Boot Camp

Again, this post comes from an old blog I authored that is been shut down.

Like last week, this week I am posting on something brought to my attention some time ago that I occasionally revisit to meditate on.  Whereas last week I mentioned a sociological study that got me thinking, and still does every time I visit the supermarket, this week I shall focus on a study of a single verse of Scripture.
I was directed by my Greek professor Matt Harmon to occasionally check out another blog called Hellenisti ginoskeis by Daniel J. Phillips about Greek studies.  It has been very enriching, and one particular entry consistently gets me thinking.

Hebrews 5:8 is an incredible statement of the "boot camp" Christ had to go through as he worked to be the source of salvation for us. 

The ESV reads;

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:8-10)

Anyway, allow me to point out the beauty of verse eight, which really gets me thinking.  For ease, I'll just quote Phillips;

Then there is what I'll un-academically call the syntactic suspense. The author does not write, ἔμαθεν τὴν ὑπακοήν ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔπαθεν. Rather, it is ἔμαθεν ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔπαθεν τὴν ὑπακοήν. "Son though He was, He learned from the things He suffered"— learned what? The wickedness of sin? The brokenness of the world? The rough providences of God? No. "Submission." And this is held in suspense until the last, syntactically. As if to say, "Son though He was, He learned from the things He suffered—submission!"

It is amazing first of all to think that Christ learned anything.  Obviously, he did not learn in the same way we do, because he is infinite and we are finite.  But he still learned.  How to wrap this into my theological understanding is no easy task, and I have yet to do so.

Another difficult thing to grasp is how he learned - suffering.  I doubt anyone will contest that he endured suffering unlike anything any other man has ever endured.  For he, being one with God the Father, came under the weight of the full extent of the wrath of God.  Not only this, but he who enjoyed complete fellowship with the Father since eternity past was forsaken by the Father while enduring the Father's wrath.  Not one of us will ever begin to understand just how much suffering he endured.

The most difficult aspect is what he learned.  He is God, equal with the Father, and he placed himself under submission to the Father.  This is most clearly seen in the Garden of Gethsemane; "Not my will, but your's"  The one who is ruler over all submitted himself to the Father.  I struggle under my pride to submit to anything and I do not hold the position he held even before he came to this earth.

But most importantly, he did all this for us.  He did it to save us, which is astounding enough.  But here's the kicker - he did it as an example for us also.  He placed himself under submission to the will of God both for our salvation and to demonstrate to us the extent to which we should be willing to submit ourselves.  This is tough to swallow, for it is easy to submit to God's will when it gives us immediate warm fuzzies.  But what about when it calls for us to endure a little suffering for only a while.  My tendency is to shy away.  Instead, we, like Christ, should be saying "Not my will, but your's."