Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 229 · August 17
To the Uttermost
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
The word "uttermost" in this verse is harder to pin down than it looks.
In Greek it is panteles, which means complete, through and through. The only other place the New Testament uses it is for the woman bent over for eighteen years, who "could in no wise lift up herself," not even partway. Many readers also hear time in the word, meaning for ever. So it measures either all the way down or all the way along, and the verse does not stop to settle which.
What the verse does is give its reason: "seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The chapter has just explained why: "they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death." Every priest before Jesus had a last day at work, and someone new had to learn the job. This one "continueth ever," so He "hath an unchangeable priesthood."
That is why both readings hold, because the reason fits either one. "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." He can reach as far down as anybody has fallen, and keep them for as long as their life lasts, because He is still alive and still praying for them.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 229 is The Counsel That Stands (Proverbs 19:21).