Hebrews 5:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet He never prayed to the Father concerning the Resurrection. On the contrary, He says of Himself: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn 2:19). Again He says: "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again" (Jn 10:18). What does this mean? Why did He pray? Elsewhere He says: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, scourge, and crucify. And on the third day He will rise" (Mt 20:18-19). He does not say, The Father will raise Me. Why, then, did He pray about this? But for whom did He pray? For those who believe in Him. The meaning of the apostle's words is this: He is quickly heard. Since the hearers did not have a proper understanding of Him, Paul says that He was heard. So He Himself also said, to comfort the disciples: "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I go to the Father, for My Father is greater than I" (Jn 14:28). Why did He not glorify Himself, He Who emptied Himself and delivered Himself up to death? For Scripture says, "He gave Himself for our sins" (Gal 1:4). Again, it says that He "gave Himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim 2:6). What, then, does this mean? Clearly He had His flesh in view when He spoke humbly about Himself. So here also the apostle says, "He was heard because of His reverence," wishing to show that this was more His merit than an act of God's grace. Such was His reverence, he says, that God honored Him for this also. "He learned obedience," he says. Here again he shows what benefit comes from sufferings.

How did He learn obedience through sufferings, when before the sufferings He was so obedient to the Father that He accepted the sufferings themselves because of obedience? For it says, He was obedient even unto death (Phil 2:8). Understand it, then, in this way. Since they were faint-hearted and proved disobedient, he speaks humbly of the Son of God. By this condition of His, he persuades them to submit and show obedience to God's will. He also urges them not to lose heart in misfortunes, but to await help from above. For, he says, even the Son, having endured suffering for obedience, was heard by the Father, and His soul was delivered from death. From that time He continually learned to obey God, since obedience has great power. Therefore, if He received benefit from sufferings, much more can you receive it. Do you see how the apostle Paul, for the benefit of his hearers, went so far as to say what might seem improper? But listen further.

And He was heard in His prayers, because access was opened so that those who crucified Him could receive life. The One Who did this, Who humbled Himself to such abasement and suffering for the sake of His murderers, is the Son of God. From this it was revealed that He was heard, namely, from the fact that He suffered. Through this some of His murderers were converted and, by their repentance, became preachers of His Resurrection. Perhaps the apostle also had himself in mind when he said this about his neighbors.

Perhaps even to speak at length on this is a sign of extreme folly. The excess of abasement expressed in these words compels even the blasphemers of the Godhead to apply nothing of the kind to the Godhead.

The Godhead permitted the humanity to endure this, in order to teach us that God the Word truly became man and assumed human nature. The mystery of the divine economy was accomplished neither in fantasy nor in appearance.

For even with all this, Simon, Menander, Cerdo, Marcion, Valentinus, Basilides, Bardesanes, and Manes taught their followers that Christ had no human nature at all.

Clearly, an even greater number of people would have fallen into this error if He had not endured human infirmities, apart from sin.

By "the days of His flesh," the Apostle means the time of mortality, that is, the time when Christ had a mortal body.

He speaks of the prayer which Christ prayed before the Passion, saying, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me" (Mt 26:39).

The Apostle spoke in an intensified manner when he said, "He learned obedience through what He suffered." Christ showed obedience not after the suffering, but before the suffering.

By perfection he means the Resurrection and immortality, for this is the goal of the divine economy.

He presented all the sufferings in an intensified way, not only to prove the truth of the Incarnation, but also to confirm the word he had already spoken.

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our infirmities, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."

Thus he also persuades those to whom he wrote to remain in the faith and boldly trust in the compassion and love for mankind of this High Priest.

[...] we find that He often prays and bends the knee. The Apostle clearly teaches that this belongs to human nature, not to the Godhead, which is in need of nothing.

He says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death."

"And He was heard because of His reverence. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became the cause of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb 5:7-9).

It was not God the Word Who was made perfect, for He is perfect before the ages. Rather, it was the form of a servant, made dispassionate, incorruptible, and immortal.

Therefore the Apostle said that the Lord accomplished this "in the days of His flesh," when He had a mortal body. All this belongs to the humanity, not to the Godhead.

