “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (NKJ)
o and also the humble human nature that identifies with sinners: Matt. 3:13-15 Then Jesus comes from Galilee up to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. But John wanted to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Let it be now, for this is fitting to us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he let Him. (NAW)
· V.11 because both the One who makes holy and the ones who are being made holy are all of one kind, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers
o Jesus is not ashamed to call His people “brothers” (and sisters) because it is altogether appropriate and fitting that He be the same as them in their humble state in order to save them. If He were not one of us, He could not enact the plan of salvation for us by substituting Himself for us and suffering the wrath of God against our sin. We would still be dead in our sins and separated eternally from God if Jesus, as the glorious Son of God had refused to identify fully with His fallen human creatures.
o A couple of interpretations have come out of the phrase “all are out of one” in v.11:
§ One line of thinking is that it’s saying that Jesus is begotten by the Father and so are we in a more limited sense, so we both have the same progenitor: thus the NASB and NLT added the word “Father,” and the ESV added the word “source,” even though they are not in the original Greek text.
§ Another line of thinking is that this is emphasizing solidarity between Jesus and us by making Him of the same “kind” as us, so He can identify with us and die for us. The NIV added the word “family” instead of “Father” and I think that is more in line with the point of this passage.
§ Think of the New Testament imagery of the relationship of Christ and the church. The apostles call Christ the head and the church the body. An organic unity has been created between us. Where the body is, there the head is; what the head does, the body does.
o Note that you are not the one who does things to make yourself holy; Jesus is “the one who makes holy.” Holiness comes from outside yourself. We are made holy.
o Also note that the relationship is ongoing. As we saw last week, Christians and their households can be classified as already holy, but not only have You been made holy; you are still being made holy. The Greek verb tense here is present and ongoing” Jesus will spend the rest of your life making you holy (that’s present tense too), and you will spend the rest of your life growing in holiness – in separation unto Him and in depth of special fellowship with Him
· This is such a kindred fellowship that He openly calls you “brethren” – family – not in the hollow sense in which K-State football calls itself a family, but family in the most real and intimate and perfect sense.
o This claim is backed up by scripture proofs from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8 in verses 12 -13.
· The quote from Psalm 22:22 goes “I will announce/declare/proclaim/tell your name [who you are, which includes your inner character as well as what you have done outwardly that forms your reputation – I will preach that] to my brothers [in other words] in the middle of church I will sing your praises.”
o Now, the original context of the psalms was David and his circumstances, and surely David did sing hymns in Old Testament church congregations.
o But the Psalms have a second context of being the words of Jesus the Messiah, and that is the level on which Hebrews is looking at this Psalm. This passage says that Jesus declared God’s name and reputation to His brothers, with the parallel statement that He would humnasw – literally “sing a hymn” (a hymn is just a song-format that extolls the praises of a certain person), and, check this out: When is the one time in the Bible that it mentions that Jesus sang a hymn? Matthew 26:30 (paralleled in Mark 14:26) “Now, while they were eating, Jesus, after taking [the] bread and giving thanks, broke it, and He was giving it to the disciples and said, ‘Take; eat; This is my body.’ Then after He took the cup and gave thanks, He gave it to them saying, ‘Drink out of it, all of you, for this is the blood which is mine, of which is the New Covenant, and which is about to be poured out for the many for the purpose of forgiveness of sins. But I'm telling y'all that from now on, I shall never drink of this produce of the grape-vine until that day whenever it is that I shall be drinking with y'all anew in the kingdom of my father.’ And after hymn-singing, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (NAW) This is the first New Testament church communion service, and there was Jesus in the middle of that assembly of His 12 disciples recognizing them as brothers with whom to share the family meal. He was not ashamed to call them brothers.
o In Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus explicitly calls them “brothers” – them as well as all of us who obey God by believing in Jesus: “While He was still speaking to the crowds, you see, His mother and His brothers had been standing outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then someone said to Him, ‘Look, your mother and your brothers have been standing outside, seeking to speak with you.’ But He, in answer, said to the one who spoke to Him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And after extending His hand over His disciples He said, ‘See, my mother and my brothers, For whoever did the will of my Father in the heavens, that one is my brother and sister and mother.’” (NAW)
· The second proof-text comes from Isaiah 8, which we read in context before the sermon.
