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, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (Hebrews 5:7-8)

What Jesus Learned

Moses begins the book of Genesis by declaring that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. As the creation story unfolds, the text describes the work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus in speaking the world into existence and creating man and woman. The apostle Paul wrote to the saints in Colosse that all things were created by Jesus and for Jesus. There is no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the incarnate divine nature that gave up being in the form of God to be made in the likeness of men. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit confirmed Jesus as being the Son of God. The miracles attested to the divine nature, showing His power over nature, time, disease, death, and the demon world. Jesus never failed in showing the world His divine power.

Trying to understand the nature of Jesus as divine and human is beyond the mind of human reasoning. Jesus was one hundred percent divine and one hundred percent human. Everything about Him was the image of the Creator, and yet He held to the natural man in the likeness of human flesh. The conception of Jesus was through divine power, but His birth was in the same manner as all men. As a little boy, the Son of God had to learn to walk, talk, feed himself, and know right from wrong. Luke writes that Jesus was subject to Joseph and Mary, growing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Jesus, God’s Son, had to learn things in life, and there was no greater lesson than when He faced the ultimate challenge of the cross. The Hebrew writer describes the anguish of heart Jesus felt as the burden of the cross fell heavy upon Him. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus shared a final meal with the twelve. That night, the Lord knew that Judas had made plans to betray Him. It grieved the heart of Jesus as He washed the feet of His betrayer, knowing what he was about to do would set in motion the final act of the divine plan to redeem mankind. After Judas left the group, Jesus took the eleven to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed fervently to His Father for relief.

During those final hours, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to His Father. The only one who could rescue Jesus was the Father. Only His Father could find another way to save mankind. Jesus begged His Father to take away the cup of wrath He was having to bear, but the Father refused because the salvation of man demanded the suffering of the Savior. God could save Jesus from death. The Father heard the anguished cries of His beloved Son. Sin had brought an eternal weight of debt that could only be satisfied with the death of the Son of God. Jesus learned the greatest lesson from the things that He suffered.

The Son of God learned obedience by the things which He suffered, so that the world could learn obedience by the things God commands. There is no understanding of the level of suffering endured by Jesus Christ that can justify anything a man can do. God’s grace is so immense that it is unfathomable to the human spirit to understand. The purpose of the suffering of Jesus was to bring the world to God. Sin separates God and man, and only through the blood of Jesus can mercy be found. The death of Jesus was the highest price. Rejecting the blood of Jesus is to refuse to see the love of Jesus, to learn through His incredible suffering, His love for all men. Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. The wrath of God is against all who do not obey Him. Why? Jesus suffered so that no man had to suffer. Rejecting this grace is trampling the Son of God underfoot as an unworthy thing. God will not endure those who do not honor what His Son learned by the things which He suffered.