"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..."
(Hebrews 5:8-9 ESV)
Last week i considered verse 8 and how Jesus learned obedience because up to the time He came in the flesh we had only seen God as the one who gives command and not as an example of obedience. Here's a thought conserning verse 9.
How was perfect God made perfect?
The thought for me on this led to consider if there is any area in which God might be accused of being less than perfect. This led me to Romans 3:25-26 where Paul, speaking about the work of Jesus on the cross, says
"This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Without the cross God's overlooking or failure to punish sin could have been brought into question. Hebrews 10:4 tells us clearly that the sacrificial system could not have dealt with sin, and the rest of Scripture would give us an understanding that these were just a shadow of that one great sacrifice offered up in the person of Christ.
The cross takes away any doubt about God's justice in forgiving sin, rather than simply overlooking them, He punished sin in the outpouring of His wrath upon His Son. He is Just in justifying us!
Perhaps this 'being made perfect' speaks not about a character flaw, but about this area in which; without the cross God's forgiveness of sin would be questionable according to His own standards.
I'm not sure if i worded this well, or if i can actually make these thoughts coherent but, regardless of these rambled thoughts i'm pretty excited about the last phrase in this passage:
"He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him..."
