P. Richard Choi
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8.
The key problem with this verse is the word “learned.” In what sense did Jesus learn? Did He learn the way we learn? Did His learning involve moral correction and development? Also, did He learn through trial and error as we do? Does “perfected” in 5:9 imply imperfection in Jesus’ life? And, is suffering a necessary part of spiritual growth?
Jesus our High Priest – To answer these questions, we need to begin with the immediate context, Hebrews 4:14-5:10, which is a long Christological section that discusses why Jesus is fit to be our High Priest. The exhortation in 4:14-16 to approach Christ as our High Priest in time of need serves as the section’s introduction. Two crucial points appear in this brief introduction to help us avoid misunderstandings about Jesus. The first is that Jesus became like us “in every respect,” (v. 15, NRSV). The second is that Jesus is without sin. Our interpretation of 5:8 needs to stay within this perimeter. This brief introduction is followed in 5:1-4 with the qualifications of the earthly high priest. Then in 5:5, 6, there is an announcement of Jesus as the exalted Son, which is achieved through quotations from Psalm 2:7 and 110:4. This announcement is then followed in Hebrews 5:7-10 with Jesus’ qualifications to be our High Priest. Clearly, 5:1-10 forms a chiastic structure1 with the announcement of Jesus’ Sonship in verses 5, 6 as its central thrust. For our purpose, though, it is important to note that 5:8 forms part of the explanation of Jesus’ qualifications as our High Priest. In other words, the chief concern of 5:8 is not so much over the nature but the function of Jesus.
We also need to consider the broader context of the letter. The description of Jesus’ humanity in Hebrews 2:10-18 bears a striking thematic resemblance to 4:14-5:10. Hebrews 2:10-18 clarifies the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation: to be perfected through suffering (2:10), to be united with us (vv. 11-14a), to destroy both death and the devil (14b, 15), and to be made a merciful High Priest through suffering and temptation (16, 17).
The most important human suffering – Another important passage is the admonition section of Hebrews 12:1-11, which reveals to us what suffering entails. By simultaneously addressing our suffering and the suffering of Jesus, this section helps us see that suffering involves more than physical suffering. The Crucifixion (12:2a), shame (12:2b), hostility from others (12:3), and temptations to sin (12:4) focus on physical, social, religious, and psychological suffering. But the section’s lengthy discussion about suffering as God’s discipline (12:5-11) makes clear that the most important human suffering is spiritual. Indeed, many prayers in the psalms reflect this kind of suffering (10:1, 13; 22:1; 42:9, 11; 43:2, 5; 44:23, 24; 49:5; 74:1, 11; 88:14). Asking God “why” in the context of prayer, as Jesus did on the Cross, is not an act of unbelief or rebellion but a way of overcoming mental suffering. We ask God “why” because we want to believe God has the power to save us from our sufferings. Moreover, we learn by asking “why.” Intense curiosity is what causes us to learn. As we intensely but patiently look for answers with the practical intent of reaching deeper levels of obedience, we grow spiritually. Those who cease from asking “why” also cease from learning.
Jesus learned obedience – Now we turn to study Hebrews 5:8 in detail. “Although He was a son.” The mention of son here recalls the words of Psalm 2:7 in Hebrews 1:1-5 and 5:5, which are announcements of Jesus’ exalted Sonship. The Son is the preexistent, creative Agent of God, indeed God’s very express image. The reason Psalm 2:7 is reintroduced in Hebrews 5:5 is to remind the reader of this fact. The opening clause of 5:8 is best understood to mean “Son of God though he was.”2 The next statement about Jesus’ “learning” needs to be read with the understanding that the earthly Jesus was simultaneously the preexistent, exalted Son of God.
“He learned.” There is no reason to deny that the earthly Jesus’ spiritual knowledge advanced from one stage to another. Luke clearly tells us not only that Jesus “grew” physically but that He “increased” in wisdom (2:40, 52). Luke did not feel that it took away from the perfection of Jesus in any way to suggest that development occurred in His life. Still, the statement “he learned” needs to be understood within the limits set by the author of Hebrews. On one side is the author’s earlier statement that the earthly Jesus was without sin (Heb 4:15), and on the other is the notion that He was perfected at the end of His earthly life (5:9, 2:10). It is unnecessary to ask whether Jesus’ perfection took shape gradually during His earthly life or whether it was granted to Him all at once at the time of His resurrection and ascension. Either way, it is clear that perfection lay ahead of Jesus during His earthly life. It is also clear in the present context that needing to grow—if that can be called imperfection—is no sin. Indeed, growth and learning are part and parcel of the joy of being human. It is safe to say that, to the very end of His life, the earthly Jesus would have searched for new and better ways to serve and obey God. Moreover, since most of us learn through trial and error, it is easy to think that Jesus also learned this way. It should be clear that Jesus made no errors in His life—moral or otherwise—as it is clear from Hebrews 4:15. At the same time, it should be equally clear that Jesus was often surprised and pained by the callous attitudes of the people He taught and served. Sometimes He even wept. A truly thoughtful human being, He must have learned something from these experiences.
