New Salem Baptist Church

The Answer to Suffering

September 1, 2024

“This One, in the days of his flesh, having offered up both petitions and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save him out of death because of his piety, even though he was a Son, learned obedience from the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being addressed by God as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”^[1]

We have previously seen that the letter to the Hebrews is about two main ideas: the exaltation of the Lord Jesus (He is so worthy of it!) and preparing to enter the rest or the kingdom to come. Keeping these things in mind will help us to understand this passage. There is much encouragement in this passage!

These verses are about our Lord’s suffering but there is application to our own suffering, too.

 I am entitling this message, The Answer to Suffering. By “answer” I do not mean how we can relieve our suffering. By “answer” I mean the reason for suffering. If we understand the reason for something then it is easier to receive it. Spoiler alert: we all must receive suffering!

Although these verses are about the Lord Jesus, the author intends for us to relate to Him. Regarding our Lord, verse 7 begins, “in the days of his flesh.” Thus, this passage is not just about his suffering in the garden and at the cross. Rather, it alludes to his entire life on this earth, from childhood until his sacrificial death on our behalf.

He offered up petitions and supplications. What is the difference between these two? A petition is just a request. Some translations will have the word prayer here. The same thing can be said about the word, prayer. It is a request. The word  supplication signifies the subordinate relationship between the one asking to the one being asked. It implies humility. Hence, this kind of prayer reflects again the humanity of the Lord when he was here in the days of his flesh.

His supplications were attended with “strong crying and tears.” The word in the original language here for crying here means a kind of yelling or screaming. It designates a loud verbal expression. It is elsewhere translated as uproar, shouting, and clamor. It does not mean weeping; the weeping is designated by the next word, tears.

Our Lord cried out with a loud voice to the Father in his times of suffering. The author of Hebrews has in mind our Lord’s prayers in the garden as he was about to go to the cross.

Many translations have “to Him who was able to save him from death” next. From death is not the best translation. The preposition in Greek is ek (εκ) which means “out of.” You see, our Lord had already accepted that he was to die and even told his disciples this on several occasions. He knew his death was essential to redeem his sheep. He cried out to be taken out of death[2], that is, to be resurrected. Of course, God answered that prayer in the affirmative!

Why did God save him? “Because of his piety.” Piety means reverance or devotion. Other translations have either those words or the word fear. The KJV has he “was heard in that he feared.” And, the NKJV has “was heard because of his godly fear.” Our Lord feared God when he was here.[3] It is a good and healthy thing to fear God! It is an element in having our prayers answered.

The text goes on to say, “although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.” These words ought to amaze us. The author is referencing the suffering of Christ in his final day on earth, but we know that the suffering of Christ is not limited to that last day. We know that for two reasons.

First, was not Christ obedient before his final day on earth? Of course he was. He was obedient throughout the entirety of his life and was sinless his whole life. He learned that obedience.

Second, Hebrews 2:17-18 reveals that he suffered whenever he was tempted:

¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. ^[4]

He was made like us “in every respect” except in the commission of sin. He was tempted in all the ways that we are (4:15) and when he was tempted he often suffered. Think of his temptation in the desert. Not eating for 40 days! Is that a suffering? Of course it is. (Some of us suffer if we skip one meal. It would do many of us good to skip ten meals, not just one!) Being in the desert alone in the presence of the devil. That is a kind of suffering. Being ridiculed, constantly opposed, accused of breaking God’s law. Those are sufferings. When people try to throw you off a cliff…is that a suffering? Yes. Jesus suffered in his last day, but he suffered many of his days in the flesh.

Christ learned obedience through what he suffered when he was tempted. Our Lord’s temptations were real. If you never smoked and you hate smoking, its no temptation to you if someone offers you a cigarette. We are tempted when we desire something and that desire is contrary to God’s will.

Jesus was tempted in all ways that we are (4:15), yet he never succumbed to those temptations.

