Special Obedience
Special Obedience Hebrews 5:8 (AMP) says, “Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.”
The author of Hebrews introduces the concept of a special and active obedience that Christ learned, having never been disobedient to the Father. Why did He need to learn obedience if He was never disobedient, you might ask?
The word obedience in Hebrews 5:8 is the word hupakoé (hoop-ak-o-AY), Strong’s Greek 5218. This word means to be attentive and to hearken to what has been said, or to be submissive and comply. Another meaning defines obedience contextually as the report or the outcome concerning your obedience. In Hebrews 5:8, hupakoé is the obedience of Christ that fulfilled God’s purpose to save mankind through His death. The topical lexicon describes this special obedience as “perfect filial obedience.” The word filial means to act in a manner befitting a son or daughter. It describes the duties, affection, and obligations a child owes to their parent. In biological terms, it denotes the generation or generations after the parental generation.
Let’s put this all together to answer the why. Jesus’ special obedience defined the duty, obligation, and affection that He, being the Son, owed to His Father. Jesus’ filial obedience was also referred to for generations, plural, and guess who is in the following generation of Christ; we are! Just as Adams’ disobedience was passed down to us, Christ’s obedience can too!
Romans 5:19 (AMP) For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him.
Romans 8:29 (AMP) For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers.
Hebrews 2:11 (AMP) Both Jesus who sanctifies and those who are sanctified [that is, spiritually transformed, made holy, and set apart for God’s purpose] are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters
This is where the special kind of obedience comes from, one that is not learned out of necessity, but learned to exemplify.
In our case, we know that none of us are without sin (1 John 1:8), so we all have disobeyed the Lord at some point in our lives. We also know that God spoke through Samuel and said obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), so it is through Christ’s special obedience that we can learn to obey God despite our sinful nature (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:1-2).
His special obedience not only defined what our obedience should look like as God’s children but also gave us the ability to achieve it. Saints, we are made sons and daughters through our obedience! Let’s take a page out of Jesus’ book and seek to perform the special obedience that instates our son and daughterhood!