Hard Lessons

“During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:7-8)

Obedience and suffering are subjects that, like submission and waiting, are not the subjects of today’s popular Christian teachers. I find the above passage puzzling and intriguing: why would God need to “learn obedience”? It requires a better theologian than me to explain it. I can only speculate that it had to do with Jesus’ human nature. The flesh does not enjoy submission, suffering, and obedience, but as I reflect on my own experience I agree that they are great teachers.