Learning Obedience through Suffering (7-5-2020)

Learning Obedience from Suffering Devotional for 7-5-20 Opening Scripture: Hebrews 5:8 "And even though Jesus was God's son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey when obeying meant suffering." TLB Just a head's up... to emphasize certain points - in this devotional I have interspersed some poetic verses I composed. In the Old Testament, high priests were the highest religious officials among the Jewish people. The modern day equivalent might be bishops or - at a individual church level - the pastor or deacon. But among Jews, the high priest was the supreme ecclesiastical authority. Hebrews 5 likens Jesus to Jewish high priests in that they could not choose themselves to be in that office, but had to be chosen by God in some way. Eventually, the Great Sanhedrin alone had the right to appoint or confirm the appointment of the high priest. But in the beginning, high priests had to be descendants of the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron. And Aaron was thought to be chosen by God. The major difference between priests like Aaron and Jesus is that Aaron prayed the prayers of a sinner, but Jesus prayed with a pure heart. His purity of heart was due largely to his deep reverence of his Father. His obedience sprung from that reverence. But his obedience was extraordinary, it was like a precious metal purified by the fires of suffering. ----- Jesus obeyed not because he feared the whip he behaved not for fear of the grave not because of some human script but for the love of the Father he craved. I read verse 8 at the beginning, and it says that Jesus had to learn from experience to obey - he had to learn from his suffering. That verse means a lot to me because obeying God does sometimes mean suffering. It's not easy. A parent is responsible for taking care of the children, but as any responsible parent knows, this involves pain and energy, especially when children are being difficult and willful. The accumulation of the stress of raising children takes days, weeks and years off of parents' lives. I know I drove my mother crazy and she frequently prayed. I would imagine she prayed like Jesus did for strength and shed tears of sorrow over her children's problems. Probably some of my mother's emotional difficulties were due to the actions of her willful son, Glenn. I feel sad now thinking about that. ---- A parent who loves her beloved child, suffers when her son or daughter runs wild. Jesus had to learn and listen to his parents each day and through trial and error he learned to obey. Hebrews 5:7 says "Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who would save him from premature death. And - God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times." It touches me to read of and think about Jesus shedding tears of agony while he was praying. I have shed tears in years past for the suffering I have causes others by my own actions. And more recently in my prayer time I have wept in gratitude for my Father God who loves me despite my weaknesses and failings. There is a footnote in the Living Bible for Hebrews 5:7 that explains how much stress Jesus was under. Jesus himself says "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death." (Matthew 26:38) He was so stressed he sweated great drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. He needed strength to go on and asked - if the cup could pass from him - let it. An angel was sent to him by God to strengthen him enough to go on. I wonder how often God has sent us angels to help us go on, to get through our sorrow and suffering. Thank God for sending us his beloved son to show how obedient suffering is done Father, send an angel to give us strength to love and obey throughout life's length. Amen.