Please explain Hebrews 5:8.
Hebrews 5:7-8 says, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” This, of course, is in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.
As the eternal God, He knew what servitude was, but He had never been a servant. He knew what obedience was, but He had never been in a place to be obedient…until He came here to live and die for us. Philippians 2:7-8 says of the Lord Jesus, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, and BECAME OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH, even the death of the cross.”
What great humility that God would humble Himself to become flesh! (Read John 1:1, 14). He then humbled Himself even more, He became obedient, and that obedience took Him to the cross, there to die for sinful man. Still, He had to learn obedience, and He accomplished that through the things He suffered. He learned obedience experimentally and practically. We should not think that Christ was unwilling to obey God before he suffered; or that he had, as we have, a sinful nature, leading to rebellion, which needed to be subdued by suffering. That is not the thought at all in this verse. We cannot say that Christ was FORCED INTO OBEDIENCE. He willingly learned obedience for our benefit, that He might demonstrate to us an example of subjection that went even to death itself.
His sufferings also qualified Him to be our Great High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” The Lord Jesus can empathize with us in all our sufferings and infirmities for He also suffered. He knows how it feels to suffer injustice, to suffer abandonment, to love others only to be hated in return, etc. Yes, the Lord Jesus learned much through His sufferings. May we follow His example. May we not despise our times of suffering but learn to use that to humble ourselves and make us more obedient servants of the Lord. (451.4)