I’ve been reading the book of Hebrews lately. I was floored this morning with this section:

5:7 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. 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him

Here Jesus is crying loudly and through his tears praying to God. This is not happening during the crucifixion, which even the strongest would cry through, this is during the standard day-to-day things of life. Life was not a smooth ride for him. You could say, well Jesus was a wimp, so of course he was crying like a little girl. But this is just not true. The Bible teaches us enough of Jesus’ backstory and His future to make it plain that this man is as far from a sissy as they come.

These three verses show us that Jesus was a man of much pain. We are not told exactly the nature of his pain, but it seems very reasonable that He suffered all kinds of pain. Emotional, Spiritual and surely Physical pain. The Bible is not interested in the type of pain, instead we are shown what He did with the pain. Jesus directed his pain to the Father.

Some people will use pain in their life as an excuse to turn away from God. Jesus had a view of the Father which we all need. First, there is nowhere else to go. God is the only one who can rescue us forever from everything. From pain, death, heartache, loneliness, insecurity, abuse…ultimately, only God’s hand can alleviate pain. In reverence, Jesus came to the only One He could and the Father heard His cries.

Interestingly, Jesus learned obedience from his suffering. Suffering is more than a trite exercise of futility. Suffering taught Jesus obedience. What this looks like, I don’t know, but I do know this brings me a great deal of comfort. Life really stunk for Jesus in one sense. He was, as Isaiah prophecies, a man of sorrows. When life is really stinking for me and for people I love, I take great comfort that Jesus learned His obedience through suffering.

In a turn of focus the verse ends shaking me to the core. The verse shifts from His obedience to my obedience. How did I get into this verse? It is only under His shadow whereby we can survive this life. Verse 9 concludes saying, “he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” When life stinks it’s comforting to know as a follower of Christ that I’m just following the way of the Savior and His way is leading to eternal salvation. I just need to keep following Him in obedience and not be quite so concerned about the scenery along the way. He has already walked down the road where He is leading me, there is no need to be afraid.