Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:14–18)

How is it possible, he is saying, for Christ to style himself our brother or call us really children unless he bears the same nature? Hence on assuming it He overcame the influence of death and did away with the dread besetting us. We lived ever in the dread of death because we were forced to haul the yoke of mortality. Now, it was very necessary for Him to use the phrase “like His brethren” so as to refute the calumny of mere appearance.

He treated of all these matters to teach those suspecting the Son was less than the angels on account of the passion that He was obliged to undergo the passion; he explains it more clearly in what follows as well. If He had assumed the nature of angels, He would have proved superior to death; but since what He assumed was human, through the passion He paid humankind's debt, while through the resurrection of the body that had suffered he demonstrated His own power. Now, it was very wise of the divine apostle to use the proper name instead of a generic name: he did not say, “He takes hold of human seed,” but “He takes hold of Abraham's seed,” reminding them also of the promise made to Abraham. In like manner, He shared even food with us, suffered fatigue, was downhearted, wept, and suffered death. He presented His saving death as an offering: the body He had assumed He offered for the whole of creation. He included something else as well for their consolation: having learned by experience the weakness of human nature in living under the law and under grace, He extends assistance to those under attack. This is said in respect of humanity: He is our high priest not as God but as human; He suffered not as God but as human; it was not as God that he learned our condition, but as God and creator he has a clear grasp of everything.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretation of Hebrews 2