Our Suitable Saviour
Have you ever wondered how Jesus “learned obedience” from what he suffered? (Hebrews 5:8)
It doesn’t mean Jesus learnt to stop disobeying. He never disobeyed. He was completely free from sin, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). It means that with each new trial, he learnt in practice and in pain what it means to obey.
When the Bible says Jesus was made “perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10) it doesn’t mean he gradually improved. What it does mean is that Jesus was gradually fulfilling the perfect righteousness he had to have to save us.
If Jesus had gone from incarnation to the cross without a life of temptation and pain to test His righteousness and His love, He would not be a suitable Saviour for fallen humanity. Jesus had to prove His righteousness over a host of areas before He could be declared not only sinless but truly righteous. Each test challenged a different area of His humanity.
So when the book of Hebrews says Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) it means He came through every test in every area not only without fault (sin), but also that He reacted in every test perfectly (righteously).
So at the end of His short earthly life He had faced temptation in every area we face, but unlike us, had come through without fault, perfectly. He learnt obedience by what He suffered.
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