The Godhead permitted the humanity to endure this, in order to teach us that God the Word truly became man and assumed human nature. The mystery of the divine economy was accomplished neither in fantasy nor in appearance.

For in the same prayer He says, "Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done" (Lk 22:42; cf. Mt 26:39).

John shows this more clearly when he says that the Son prayed, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You" (Jn 17:1).

By glory He clearly means the Cross and death. Concerning this, the divine Paul beautifully said, "He was heard."

Second, the words "because of His reverence" are more easily understood from what has been said about the two petitions: one for deliverance from death, and one consenting to it.

The latter proceeds from reverence before the Father and His will. Therefore Paul says, "And having been made perfect," that is, having been recognized as perfect, ineffably good, and full of love for mankind through His sufferings, Cross, and death.

The Apostle hints at this above when he speaks of prayers and supplications, that is, of two petitions.

Third, the phrase "though He was a Son" should be understood thus: since Christ was on earth "in the days of His flesh," He offered prayers and supplications.

As Son and as God, being the same as the Father, Christ already knew this obedience and its greatness before He was obedient to the Father, in Paul's words, "even unto death" (Phil 2:8).

Yet, being heard, He learned it in sufferings and trials. Under this interpretation, the words "though He was a Son" present no difficulty.

Let us repeat the words of King David himself: "If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and let me see Him and His dwelling place. But if He says, 'I have no pleasure in you,' then I shall humbly cry, 'Here I am. Do with me according to Your holy will'" (2 Kgs 15:25-26).

Let us repeat the words of Judas Maccabeus: "As the will in heaven shall be, so may the Lord do" (1 Macc 3:60).

Finally, let each one pray, surrendering himself wholly to the will of God together with Christ the Savior: "My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done" (Mt 26:42).

If the Son of God was so obedient and perfectly fulfilled the will of His heavenly Father, saying of Himself, "I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me" (Jn 6:38), then much more should servants obey.

If this was required of the Son of God as man, then servants should obey their Lord and Master of life and death. They should follow His will wholly and resist His dominion in nothing.

Holy truth requires of us that whatever was pleasing to God from eternity should be pleasing to every man.

A soldier in the ranks, hearing the trumpet or the beat of the drum summoning him to march, gathers his things. When he receives the order to enter battle against the enemy, he leaves behind everything superfluous that could hinder the fight.

He puts on his armor and is ready in heart, eyes, and ears to attend to the commander's speech. He is ready to carry out perfectly everything set forth in it.

So must we act while we spend the whole course of our temporal life in warfare against the impulses and passions of the flesh, the delusions of the world, and the temptations of the proud spirit of darkness.

We must be obedient in all things to our leader, teacher, and guide, our Savior Jesus Christ, our Lord. According to our strength, we must imitate His example and deeds, set forth in His Gospel teaching.

Therefore, Christian brethren, let us willingly and unwaveringly follow our Leader and Lord. Let us surrender ourselves wholly to His holy will.

Whatever may happen to us on this sorrowful path, whether inconvenient or burdensome, let us endure everything patiently, without murmuring, and with good courage.

We know beforehand that on the path of life there are not only flowers, but also thorns.

A good soldier does not hide from bullets and bayonets. On the contrary, he gladly counts his wounds and speaks of them. He does not reproach his commander, but becomes still more attached to him and loves him from the heart.

Let us remember once and for all the call of our Savior: "Follow Me, and leave the dead," that is, those sunk in vain worldly cares, "to bury their own dead" (Mt 8:22).

Whoever complains, weeps, and sighs over the difficulties of following this call is foolish. These difficulties, by the will of God, meet us on the path of our temporal life.

He is also foolish if he submits to this call only because he cannot resist it.

For what folly it is to prefer being compelled to fulfill one's duty rather than fulfilling it freely.

It is likewise folly to murmur and curse one's life when something unpleasant, sorrowful, or generally burdensome appears in it.

It is folly to be terrified and to endure with bitter complaints what befalls all people, both good and evil alike.

I mean sickness, death, weakness in some matter, and everything else undesirable that meets each of us in life.

Whatever is required of all equally, either by the laws of common life or by the immutable laws of nature, we must endure nobly. This is true even if it seems contrary or unpleasant to us.

We have been called to this, and we cannot avoid what is not in our power.