The author also knows
of Jesus’s resurrection (13:20) and places Jesus’s self-presentation to God his
Father in heaven (e.g., 9:24). Since he goes to heaven after his resurrection
and after his ascension, this heavenly presentation is best interpreted as the
completion of his self-sacrifice. (Amy Peeler, Hebrews
[Commentaries for Christian Formation; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
2024], 7, emphasis added)
This complete salvation is possible because Jesus is
always living to petition for them. Because death can never defeat him, it is
possible for him to be a priestly advocate forever. Priests offer sacrifices
for sins, and Jesus did that once and for all when he offered his resurrected
self to God. At the same time, his mediating work before God is not done.
Priests also represent people to God and in that way plead their case for
forgiveness and continued divine presence. . . . Jesus’s perpetual life serves
the purpose of petition for those who are approaching God through him. To
petition is fittingly associated with prayer since it describes crying out to God
(Rom 11:12; 1 En. 9:3). This particular word (entynchanō) is not used to
describe the activity of Jesus, who is not praying to God from a distance but
sitting enthroned at God’s right hand. This is the same term Paul uses for
Jesus’s and the Spirit’s petition before God the Father (Rom 8:27, 34), giving
evidence of a common understanding of divine advocacy in early Christian
circles. Moreover, Jesus’s priesthood is a living one, in which his defeat of
death allows him to pray for his followers to overcome their own deaths as
well. He petitions God to aid their endurance, the very plan God desires and is
already playing out *Heb 2:10; 12:5-11). Jesus need not win over the recalcitrant
Father with his pleading; rather, he asks for that which is already in line
with the divine will, and does so in person with God in heaven. If God the
Father and God the Son are for this Christian community, who can stand against them
(as the author will say in 13:6, as does Paul in Rom 8:31)? IF the author is
gravely worried about the possibility that they may not endure in faith, he is
even more confident in God’s ability to ensure that very same endurance.
The perpetual life of the Son raises the question about
the possibility of his eternal petitioning. Once those who are approaching God arrive
at God’s rest, would there be any need for him to continue to plead their case?
No longer will sin or death be a problem, but this statement does open the door
to the possibility of continued growth in eternity, and a Son who always
advocates for it. (Ibid., 202-3)
