Hebrews 5:5-9 “So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You." (6) As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”; (7) who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, (8) though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (9) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
We have seen in this teaching thus far that as the Lord’s disciples we are called to suffer in this life. And we have also seen what type of suffering we have been appointed to and what type of suffering that we are not meant to incur. And so the question then arises as to why it is that God our Father has called us as His children to suffer in this life? To answer that question we will once again look at the example of our Lord Jesus, for it is Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). And so just as we are called to incur the same suffering that our Lord incurred, so it is that for the same reasons that Jesus incurred suffering, we too incur suffering in this life. We will see in this section that there are three main reasons that Jesus incurred suffering, and those same reasons are applicable in our lives. One of the most profound statements in the bible is quoted in the above passage of scripture i.e. “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” So how is it possible that the perfect Son of God, who already knew everything from the beginning, including complete obedience to the Father, could learn to be obedient? The answer to that question is that Jesus had to learn obedience, not as the Son of God, but rather as the Son of Man, for He had never walked in that capacity before. That is why the scripture states that in all things He had to be made like His brethren (Heb 2:17). And so the Holy Spirit reveals to us in the above passage of scripture that our Lord Jesus learned to be obedient to God the Father, as a Man. It was in fact God Himself that taught Jesus how to be obedient, and the method God used was through suffering. The simplest definition of sin, is disobedience to God (Romans 5:19). Our Lord Jesus never once committed sin, which means that He never once disobeyed His Heavenly Father. It is very easy to obey when no suffering is involved. But it becomes more difficult to obey when suffering is involved. The scripture states that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). If as the Lord’s followers, we will suffer persecution because we desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, then how much more persecution did the Lord Himself incur as the Son of Man who never sinned?
Psalms 129:1-2 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth," Let Israel now say-- (2) “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.”
The above-quoted passage of scripture is a quote made by our Lord Jesus about His life as a youth in the earth. And so as we can see, our Lord was persecuted even as a young boy. And that persecution never went away as He got older, for the principle still remained, that those who live godly lives will suffer persecution. And so all through our Lord’s life on the earth He was persecuted and afflicted, because of His perfect obedience to God the Father.
Luke 22:41-44 “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, (42) saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done." (43) Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. (44) And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Although because of His obedience to the Father, our Lord Jesus suffered persecution throughout His life on earth, it was at the cross that our Lord faced His greatest test of obedience. For our Lord always knew that He had come to the earth to die for the sin of mankind, but when the hour finally came for Him to enter into His suffering for the sin of the world, in His humanity He recoiled from the suffering that was put before Him. The above-quoted passage of scripture quotes our Lord asking the Father if there was any other way, but finally submitting His will to the will of the Father in complete obedience. And so we see that the greatest act of obedience to God that had ever been made, was done through the greatest act of suffering that had ever been incurred. And that act of obedience was done by a Man, even our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jesus truly learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Hebrews 2:17-18 “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. (18) For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
If our Lord Jesus learned obedience by the things which He suffered then we are no better than Him, and so we too will have to learn obedience by the things which we suffer. Obviously none of us will be called upon to incur the same degree of suffering that our Lord went through. Nevertheless as the scripture quoted above states, because He has learned obedience through His suffering, He is well able to give us aid so that we too can learn to be obedient by the things which we suffer. Make no mistake, if we choose to be obedient to our Lord Jesus in this life we will suffer persecution and affliction to a greater or lesser degree. And so it is through suffering that we learn obedience. Obviously those who choose not to be obedient will avoid suffering in this life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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