Fifth Sunday in Lent (2024)

Jesus’ Suffering Illustrates His Devoted Commitment to You

GOAL: That the hearer see Christ’s devoted commitment to their salvation—fueled by His reverent submission to the Father—as their motivation to imitate the Lord’s obedience in their own lives.

Hebrews 5:7–9 NIV84

7 During 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. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

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Religious sociologists sometimes divide Christians into two groups: “committed Christians” and “cultural Christians”. The former are usually defined as those who are active in a congregation, who pray regularly, who read Scripture, etc. The latter are those individuals who call themselves Christian and perhaps have some Christian beliefs. Yet, they do not strive to live a Christian life. They are not interested in church involvement.

Those definitions are interesting when trying to understand shifts in American Christianity. However, they demonstrate a false assumption about the Christian religion. There is indeed a devoted commitment at the center of Christianity, but it is not about man’s commitment to God. Even believers will at times demonstrate lukewarm commitment at best. Instead, at the heart of Christianity we find God’s devotion and commitment to us. It is a devoted commitment so strong that it put God on the cross where He suffered for you, me, and the world.

In the fifth chapter of Hebrews, Jesus Christ comes to us not as the tiny baby in a cradle in Bethlehem nor as the compassionate healer of various ills but rather as the suffering Savior, recalling the words of Isaiah 53, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Christ Jesus truly did suffer, and it is the reality and devoted commitment of our Lord toward you and me that necessitates His suffering that we wish to examine today.

The Reality of Christ’s Suffering.

Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Our text speaks of His “loud cries and tears.”

He felt both the pain and agony that are a part of the human lot.

As a human being, He prayed to have the cup of suffering removed.

Yet He also prayed that God’s will be accomplished.

Christ suffered on the cross.

He felt the physical pain of being nailed to the cross.

He was utterly rejected by His Father.

He was weighed down with the awesome burden of the sins of the whole world.

Beginning with Adam and Eve, to the people in the days of Noah, not to mention God’s people wandering in the wilderness, all the way down to you and me today. All of our sin He bore all illustrates…

The Necessity of Christ’s Suffering.

Christ's suffering was connected with His high priesthood.

Hebrews 2:17–18 NKJV

17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Christ suffered as a part of His obedience to the will of the Father.

“Obedience” and “reverent submission” marked Jesus’ life on earth as God’s Son (Heb 5:7–8). As the God-man, Jesus learned obedience through his temptations and suffering. He relied on the One who was able to save him from death.

Though he at times prayed that he would be spared suffering (Gethsemane), he never lost his determination to carry out the Father’s will.

By his obedient suffering he was “made perfect” (Heb 5:9), not because he was sinful or deficient in any respect, but because he gained the experience of passing through the full gamut of human afflictions. By gaining this experience through his obedience, he has become the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him in faith (Heb 5:9).

Our lives, too, are characterized by obedience—obedience to Christ. We follow the example of Christ (Heb 12:2). The only other occurrence in the NT of εὐλαβείας the “reverent submission” which characterized Jesus’ earthly life (Heb 5:7), is in Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe,” which describes our reverent, acceptable worship of God. Our obedient reverence imitates our Lord’s.

In 1 Pet 1:14, the apostle exhorts Christians, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

Not only was Christ’s suffering the necessary consequence of His obedience, but it was also the means of eternal salvation for all people.

Christ suffered to gain eternal life for all people.

Christ’s suffering was not simply a dramatic show without a purpose. Rather, it was as real as any pain or anguish that you or I feel. And most important, He suffered in order to win eternal salvation for you and for me. May God grant to each of us a humble heart full of gratitude to the Savior who suffered for us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.