The theme of perfection pervades the epistle to the Hebrews. The perfecting of Jesus is mentioned three times in passages critical for the development of the author’s Christology and soteriology (Heb. 2:10; 5:9; 7:28). Additionally, four times the inability of the law to perfect believers is argued (Heb. 7:11, 19; 9:9; 10:1), and, in contrast, the perfection found in Christ is affirmed three times (Heb. 10:14; 11:40; 12:23). Using related terminology, the writer also urges his readers to be “taken forward to maturity” (Heb. 5:11–6:1, NIV 2011) and points them to Jesus as “the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2).[1] Clearly, the idea of perfection is critical to our understanding of this letter.
1. This is an abbreviated version of my article. “Perfection: achieved and experienced,” in Jonathan Griffiths (ed.), The Perfect Saviour. Key Themes in Hebrews (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity, 2012), 125–145. My original work on this theme is published as Hebrews and Perfection. An Examination of the Concept of Perfection in the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’, (SNTSMS 47; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982; reprinted as a paperback 2005).
Yet, what does it mean that Jesus was perfected? Conducting a simple word study is not much help. Formally, the Greek verb means “to make teleios,” and so “to make complete” or “to perfect.” The verb itself carries no material associations of a moral or technical kind, and distinct content can only be given by the context or subject on each occasion. Therefore, we must pay careful attention to the argument in Hebrews to understand how the author is using this word in his particular context.
Some scholars have viewed the author’s use of the verb in relation to Jesus as simply applying to his heavenly exaltation, while others have argued for an even more specific application to his “ordination” as “high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” I will argue, however, that the perfecting of the Son of God relates to the whole process by which he was personally equipped or qualified by his earthly suffering and death, his priestly appointment, and his heavenly exaltation to be the promised Messianic deliverer of his people. I will make my argument by examining the three uses of “to perfect” (teleioun) referring to Jesus (2:10; 5:9; 7:28). Finally, I will conclude by considering how Jesus, as the perfected Savior, is equipped to completely perfect his people.
The Perfecting of Jesus
Perfected Through Earthly Suffering (Hebrews 2:10)
An Adamic Christology is foundational to this presentation of the person and work of Jesus in 2:5–18. Sin, death, and the devil prevent human beings from fulfilling their calling and destiny as described in Psalm 8:4–6. But Jesus is the heavenly man who ultimately achieves this for us by being “crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death” (Heb. 2:5–9; cf. 1 Cor. 15:20–28, 45–49). What follows is an exposition on this. The benefits of his “perfecting” are experienced by those whom he sanctifies by his blood, calling them his brothers and sisters, and bringing them to glory with him (Heb. 2:10–13; 10:10, 29; 13:12). Given God’s great purpose for his people and his gracious character, it was fitting that he should “perfect the leader who saves them through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10, my translation).[2]
2. Jesus is perfected as ton archēgon tēs sōtērias autōn (“the leader who saves them”), suggesting that a vocational understanding of the verb teleiōsai (“perfect”) is appropriate here. Jesus is personally perfected as “the leader” of his people—not in a moral sense, but with respect to his calling to save them.
God qualified Jesus or fully equipped him for his role “through sufferings” (dia pathēmatōn). This differs from the expression in Hebrews 2:9 (dia to pathēma tou thanatou), where “because he suffered death” (CSB) indicates the ground of his exaltation. In Hebrews 2:10, however, the plural noun has in view the whole experience associated with and leading up to his death (cf. Heb. 2:17–18; 5:7–9). The preposition (dia, “through”) with the genitive (pathēmatōn, “sufferings”) indicates that he was perfected through this process; his sufferings were not simply a prelude to his perfecting or the reason for it.
For reasons soon to be clarified, the author of Hebrews introduces the notion that Jesus was qualified by these experiences to become “a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” (Heb. 2:14–18). Most importantly, he made atonement “for the sins of the people” by his death and entrance into the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Heb. 9:11–15), but his prior experience of suffering “when he was tempted” enables him to “help those who are being tempted.” The pastoral implications of this are drawn out in Hebrews 4:14–16, where the author urges, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (see also Heb. 10:19–22).
Perfected Through Becoming a Priest Forever (Hebrews 5:9)
“Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest,” but he was appointed by the one who addressed him as “my Son” in Psalm 2:7 and as “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” in Psalm 110:4. Two major Christological strands are drawn together in Hebrews 5:5–6 and the implications are considered in what follows. Although he was the Son of God, destined to reign eternally at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:5–13), he “learned obedience through what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:8–10).[3] This “permanent priesthood” enables the exalted Messiah “to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:24–25).
3. Learning obedience through what he suffered is explained with special reference to the experience of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (5:7; cf. Mark 14:36; Matt 26:39; Luke 22:42). There is no sense of educative correction here, as if he had imperfections that needed to be overcome. He was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (4:15), and he “offered himself unblemished to God” (9:14).
