The writer of Hebrews, in this verse, firstly acknowledges that God is the creator and controller of everything in existence and that all creation was made to please God himself.  God made us and everything around us for his own pleasure - and he gets a great deal of joy from his creation.  So, if God creates and owns everything and everyone, he has the right to do with that creation as he sees fit.  If we don't like it - tough!!!!  We don't know what God knows.  It is not for us to decide what is best for creation.  Nor is it our right to question the way God does things.

God has a plan for human beings and he has the right to do whatever is necessary to bring that plan to fruition.  In order that we human beings, as God's 'masterpiece' would be able to enjoy a close relationship with him - and therefore he with us - even though we are far less than perfect and holy, God chose to become a man in the person of Jesus and to allow himself to be killed as a sacrifice for our selfishness and wrongdoing - to take the punishment instead of us.  So that Jesus would be able to relate thoroughly with us in our human frailty, Jesus suffered as so many people do.  The writer of Hebrews sees this as a perfectly correct thing for God to do - under the circumstances.

Quest Study Bible note p 1661.  [Jesus being made perfect] does not mean that there was a time whne Jesus wasn't perfect.  It simply points to the completion of his assignment.  Make ... perfect means to bring to the rightful or appointed end.  By suffering and dying on the cross, the perfect Son of God became our perfect Saviour, opening the way to God.

New Bible Commentary, pp 1327, 1328.  God's plan for humanity was fulfilled through the one man, Jesus Christ (In Romans 5: 12 - 21, Paul spells this thought out in more detail).  It was supremely fitting for God, as the one who created all things for his own purposes, to bring many sons to glory in this way. Jesus is the head of a great company of people, destined to share in his honour and glory. ... the writer wishes to stress that Jesus is in some respects the leader who acted like a trail blazer, opening up the way for others to follow.... we are told that he was made perfect.  There is no sense in which he was morally imperfect, but by his suffering and temptation, his death and heavenly exaltation, he was 'qualified' or 'made completely adequate' as the saviour of his people.

V 11.
For a consecrating priest and those whom he consecrates are all of one stock; and that is why the Son does not shrink from calling men his brothers,
NLT. So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father.  That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
NIV.  Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.  So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
TEV.  He makes men pure from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father.  That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, those who believe in him are made holy.  We are not made holy because of anything we ourselves have done, but because of what Jesus did.  So it is he who makes us holy and therefore he acts as a priest who consecrates us. Consecrate means to set apart as sacred (Concise Oxford Dictionary).  Since Jesus' action makes us holy, he knows we are holy and therefore children of God the Father, as he is.  So, he acknowledges us as his siblings.  All believers are of the same family  - God's family.

Seeing all Christians belong to the same family, we should act like it!  People who belong to a human family (if that family is functioning as it should) care about each other and support each other, get together for important occasions.  They don't all necessarily look alike, dress alike, think alike, speak alike, prepare and eat their food in the same way as each other.  Sometimes, people in human families argue with each other about important issues. They don't always like each other. (Liking is different from loving!) But when the crunch comes, they unite and work together.  I believe that is how Christians should be as well.

Hebrews' writer expresses the same idea of Jesus making people holy through his sacrifice in Hebrews 10: 10 and 14, and in Hebrews 13:12.

V 12.
when he says, 'I will proclaim thy name to my brothers; in full assembly I will sing thy praise';
TEV.  As he says,

Here the writer is quoting the Old Testament - from Psalm 22: 22.  Just as Matthew, in writing to the Hebrew Christians in Rome, often quotes their scriptures (the Old Testament) to illustrate a point, so does this writer to the Hebrew Christians.

Jesus did come among people praising God and helping people to understand what God is like.  If we want to know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus, 'watch' what he did and 'listen' to what he said.

New Bible Commentary, p 1328.  Psalm 22:22 speaks about the proclamation of God's deliverance by someone who had experienced terrible suffering and rejection.  These words apply supremely to Jesus as the resurrected and ascended Lord, proclaiming the victory achieved through his death.  In doing so, he gathers around him and sustains the congregation or church of his spiritual brothers and sisters.

V 13.
and again, 'I will keep my trust fixed on him'; and again, 'Here am I, and the children whom God has given me.'
NLT. He also said, "I will put my trust in him."  And in the same context he said, "Here I am - together with the children God has given me."

The writer quotes the Old Testament again, firstly from Isaiah 8: 17 and then Isaiah 8: 18, using these quotes as pointers to Christ.

New Bible Commentary, p 1328.  Isaiah 8: 16-18 speaks about Isaiah and his disciples being united by their trust in God, thus becoming signs and symbols to unbelieving Israel.  Hebrews takes a sentence from V 17 (I will put my trust in him) as a pointer to Jesus' faithful reliance on the Father in the carrying out of his earthly ministry. Isaiah 8:18 is then used to identify the church as the children given to Jesus by God.  His persistence in faith, even to the point of death, makes it possible for them to have faith.  Faith binds the family of Christ together.

