Jesus had to learn obedience on his path of suffering. That is the nucleus of the text above. It is also the nucleus of the verses 7-9. In my youth I would not have meditated or preached on this text. The divine nature of our Saviour was very clear to us. How then is it possible that the Lord Jesus had to learn obedience? Does this expression not imply that he had difficulty in obeying his heavenly Father?

Obedience⤒🔗

It is especially the letter to the Hebrews which highlights the human nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, without detracting from his divine nature. In Hebrews 5:8, his divine nature is clearly articulated. It is as if the writer himself feels a little of that wonderful journey. Although he was the Son and therefore also truly God, he still had to learn obedience.

You can learn obedience in two ways. According to the first way, obedience is the direct contrast to disobedience. Then you need to unlearn something, let it go, in order to be fully obedient. The other way is being positively taught about the way of obedience. Without this teaching, you would lose the way and become disobedient.

The latter is the road that Jesus took. He was not unwilling to be obedient. But the way of suffering was intrinsically foreign to him. He was, after all, the Son. He lived in love for, and in harmony with, the Father. Could this then mean that he would have to accept the cup of suffering from the Father’s hand?  

Substitute←⤒🔗

This is where we meet the substitutionary element in Jesus’ suffering. He did not have to suffer for his own sins. He loved the Father completely, as well as his holy Law.

Still, he had to bear the judgement over sin and transgression, which was strange to him. He was not guilty. He knew himself to be innocent, yet had to carry the Father’s punishment. That clashed with his holy intention of obedience. This is where the depth of this text is revealed to us. Even though he was intrinsically one with the Father, he still had to bear the Father’s judgement. He took the place of all those who are his. He identified himself with them before the judgement seat of God. This he did wholeheartedly.

Jesus’ wholehearted love was evident as early as his meeting in the temple, when he was only twelve years old: “Did you not know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).

Well, this included being judged by the Father and forsaken by him. He was ejected from the realm of his Father’s love. Gethsemane was a sample of what awaited him on Golgotha. In the most literal sense it was hell on earth, first in the garden and then on the cross.

Jesus had to learn that this terrible abandonment was part of the sacrifice which the Father desired. He did not want to be disobedient, but he had to be introduced to the depths of what the Father required of him. He was not in disagreement with the Father. The road of suffering was unknown to Jesus, intrinsically foreign. But in this way the path of suffering became a road of learning in the school of obedience.

Following in his footsteps←⤒🔗

We can never fully realise how much this obedience cost him. Therefore we will never be able to fully feel how deep this lesson in obedience was. One thing is clear though: Those who need him in learning to be obedient will themselves be taught and made obedient. They learn it from his road of suffering. Peter, yes, especially Peter, writes that he left us an example so that we will follow in his footsteps (1 Peter 2:21).

In Hebrew 5:9a we read, “And, once made perfect….” The same word is used as on the cross: When he cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), “he became the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9b).

For Jesus, the road to completion of his task was by way of suffering and by way of learning, and so shall it be for all those that are his. From his path of suffering they learn obedience. The end of the road is eternal salvation — gained by him, granted to all who are his.

This is the way we love him, he who learned to be obedient in the way of suffering. So we are led by him on the way of obedience to eternal salvation. That is grace.