o Like the Psalms, this passage from the prophecies of Isaiah can be taken on the level of Isaiah’s immediate historical context where Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub (which meant “a remnant will return”) were standing before King Ahaz telling him not to be afraid of the Syrian army that was threatening to conquer him but rather to trust in God to keep Israel safe. Then Isaiah says that “a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and she shall call His name 'Immanuel'” which means God-with-us, but that won’t be until the Syrian threat is old news and another threat from a nation farther afield has looted and destroyed Israel. And to bring home that prophecy, Isaiah named his next son “Maher Shalal Hashbaz” which means “Swift is the booty; speedy is the prey.” In that context, Isaiah says, “So I will wait for Yahweh, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh have given to me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion” (Isa. 8:17-18, NAW).
o But once again, this New Testament author puts Old Testament words in the mouth of Jesus, saying that it is also true of Him, that Jesus entrusted Himself to God (Mt. 27:43; 1 Pet. 2:23 - synonym) and that God gave children to Him. Although the word describing family relationship changes between these two prooftexts from “brothers” to “children,” Jesus called His disciples by both terms (e.g. Mark 10:24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches1 to enter the kingdom of God! NKJ).
o Furthermore Jesus is the child born of a virgin who is God with Us (Immanuel). And if He was born to a human mother, that puts Him squarely among humanity with every right to call us humans by family-relationship words like “brothers” and “children.”
o Why did Jesus go to such trouble to do all this?
· Death was not something that God as God could experience. Life is too central to God’s nature; death is only something a human (or other finite creature) could experience. The finite conventions of flesh and blood are mortal and are common to all mankind, and it was in those finite conventions of flesh and blood that Jesus had to partake in order to be able to die like He did on the cross.
· As God, Jesus’ participation in flesh and blood was unique; it did not happen in the exact same way that we get our flesh and blood through natural human generation. Jesus was born of a virgin. The writer of Hebrews carefully words his theology here by using two slightly different verbs (“shared” vs. “partook” in most English versions) plus a unique adverb (translated “likewise” in most versions, but which I think is better rendered “similarly” and which is unfortunately dropped out in the NIV) to indicate that, although Jesus’ experience was a little bit different, it was nevertheless enough-the-same to be a real and effective bond of fellowship with us.
· And Jesus’ death was strategic. Jesus was aiming for specific results: one goal was to “put out of commission/render powerless/destroy the devil.”
o What does it mean that the Devil “has the power of death?”
§ There is no explanation that I can find in the Bible as to exactly how the Devil “has” this “power,” so I won’t venture into conjectures except to say this:
§ The connection between the Devil and death makes me wonder if Satan may have been the “destroyer” whom God used to execute every firstborn Egyptian in Exodus 12:23 but whom God did not allow into the homes of those who had sacrificed a Passover lamb. It’s an interesting thought to me at any rate.
§ Whether or not God actively commissions Satan to end lives, 1 Peter 5:8 certainly pictures Satan as a lion raring to kill people. And death is, by default, the realm of the leader of all beings who are in rebellion against the eternal life of God.
§ And the “second death” in the “lake of fire” of eternal separation from the life of God is the destination of the Devil and his demons (Rev. 20:10-14).
o This work of the Devil is what Jesus died to undo – the Greek word here katargēsē has to do with “shutting down, bringing to naught, ending the use of” something, and we see parallels to this statement throughout the New Testament, such as in:
§ 1 John 3:8 “The one who is committing sin is out of the devil, because, from the beginning, the devil is sinning. Into this situation the Son of God was revealed in order that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (NAW)
§ 2 Tim. 1:9-10 “…grace… was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” (NKJV)
· The second strategic goal of Jesus’ death is described in v.15: “and that He might deliver/release/free however many of such [children] who throughout all of their life were liable/subject to bondage/slavery due to fear of death.”
o “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), so it is only appropriate that sinners fear death because that’s what we deserve, and it’s only natural to slaves to sin and for the guilt from our sins to perpetuate that cycle of fear and bondage, but that’s what Jesus came to free us from!
