Theodoret of Cyrus: Intercession On Top Of Atonement

So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in what pertains to God so as to atone for the sins of the people. You see, being tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are tested (vv.17-18). 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 highpriest not as God but as man; he suffered not as God but as man; 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 (around A.D. 393 to around A.D. 457), Commentary on Hebrews, Chapter 2, in Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul, Volume 2, p. 148 (2001), Robert C. Hill translator.