⁸ Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

Biblical theology is all about putting the pieces together into a sensible, consistent whole. When we read verses like Hebrews 5:8, we immediately ask how this squares with verses like John 1:1, Col 1:19, 2:9, which assert the full deity of Christ. How can God, albeit in the flesh, actually learn? Doesn’t that imply there are things that at one time He did not know? And what about obedience? In what sense does the Son of God obey God the Father, if both are equally God? These are questions of theology. Don’t let anyone ever dismiss the importance of theological discourse; our faith in the credibility of the Bible is at stake. If we cannot answer these questions adequately, then eventually we will slip away from biblical Christianity and resort to using the Bible as a sort of “chicken soup for the soul” kind of book, a self-help collection of inspiring thoughts. This does not make for a robust faith that can withstand the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16).

The idea of a son learning obedience through suffering is supported in Hebrews 12:5. But this was no ordinary son. As F.F. Bruce puts it, the real thrust is this: “Son of God though He was, even He was granted no exception to the common law that learning comes through suffering.” This is one more area of identifying with humanity for Christ.

Although we learn obedience through the hardship caused by disobedience, this was not so with Him. He never disobeyed; it was in His nature to obey completely and perfectly (see 4:15). He certainly learned what obedience meant in terms of the results of obeying His Father rather than Satan (Matt 4:1-11), religious leaders, or His own personal human tendencies (Matt 26:36-44). His sufferings were “the necessary price of His obedience.” From the beginning Jesus warned that one thing His followers would learn was that following Him would involve hardships and persecution (Matt 5:11-12, 16:24, Luke 21:12).

The focus of this verse is not on the Son of God learning what He did not know beforehand, as though He were not omniscient. But, He came to experience the intimacy of human suffering. In other words, the Son of God experienced human living, passing through time with all its struggles and growth. He experienced the life of obedience that is the “fulfillment of all righteousness” (Matt 3:15).