Hebrews 5:5-9 (ESV)
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
[6] as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
[7] In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. [8] Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. [9] And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Jesus had humbled himself and become a human just like us, minus the sin. As a human being He must depend upon His heavenly Father. He is the perfect human being and God hears His prayers and always answers Him since His prayers are always in accordance with the will of God. His needs were real and so was His dependence upon His heavenly Father.
The phrase in verse 7 “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” most likely refers to His prayer in the garden before His arrest. It could be concluded that when Jesus prayed “let this cup pass from me” that God said “no” and Jesus was forced to die despite His wishes. God did not answer His prayer. But that would be a wrong conclusion.
The basic prayer is “nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “I do not want to go through the pain and suffering of the next day. I do not want to experience the horror of being forsaken by You as I bear the sins of my people. But there is something I want more than avoiding that. And that is your will to be done.” Jesus’ prayer was answered. God’s will was done and that was precisely what He had prayed.
Verse 7 also tells us that Jesus was heard [and answered] because of His reverence for His Father. In His suffering Jesus is the perfect example of how we should pray and endure the hardships of life – with utter commitment to the will of God. See here in Jesus the perfect combination of the divine and the human.
As a man, Jesus did not want to suffer. As the Son of God He will sovereignly do what needs to be done in order to save people from their sins. As a man Jesus prays. He prays with power and emotion and is heard because of His reverence. He is learning through experience what it means to suffer.
What a picture of the love of God for us. He did not merely know our suffering as the only omnipotent God. He knew our suffering through the experience of being truly human. We go to a Saviour who knows what we have been through. This is marvelous beyond words.
This is our God. He is approachable. He will never say “I don’t know what you mean”. He has been here and experienced life in all its horror. And He has triumphed over all of it. How this should encourage us and spur us on to persevere through all that comes our way. Jesus has been here. We do not follow a fair weather God. He was here, under the clouds, in the pain and suffering of this life. He prayed and was heard. And He will not forget. And when we come to Him through faith, He will hear and remember, and answer and help us.
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