This pastoral passage was originally written for LRBC for 31/08/25
Hebrews 2:11 informs us that Jesus is “not ashamed” to call his people his “brothers”. This has puzzled me. Why is Jesus “not ashamed”? Who is he not ashamed of?
Giving this some careful thought, I have seen two possibilities:
- Was he not ashamed of us, because we have been “sanctified” or “made holy” by his atoning death, as verse 11a mentions? Or,
- Was he not ashamed of himself, because he is qualified to be “the Founder of our salvation” and able “to lead many sons to glory” because of his incarnation and death (Heb 2:10)?[1] If he had not done this, he would be unable to stand with us and call us brothers and to say the things he says in vv.12–13 because he would have done nothing that would make him able to do this. In a way, it would make him a fraud.
So, was the ‘not ashamedness’ due to something done to us, or something done to him?
I opt for option 2. It fits the context, which is more about what was done by and to Jesus, than it is about what is done for us.
If the idea of Jesus being ashamed “of himself” is an awkward one, it is worth noticing a similar idea using the same word in Heb 11:16. Here it says that “God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared for them a city.” Had God not prepared a future for his people, he would be ashamed, because he would have failed to deliver what he had promised to the saints of Old Testament times—how embarrassing!
God is unashamed because he has prepared what he promised. Similarly, Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers, because he has been qualified to be our brother through his incarnation and suffering. He was truly human, as you and I are. As our “leader”[2] who “leads” us to glory (2:10), he has lived the perfect human life that we have failed to live. Because of this, he is qualified to lead us and redeem us. He is worthy of our trust as we follow his lead. He is deserving of being called the older brother of we his younger adoptive siblings in the family of God.
Jesus has earned the right to be called the brother to his people. By his incarnation he has become one of us, lived faithfully to God as one of us, and been obedient in suffering as one of us. He is worthy to be followed and trusted as our leader and redeemer.
[1] I have written about this verse HERE.
[2] The word archēgos is difficult to translate consistently, and in the Bible has been translated as “founder”, “leader”, “author”, “captain”, and “pioneer”, depending on the verse and the translation. But given its similarity to the verb agō for “to lead” or “to bring” in the same verse, translating them similarly helps maintain the sense likely intended by the author.
Chris Northcott 