The sweetness of suffering

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

Hebrews 5:8

Suffering had a certain positive effect on Jesus. Suffering then is not just the result of wrong in this world, because Jesus was sinless and did no wrong. Jesus never did anything that brought the consequence of suffering as a deserved correction. But He did learn obedience through what He suffered. And I’m not sure we can fully appreciate the magnitude of exactly what that means for the Son of God to learn obedience through suffering.

I think the easiest way we can begin to see this in Jesus is when the gospels give us the accounts of His desert temptation (see Matthew 4 and Luke 4). There we see Him do battle with the biggest temptations Satan could offer Him. Things so big and glorious in our eyes that we would succumb to them in an instant I’m afraid. And Jesus obeyed the Father through the strength of God’s Word without fail in every temptation. He suffered there in the wilderness as He fasted 40 days in preparation for His ministry. And He obeyed when He found scriptural resolve in refusing the devil’s allurements. We get a sense of the extreme magnitude of the battle Jesus won through obedience when we see that “the angels ministered to Him” at the close of the temptation. This was epic suffering and an epic win.

If Jesus learned to obey God in suffering, especially in temptation, how much more should I look for the positive growth opportunities in my difficulties and hardships? If life was hard for Jesus, should I expect any better as His disciple? Suffering then can be a sweet moment to grow and to change. A lifetime of suffering can lead me closer to the heart of my Lord. Suffering helps (and does not hinder) Christians to be like Jesus.