How do we learn obedience to God? Often, we learn obedience to God when we suffer because of our sin. We sin then we see the consequences then those consequences make us miserable. Sometimes we have to go through the same misery several times because we don’t learn well. Yet, if we truly belong to the Lord, we will eventually learn and think, “I could have saved my self from so much sorrow if only I had obeyed from the beginning!”

Jesus didn’t learn obedience in that way because he never sinned. But God says that he still learned obedience through what he suffered. How that happened we do not know. Did he contemplate a sin and then see what the consequences would be? Did he think of a sin and then feel the weight and disgust of that disobedience upon his soul? We do not know. But we know that he learned obedience through what he suffered.

Now, realize this: If Jesus as the Son of God learned obedience through suffering, how much more do we need to suffer in order to learn obedience? No one likes to suffer. We hate it. I don’t like it not one little bit! Yet, the reality is that we all need it. Now there is a way to avoid much suffering and we will get to that. But we must know first that everyone has to suffer.

We do not always suffer because of our sins.

• Sometimes we suffer because of other people’s sins – our children or our spouse.
• Sometimes we suffer from a disease.
• Sometimes we suffer from a birth defect.
• Some times we suffer because of a natural disaster.

But even those last three – birth defects, disease, and natural tragedies – are still because of the fall of mankind, that is, Adam’s sin. Ultimately, all suffering is due to sin.

Suffering, whether because of our own sins or another’s forces us to contemplate what is important in life and the necessity of obeying God. When all is said and done we discover that the Lord’s ways are so much better than our own ways. His directions are for our good. When we live out his directives we are fulfilled and happy. It’s just that we have to learn that. We experiment and then we fail. Unless we tenaciously hold on to our rebellion, we realize that our true fulfillment is found in God and God alone.

What is the answer to suffering? That is, what is the reason for suffering? It is to learn obedience.

Now, we must address the statement in verse 9, “He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

In view of what the apostle Paul has written numerous times in his other epistles, we would expect, “He became the source of eternal salvation to all who believe in Him.” How shall we understand this?

Take note of what it does not say. It does not say, “Because we obey him he grants us eternal life.” If it said that then the biblical authors would be contradicting each other and this is impossible. When we first read verse 9 our minds want to create a cause-and-effect relationship between “obeying him” and receiving “eternal salvation.” But the author of Hebrews does not write that. He simply states that those who are obeying him have eternal life. It is not cause-and-effect. It is just a reality. It is a reality because those who have genuine faith obey the Lord. Those who have a spoken-only faith live as they please.

This is not hard to understand, but so many Christians are under the delusion that if someone just says that they believe in Jesus then they have eternal life. That is not what the Bible teaches. If anyone willingly disobeys the Lord, especially for long periods, then they do not have eternal life.

But regarding this matter of obedience to God’s laws coming before or after faith, Paul could not be clearer:

²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.^[5]

The apostle would reaffirm this just in the next chapter or Romans:

⁴ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ^[6]

The three views of those who profess to believe the Bible are these:

[Draw graph on white board.]

Which one of these is the biblical view?

Knowing the biblical view helps us see that the author’s statement in Hebrews 5:9 is exactly correct. If one has eternal life then obedience is manifest.

[Application and Conclusion] What have we learned today? We learned two things.

The second thing we learned was that obedience to the Lord is present among those who possess eternal life. If you live in disobedience then you have no assurance of life. Your obedience does not qualify you for eternal life, but your submission to the Lord Jesus shows that your faith is real and not merely spoken.

The first thing that we learned is that, because Jesus learned obedience from his suffering, we too must suffer to learn obedience.

What ought we to do in light of this? We ought to bear up under suffering, knowing that it is perfecting us just as it perfected our Lord. When we suffer, we should contemplate if there are any practices that we have that are contrary to the Lord’s will. The Spirit will be faithful to show you one if you do this. The, we simply confess it and leave it behind. This is the Christian life!

Would you like less suffering or more suffering? If you would like less, simply obey what you have seen. Choose the path that the Lord has shown you.

²⁴ Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow.[7]