Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Again, I’d like to ask for your continued prayers in a certain area. There is a lot of work going on and it involves a search for truth on a controversial topic. I do long for your prayers and hope that the truth will be reached so all parties involved can be at peace and walking in the way of righteousness. For now, let’s return to our Trinitarian commentary where we’re in the book of Hebrews. We’ll be looking at verses 7-10 tonight.
7During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
At this point, the writer moves to the earthly sojourn of Christ and the suffering that he had. Let this be a note to many in the Word of Faith camp. The perfect Son of God when he was here on Earth suffered. His faithfulness is never called into question either.
Note that he was heard because of his submission. Jesus willfully submitted himself to the Father. When Jesus came, he did live a life of obedience to the commands of God like everyone else. He lived that obedient life for us that we could not live so we could be made righteous before God. For his obedience, God did not allow him to stay captive to death but granted him the resurrection from the dead. He offered himself up to God the Father and the Father was pleased with the offering and raised him up again.
Jesus learned obedience however? This should not be a shock to us as Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom in knowledge as a human. He did progress in his knowledge and underwent as a human for the first time what it meant to live an obedient life to the Father.
However, we are also told that he was made perfect. What does that mean? It does not mean that he was not perfect before. However, what was said of him could not be said of any other high priest. No other high priest was said to have been made perfect. Only Jesus reached perfection to the point that his work was done, which is what happened in Hebrews 1 when he sat down at the right hand of God.
Rather, Jesus was vindicated as being perfect. His perfection was revealed in that he lived a sinless life and became the righteous sacrifice. It is the same as the idea in Acts 2:36 of Jesus being made Lord and Christ. The idea is of vindication and not of a perfection being reached that was not there before.
Because of this perfection, we can be sure of our salvation. Our salvation is not rooted in our work, but rather in the work of Christ. It is because he was righteous that he was designated to be a high priest beyond the Aaronic priesthood, but rather one in the priesthood of Melchizedek.
We shall continue tomorrow.
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