Title: The Education of Jesus
Although He was a Son,
He learned obedience
from the things which He suffered.
“Although he was a Son…”
God the Father did NOT exempt Jesus from the human experience.
His divinity did NOT exempt him.
Why not? (take answers)
Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
Matthew Henry:
Jesus was a Son; the only-begotten of the Father. One would have thought this might have exempted him from suffering, but it did not. Let none then who are the children of God by adoption expect an absolute freedom from suffering.
Hebrews 12:7
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
The short answer: God the Father had Jesus endure the full human experience so that we could find mercy.
Isn’t that incredible?
Jesus “learned”???
Q: Didn’t Jesus know everything already? (take answers)
Matthew 24:36
But about that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven,
nor the Son,
but the Father alone.
manthanō (man-than’-o)
25x in N.T. (24 as “learn” 1 as “understand”)
Definitions
to learn, be apprised
to increase one’s knowledge, to be increased in knowledge
to hear, be informed
to learn by use and practice (THIS is the one that most applies)
to be in the habit of, accustomed to
Conclusion:
Q: Didn’t Jesus know everything already?
A: Certainly not.
1. In his human state, He willingly surrendered certain supernatural powers to be fully human. (Consider: Jesus had to eat, sleep, and withdraw from others for special communion with The Father.)
2. In his human state, Jesus had not yet experienced certain things that gain understanding. (Think of the REASON for his stress in the Garden of Gethsamane)
(Roller Coaster Slide) If you had to guess, which person has never done this before?
Understanding all this, it wouldn’t be wrong to read verse 8 in this way:
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience (by use and practice) from the things which He suffered.
Thesis:
We should do the same as Jesus.
We should learn obedience from suffering.
Does this mean that my entire Christian experience is build around suffering?
(take answers)
No. It is built around faith, joy, and hope.
But, make no mistake, suffering is a key Christian experience by which our faith and joy grow. There are certain aspects of faith that can ONLY increase by the suffering experience.
Consider James 1:2-4
Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces ]endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Can someone, in simple terms, define for us the prosperity Gospel? (Slide)
One of my MANY criticisms of the prosperity Gospel and those who preach it, is that it creates immature, unstable, weak believers, because the moment things get hard they have no idea what to do. In fact, many of them get angry with God for not having “the good life.”
Loree, forgive me, I’m going to put you on the spot. I promise it’s for a greater good.
I have two questions for you:
- Has your faith strengthened in the last eight years?
- Are there things you’ve learned in your battle with cancer that you could not have otherwise learned?
Closing Thought from Matthew Henry:
Christ made improvement by his sufferings. By his passive obedience, he learned active obedience; that is, he practiced that great lesson, and made it appear that he was well and perfectly learned in it; though he never was disobedient, yet he never performed such an act of obedience as when he became obedient to death, even to the death of the cross. Here he has left us an example, that we should learn by all our afflictions a humble obedience to the will of God. We need affliction, to teach us submission.
We need affliction to teach us submission.
Q/A
I’ll start: PB, I honestly don’t know if I suffer, my life is pretty good, am I doing something wrong?