The meaning of obedience – Hebrews 10:5-7 perhaps explains what Jesus’ obedience involved. Jesus’ obedience was not so much about literal observance of the Ten Commandments as about doing the will of God, whatever it took. This sacrificial theme of obedience is found in other scriptural passages as well (Phil 2:6-8; Mark 8:31; 10:38; Luke 12:50; John 10:17) but perhaps most clearly in Romans 5:19. The will of God for Jesus was that He should suffer and die in His human body as the sacrifice for the world. The Cross was Jesus’ answer to this call of obedience: “A body hast Thou prepared for Me… . Behold, I have come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb 10:5, 7). It is also important to note that many also take obedience in Hebrews 5:8 to refer to the “godly fear” in verse 7 (NKJV). If so, godliness is obedience finding expression in suffering.
“It was not only on the cross that Christ gave Himself for humanity, not only in the wilderness of temptation and in Gethsemane that He overcame in our behalf. Every day’s experience was an outpouring of His life; every day He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And because the life of Jesus was a life of perfect trust His service for heaven and earth was without failure or faltering. He met and resisted all the temptations that man must meet because in His humanity He relied upon divine power” (Visitor, October 2, 1912).
“From the things which He suffered” or “through what he suffered” (RSV). In spite of the familiar wordplay learn-suffer (Gr. emathen-epathen), the suffering here means more than simply the customary hardship connected with learning. Rather it covers all aspects of suffering mentioned above—physical, religious, social, psychological, and mental. But, admittedly, the notion that Jesus learned and achieved perfection through suffering is a difficult concept for many modern readers. We need to keep in mind that the purpose of this verse is not to glorify suffering but to argue that suffering characterizes human nature in a world of sin. What made the earthly Jesus truly human was His capacity to suffer. This notion of a suffering Jesus sharply contrasts with the heresy of Docetism.3 According to Docetism, Jesus only appeared to suffer. Hebrews rejects this kind of superficial understanding of Jesus. Jesus was human primarily because of His undiminished capacity to suffer.
A theological interpretation – The central thrust of Hebrews 5:8 is—in the words of F. F. Bruce—Jesus learned “just what obedience involved in practice in the conditions of human life on earth.”4 In other words, Jesus learned obedience the human way; and yet what he experienced goes far beyond what any human being has or ever will experience. Hebrews 5:8 is an invitation to see suffering as an opportunity to grow in the Christian life. Our verse is an invitation to accept suffering as the pathway—a Via Dolorosa—to a perfect and compassionate ministry. This is especially true when such a ministry calls for suffering, as it did in the experience of Jesus. Nothing binds humans like a common lot of suffering—be it a concentration camp or a catastrophic tsunami. Our ministry to others can be perfect and compassionate to the degree we allow ourselves to be touched by their sufferings.
1 A chiastic structure, from the Greek letter X (chi), refers to the inverted sequence or crossover of parallel words or ideas in a sentence, or larger literary unit, e.g., Mark 2:27.
B man man B’
A Sabbath Sabbath A’
2 F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, rev. ed., New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), 130.
3 Docetism was an early heresy in the Christian church that claimed that Jesus was not really human, but only appeared to be a man.
4 Bruce, 131.
Among the more than 5000 Greek manuscripts in existence today, the following are the most important witnesses to the New Testament text:
1. Codex Vaticanus – written about the middle of the fourth century, and located in the Vatican library in Rome since the 15th century or earlier. It is considered to be the most important extant manuscript of the New Testament. It originally contained both Testaments and part of the Apocrypha; the manuscript now lacks most of Genesis and part of the Psalms in the Old Testament, and part of Hebrews and all of Titus, Timothy, Philemon and Revelation in the New Testament.
2. Codex Sinaiticus – from the fourth century. It was discovered in 1844 by Constantine von Tischendorf in the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Brought from Mt. Sinai to Russia in 1859, it was purchased in 1933 by the British government from the Soviet government for 100,000 pounds. Originally, it contained the whole of both Testaments. Approximately half of the Greek Old Testament (or Septuagint) survived, along with the complete New Testament and some apocryphal books.
3. Codex Alexandrinus – a fifth century manuscript. It was presented in 1627 to King Charles I of England by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had obtained it in Alexandria. Originally containing both Testaments, it lacks today parts of the Gospels of Matthew and John and Second Corinthians. It is displayed in the British Museum alongside Codex Sinaiticus.