Perfected Through Exaltation (Hebrews 7:28)
The final reference to the perfecting of Jesus (Heb. 7:28) comes in a context where the focus is on his heavenly exaltation, and only brief mention is made of his sacrifice (Heb. 7:27) and the personal qualities that make him superior to any earthly mediators (Heb. 7:26). Nevertheless, these verses reflect what has already been said about the perfecting of Jesus through earthly struggles, death, resurrection, and ascension (Heb. 2:10; 5:7–9).
The Perfecting of Believers
Using the cognate noun teleiōsis (Heb. 7:11, “perfection”), the author argues that perfection for believers could not have been attained “through the Levitical priesthood.” Indeed, “the law made nothing perfect” (Heb. 7:19). The fact that Psalm 110 predicted the coming of a messiah-priest “in the order of Melchizedek” implied a weakness in the existing order. When Jesus appeared as “another priest like Melchizedek,” “not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:15–16, referring to his resurrection-ascension), it was plain that a better way of relating to God had been provided. Through the high priestly ministry of Jesus “a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (Heb. 7:19, di’ hēs engizomen tō theō).
All the institutions of the law, such as priesthood, sacrifice, and tabernacle, failed to bring about a direct access to God and the security of an eternal fellowship with God, but Jesus makes this possible by fulfilling God’s new covenant promises (Heb. 8:6–9:15). A link between drawing near to God and perfection is made again in Hebrews 10:1, where it is argued that “the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near (to worship)” (tous proserchomenous teleiōsai). Drawing near to God was only possible in a limited, cultic fashion under the Old Covenant, but those who draw near to God through Jesus Christ and his saving work experience the fullness of what was promised in connection with the New Covenant (Heb. 10:14–18; 12:22–24).[4]
4. The verb proserchesthai (Heb. 4:16; 7:25; 10:1, 22; 11:6; 12:18, 22) is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), to describe all Israel coming before the Lord in solemn assembly (Exod. 16:9; 34:32; Num. 10:3–4), and the special role of priests approaching the altar with sacrifices (Lev. 9:7–8; 22:3).
The “better hope” by which Christians draw near to God is not simply the hope of future resurrection: it is the present hope that Jesus gives of approaching God “with confidence” to “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16, meta parrēsias; cf. Heb. 10:19–25). By this means we are sustained in our relationship with God until we are finally glorified with all who have benefited from his saving work (Heb. 9:15; 11:39–40).
Ritual cleansing under the Old Covenant was for the benefit of those who were ceremonially unclean, to sanctify them by making them outwardly clean (Heb. 9:13, pros tēn tēs sarkos katharotēta, “for the purification of the flesh”). Those who were defiled could be restored to fellowship with God in the sense that they were able to participate again in the worship of the Israelite community. But the fundamental truth that blood “purifies” and “sanctifies,” even if only at an external level, provides the basis for the “how much more” argument that follows. “The blood of Christ” is uniquely effective because he “offered himself unblemished to God,” alluding once more to Jesus’s life of perfect obedience to the Father, culminating in the cross (Heb. 9:14; cf. Heb. 5:7–9; 7:26–27; 10:10).[5] His sacrifice is able to “cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,” meaning sins that defile the conscience and bring judgment, so that we may “serve the living God.” A true and lasting consecration to God and his service is thus implied.
5. “Through the eternal Spirit” most likely refers to the power of the Holy Spirit upholding and maintaining him (cf. Isa 42:1), though some would take it to mean his own spirit, highlighting the interior or spiritual quality of his sacrifice.
When Jesus is described as the “pioneer and perfecter of faith,” a rare Greek noun is used (teleiōtēn), probably formed from the verb. Formally, the expression means that Jesus makes possible a true realization of faith in God. His own faith was qualitatively, and not just quantitatively greater than the faith of Old Testament saints. By the exercise of his own faith, he has given our faith a perfect basis in his high priestly work, achieving our salvation by his obedience.[6] At the same time, he has opened the way for his people to follow him through suffering and shame to the Father’s presence. The grace of God in the work of Christ is the basis for a true confidence in God and his promises, encouraging believers to persevere in faith, hope, and love until they experience the fullness of everything that Jesus has already accomplished for them.
6. As in 2:10, the noun archēgos appears to be used with a double meaning: Jesus is both the source of persevering faith in his saving work and the pioneer, who blazes the trail for us to follow on our journey to the heavenly city (“for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”).
Conclusion
What does it mean then that Jesus was perfected? It means that every aspect of his incarnate life—from his earthly life of sorrow and death of shame to his glorious resurrection and installation as High Priest to his present heavenly reign—qualified him as the perfect savior for his people. He identifies with his people in their weaknesses, he offers true priestly cleansing, and he always lives to make intercession on their behalf. And as the perfected Messiah, he alone can perfect God’s people, qualifying them to draw near to their holy God. So let us continue to draw near, singing as we do, “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