V 14.
The children of a family share the same flesh and blood; and so too he shared ours, so that through death he might break the power of him who had death at his command, that is, the devil
NIV.  Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil -
TEV.  Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature.  He did so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death,
NLT.  Because God's children are human beings - made of flesh and blood - Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form.  For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death.

It's interesting that the New English Bible and the New Living Translation both use the past tense when talking about the power of the devil - he had the power of death, but he no longer holds that power because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, who broke the devil's power.

The writer makes the point that Jesus needed to be completely human so he could experience the power of the devil and conquer it. If death is the penalty for sin (Romans 6: 23a. For sin pays a wage, and the wage is death....), then when there is no further need for a penalty for sin, there is no further power in death. The sacrifice of Jesus, and his taking the sin of the world on his shoulders and paying the penalty himself, does away with any further need for a penalty for sin. when we are separated from God, we die spiritually.  Jesus bridged that separation between human beings and God, so now we no longer need to die spiritually, as we are able to remain in relationship with God. (Romans 6: 23b but God gives freely, and his gift is eternal .llife, in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.)

New Bible Commentary, p 1328.  To achieve the salvation of his children, and to draw them to himself as the community of faith, the Son had to share fully in their humanity (literally, 'blood and flesh').  The purpose of this 'incarnation' (becoming human) was that he might die and by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil.  This recalls the teaching of Genesis 3 about Satan's role in the rebellion of humanity against God and the imposition of death as the divine penalty for sin.

V 15.
and might liberate those who, through fear of death, had all their lifetime been in servitude.
TEV.  and so set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.
NLT.  Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

One of my sons, as a child, suffered from a fear of dying and it really did 'imprison' him.  There were many things that he was unable to do and things he couldn't particpate in with his school friends because they would place him in situations which caused him to panic. As a result his self confidence was poor and this is probably still affecting him as an adult.  People like him can only be truly free of this fear and its consequences through the power of Christ and assurance of God's powerful presence, forgivenss and an ongoing life.

V 16.
It is not angels, mark you, that he takes to himself, but the sons of Abraham.
TEV.  For it is clear that it is not the angels that he helps. Instead, as the scripture says, "He helps the descendants of Abraham."
NIB.  For surely it is not the angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.
NLT.  We all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the angels.

The writer has been comparing the role of Jesus with that of angels which we humans tend to think of as very special and holy beings.  Hebrews tells us that Jesus is greater than any angels (1: 4 - 7), that the angels are messengers and servants of God (1:14) and that God made human beings to be rulers over this world, not angels (2:5,8).  Here Hebrews tells us that Jeusu didn't come to help angels, but those who are 'descendants of Abraham.  The Jews were descended from Abraham, but the New Testament tells us that, since Jesus came, all those who believe in him are considered to be Abraham's 'descendants'.

So, this verse is telling us that we are more holy, because of what Christ did, than the angels.

New Bible Commentary, p 1328.  The writer brings his extended comparison between Christ and the angels to an end when he says surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.  This last expression does not refer to humanity in general, or to national Israel in particular, but to all who have 'fled to take hold of the hope offered to us' in Jesus, who are 'heirs of what was promised' to Abraham (Hebrews 6:17-28)

V 17.
And therefore he had to be made like these brothers of his in every way, so that he might be merciful and faithful as their high priest before God, to expiate the sins of the people.
TEV.  This means that he had to become like his brothers in every way, in order to be their faithful and merciful high priest in his service to God, so that the people's sins would be forgiven.
NIV.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
NLT.  Therefore it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.  He could then offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

To be a priest who could make appropriate sacrifice for people's sins and whom people could trust, Jesus needed to be one of us, not some mystical 'otherworldly' god as the pagan gods were.  He had to be born in the same way as we are, to grow up and experience life as we do with its ups and downs.  He had to really understand from personal experience the kinds of challenges and temptations we face. He had to be truly human himself.  And he was.  We know that we can approach him with full confidence that he understands any and every kind of situation we face in our lives from his own personal experience.

Quest Study Bible note, p 1661.  Jesus became human, not just to die for our sins, but also to be our high priest.  To fully communicate God's salvation to us - and identify with out need - Jesus had to become one of us.

V 18.
For since he himself has passed through the test of suffering, he is able to help those who are meeting their test now.
TEV.  And now he can help those who are tempted, because he himself was tempted and suffered.

We often hear quoted - and probably misquoted - an old indian saying about needing to walk in someone mocassins before we can understand them properly (or something like that!)  We know Jesus fully understands us because he is like us. He's been there, done that!