o 1 Cor. 15:20-26 “But now Christ has been raised out of the dead – the firstfruit of the ones who have been sleeping. For since, on account of a man, there is death, also, on account of a man, there is resurrection of dead [men]. For, just as in Adam, all are dying, thus also in the Christ, all will be made alive, yet each in his own rank: Christ is the firstfruit, then those who are Christ's – during His visitation, then there is the end, whenever He delivers the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He has put out of commission all rule and all authority and power. For it is necessary for Him to reign until whenever He has put all His enemies beneath His feet. Death, the last enemy, is still being put out of commission…” (NAW)
o The realities of Jesus’ freeing us from the guilt of our sin by taking it on Himself and suffering our punishment for us, and the reality of Jesus overcoming death itself through His resurrection are the realities which David anticipated in Psalm 23:4 “Even when I shall walk in a ravine of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of evil because You are with me…” (NAW)
· “General Wainwright, the hero of Bataan, was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in Manchuria. His quarters were somewhat removed from the headquarters of the prison camp. Frequently, his captors would come to heap abuse on him and tell him that America was losing the war. Due to his discouragement, he was near death. In the meanwhile, however, and unknown to General Wainwright, the Allies were winning the war. The day came when, in effect, we had won the war but the news had not reached him. One day a light plane landed near General Wainwright’s enclosure. Unknown to General Wainwright’s captors, who were some miles away, an Allied colonel stepped out of the plane and informed the general that the Allies had won the victory and that he would soon be freed. Three hours later the Japanese again came to General Wainwright and began to heap abuse on him. But this time, General Wainwright said, “Gentlemen, I am in charge here. The game is over! I know all about your dethronement. I happen to be on the winning side and from this point on, I will give the orders!” They said, “Yes, Sir!” and he soon had his captors running around obeying him. Although General Wainwright had been on the winning side for some time, he did not know it and therefore he was not by faith claiming the victory. This often happens to us. We simply give in to condition and situations which we could easily overcome simply by claiming the victory which is ours and demanding Satan to flee from us. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). ~From Frank Barker’s sermon on this passage
· “I need not be afraid because You, O Lord, are with me.” (Ps.23) “When I am afraid I will trust in You” (Ps. 56:3) and fear melts away.
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Majority |
NAW |
KJV |
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10 ἔπρεπε γὰρ αὐτῷ, δι᾿ ὃν τὰ πάντα καὶ δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα, πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν διὰ παθημάτων τελειῶσαι. |
10 For it was appropriate to Him, the chief-leader of their salvation, for whom all things exist and by whom all things exist, to accomplish success through sufferings, having led many children into glory, |
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. |
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11 ὁ τε γὰρ ἁγιάζων καὶ οἱ ἁγιαζόμενοι ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντες· δι᾿ ἣν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοὺς καλεῖν, |
11 because both the One who makes holy and the ones who are being made holy are all of one kind, on account of which He is not ashamed to call them brothers, |
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, |
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12 λέγων· ἀπαγγελῶ[B] τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε· |
12 saying, “I will proclaim your reputation to my brothers; in the middle of church I will sing your praises,” |
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. |
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13 καὶ πάλιν· ἐγὼ ἔσομαι πεποιθὼς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ[C]· καὶ πάλιν· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός. |
13 and again, “I will place my confidence on Him,” and again, “Look, I and the children which God has given to me…” |
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. |
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14 ἐπεὶ οὖν[D] τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκε σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος, καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως[E] μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τοῦτ᾿ ἔστι τὸν διάβολον, |
14 Since, therefore, the children have shared flesh and blood, He also similarly partook of the same things in order that through death He might put out of commission the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil), |
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took 15 part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; |
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15 καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ τούτους, ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας. |
15 and that He might release however many of such who throughout all of their living were liable to slavery due to fear of death. |
15 And deliver X them who through fear of death were X all their lifetime subject to bondage. |
[1] Exod. 6:14, Num. 10:4, 13:2, 3, 14:4, 16:2, 24:17, 25:4, Deut. 33:21, Jda. 5:2, Jdg. 5:15, 9:44, 11:6, 11, 1 Chr. 5:24, 12:21, 26:26, 2 Chr. 23:14, Neh. 2:9, 7:70, 71, Mic. 1:13, Isa. 3:6-7, 30:4, Jer. 3:4, Lam. 2:10, 2
[A] There are no substantial textual variants among the historic manuscripts of this passage.
[B] The LXX reads διηγήσομαι, a synonym that lies closer to the MT אֲסַפְּרָ֣ה, which would indicate this is an independent translation rather than a quote from the Septuagint, but the rest of the quote is the same.
[C] This quote is slightly different from the LXX of Isa. 8:17, with an added emphatic subject and the order of the next two words switched, but no change in meaning. The quote of Isa. 8:18, however is an exact match with the Septuagint.
[D] Oun only occurs with epei two other times in the Bible: Job 35:7 & Hebrews 4:6
[E] This word occurs nowhere else in the Greek Bible.