Learn Like Jesus Did

Jesus "learned obedience from the things which He suffered" Hebrews 5:8. If you take time to read all of chapter 5, you will see how Christ became our perfect high priest during His time on earth. Say what?! God, the Son learning, obeying, and being made perfect; now this is hard to explain, eh? Jesus was not made perfect in deity, character, holiness, or sinlessness. He has always been completely God, the Son. This process refers to all that He experienced as the Son of Man in His earthly ministry.

Jesus completed the process of becoming our perfect high priest in at least three ways. First, he differed from Aaron's line of priests by offering Himself as the sacrifice instead of another lamb. Also, His sacrifice for our sin(s) was once-for-all for all time, unlike the annual or continual sacrifices of the OT Jewish priests (5:6). Finally, Jesus did not have to offer a sacrifice for Himself. Mosaic priests were sinners who had to atone for their personal sin problem as well as for others. He is the only One perfect for us because of all that He experienced for us and because of us on earth. So see the idea of this perfecting process as a contrast to other human priests who never became the perfect high priest.

Now, what is this about God, the Son needing to learn and obey? Remember that Jesus was the eternal God who had never experienced certain realities on earth as a man. He was always the ruler. On earth He learned to obey God's temporal role for Him to carry out His eternal plan of salvation. He was always sinless, so here He experienced for the first time the power of temptation, and the price of sin. He "was obedient unto death, even the death on the cross." He had always enjoyed heaven's bliss, so by coming to earth He suffered and learned for over 30 years in a new way. What a hard thing to explain (5:11). Our all-knowing God came to learn, know, and experience new things in His human state of being.

We are humbled by His example and teachable spirit. To be more like Jesus, let us learn obedience by the things He suffered, and by the things we suffer. Learn from suffering, not in spite of it. Learn from it rather than making difficulties and suffering an excuse for disobedience or failure. Don't say, "well, if it weren't for these problems, why, I would be doing so well." I am sure we all have thought, "if it weren't for that trial (or person), I would not have blown it." Then, also learn to obey from reaping the suffering of disobedience. We do bring some suffering on ourselves. Learn, also from the suffering or disobedience of others. And finally, learn to obey because of the suffering of Jesus Christ for you. The price He paid should motivate us to obey God's plan and principles for us while we are on earth , too.

By the way, when you showed up on the planet, you had never been here before either. Don't we have a lot to learn every day in a world that is full of suffering? Earth is a place to learn. Enroll today in a school that opened just recently; the Pandemic Academy.