Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 2:11

"For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren," — Hebrews 2:11 (ASV)

The writer now emphasizes the link between Jesus and those whom he saves. He “who makes men holy [GK 39]” is, of course, Jesus. He makes them into God’s people by his offering of himself (10:10). The passive, “those who are made holy” (coming from the same verb), puts some emphasis on the unity of Christ and his own. But the writer does not say they are one; he says they are “of the same family” (lit., “of one”). Since the thrust of the passage refers to earthly descent, this “one” is most likely Adam . The thought, then, is that Jesus is qualified to be our Priest and Savior because he shares our nature, i.e., because he is not some remote being but truly “one of us.” He shares with us a descent from Adam; this enables him to call us “brothers.” Those who follow Christ are often called “brothers”; rarely, however, are they called his brothers in the NT. Indeed, sometimes the two are differentiated, as when Jesus says, “You have only one Master and you are all brothers” (Matthew 23:8). Mostly Jesus’ “brothers” refers to those in his immediate family (e.g, Matthew 12:46–48), though occasionally the word is used in a spiritual sense when linking people to Christ (Matthew 12:49–50; Mark 3:33–35; Romans 8:29). Thus this passage in Hebrews is not unparalleled. There is a sense in which Jesus is brother to all who call God “Father.” That is why it is important to identify the “them” in “Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” It is not all people he calls brothers but only those who are sanctified.