Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary

Suffering
Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You." 6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek"; 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,10 called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek. (NKJV)

The early church claimed that the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews. Clement of Alexandria claimed that Luke translated the book into Greek.

Luke was Paul’s amanuensis in Paul’s final days (2 Timothy 4:11) and is believed to be his amanuensis for this writing. This letter is believed to be Paul’s last, written late A.D. 67-early A.D. 68.

In the previous passage, Paul gave the qualifications for the priesthood. The Jewish high priests could only be from the tribe of Levi because God had given such instruction to Moses on Mount Sinai, when He also gave him the Law.

Thus, they were called Levitical priests. Aaron, brother of Moses and great grandson of Levi was appointed the first high priest by God. This resulted in a second designation, of Aaronic priests.

In this passage we are looking at the superiority of Christ to Aaron. Paul begins by writing “So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest.” (v. 5a).

Christ, like Aaron, did not choose to be a high priest. He did not “glorify Himself” by taking such a position.

Both were called by God to carry out their work. Only the Father could designate high priests.

Paul continues with “but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You" (v. 5b). Here, Paul quotes from Ps. 2:7 that Christ is indeed the Son of God. As His Son, Christ is affirmed, “begotten”, by the Father as qualified to be high priest.

Next, Paul writes “As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ " (v. 6). The other place is Ps. 110:4, which says that Christ is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

The priesthood of Christ is proclaimed to be that of the order of Melchizedek. The Patriarch Melchizedek lived in the days of Abraham, prior to the giving of the Law.

Melchizedek served both as a king and a priest, just as Christ. The priesthoods of both Christ and Melchizedek were superior to that of Aaron’s.

Verses seven through ten of this passage show the ability of Christ to understand sympathetically the needs, and suffering, of human beings. Paul wrote “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death” (v. 7a).

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed fervently to His Father. The prayers consisted of “strong crying and tears”, according to the literal Greek translation.

Jesus understood the frailty of flesh and depended on God to meet his needs. Paul continues with “and was heard because of His godly fear” (v. 7b). God “heard” His prayers because of Christ’s “godly fear”, or reverent submission.

Next, Paul writes “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (v. 8). Even though Christ was the Son of God, He suffered on earth.

Through His suffering he “learned obedience”. As He went through human suffering, He was able to sympathize with mankind.

He understood their needs, including their need for total dependence on God. He walked in our shoes, and knows how we feel in the midst of suffering. He learned that only though man’s obedience to God, do prayers get heard.

That obedience begins with man’s belief in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. The prayers of those who do not believe, non-Christians, are not heard by God, unless they are reaching out to God for salvation..

Next, Paul writes “And having been perfected,” (v. 9a). Christ, was made perfect through His mission of incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

He has always been perfect, without flaw, because He is God. He was made perfect in the sense that His obedience to fulfilling his mission on earth perfected His office as Savior.

He could not have been our Savior if He had remained in Heaven. He had to come to earth and fulfill the mission the Father had for Him.

Paul continues with “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (v. 9b). Once Christ became our Savior, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.  

Paul completes this passage by writing “called by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek" (v. 10). Christ was designated by God to be High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Christ as High Priest was superior to Aaron as a high priest. The priesthood of Aaron was temporary, whereas the priesthood of Christ was eternal.

Aaron was to offer sacrifices for, not only the people, but also for himself. The sinless Christ did not need to offer sacrifices for Himself.

Aaron”s sacrifices were temporary, and had to be renewed yearly. Christ’s sacrifice was Himself, and was eternal and permanent.

Even though Christ on earth was the Son of God, He still suffered. His suffering was necessary so that He, in His humanity, could learn obedience.

Such it is with us. Suffering teaches us obedience. We learn through suffering that we are not in control of our lives.

Things happen, and we cannot stop them. Loved ones die, tragedy happens, lives are turned upside down, nothing makes sense.

When all is out of control, One is still in control.

Even a “man”, in His humanity, as great as Christ depended on God in Heaven. Only through His dependence on God did He have the strength to go on.

And only through our dependence on God will we have the strength to go on. 

 

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