“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8).
This verse does not indicate that Jesus was not obedient before His sufferings. In fact He was always obedient to His father as the Son and He always did what was pleasing to the Father (John 8:29). Rather, “ ‘learned obedience’ means that the Son arrived at a new stage of experience, having passed through the school of suffering” (NIVAC Hebrews by George Guthrie).
Indeed, His sufferings demonstrated His obedience to the Father. He was prepared to suffer and He suffered tremendously to obediently do the will of the Father. This is echoed in His statement in the garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). The Father’s call to Jesus required obedience all the way to the cross, where Jesus completed the task the Father had assigned Him.
We see that the path of obedience to God involves sufferings; as disciples of the Lord Jesus who follow Him and His ways, this is also true for our lives. We must be prepared for sufferings and not turn back in sufferings if we desire to do the will of God in our lives.
In the case of Jesus, His obedience to the Father, in the midst of intense sufferings, was complete and perfected.
We know that the entire gospel consists mainly in the death and resurrection of Christ. However, John Calvin reminds us that “Christ’s saving work does not begin at the cross. His incarnation and thirty-plus years are not merely a prerequisite for his atoning death. Assuming our humanity and fulfilling all righteousness in his active obedience are essential to our redemption. In short, from the time when he took on the form of a servant, he began to pay the price of liberation in order to redeem us” (Calvin on the Christian Life by Michael Horton).
Hebrews 9:14 reveals that Christ offered himself unblemished to God. His was the perfect, unblemished sacrifice, not tainted with sin and unrighteousness. Only a perfect unblemished sacrifice could cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, and only such a sacrifice could redeem us to serve the living God. Notice that Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father and His perfect sacrifice as a penal substitution for us, dying for us, was accomplished through much suffering and pain.
Suffering is part and parcel of the life of a disciple of Christ. It was present in the life of the Master, the Lord Jesus, when He was on earth. As Paul declared, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Philippians 1:29), we need to acknowledge that sufferings are to be expected in the lives of believers and the path of faithfulness to God is invariably lined with sufferings.