“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 5:7 Mean?
The writer of Hebrews pulls back the curtain on Jesus' prayer life — and it is not serene. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered prayers with strong crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death.
"Strong crying and tears" describes prayer that is raw, agonized, and physically intense. This is not composed devotional time. This is a man wrestling with the reality of his own death, crying out with everything he has.
"Was heard in that he feared" (or "because of his reverent submission") — God heard Jesus' prayer. The answer was not removal of the suffering but strength to endure it. Jesus was heard. He was not exempted.
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (v.8) follows immediately — even the Son of God learned through suffering. Obedience was not automatic. It was forged.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does knowing Jesus prayed with 'strong crying and tears' change your view of him?
- 2.What is the difference between God saving you from suffering and saving you through it?
- 3.Where have you assumed messy prayer is inferior to composed prayer?
- 4.How does Jesus learning obedience through suffering speak to your own process of growth?
Devotional
Prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. This is Jesus praying. Not quietly. Not peacefully. With strong crying. With tears. With the kind of desperation that comes from staring at death.
If your prayers have ever been messy — if you have cried out to God with nothing elegant, just raw need — you are in the company of Jesus. He prayed this way. In his flesh. In his human body. With all the fear and anguish that being human produces.
Was heard in that he feared. God heard him. The prayer was not wasted. But the answer was not escape. It was endurance. God did not save Jesus from death. He saved him through it.
That distinction matters. Sometimes you pray and the answer is not removal of the suffering but the strength to walk through it. That is not unanswered prayer. That is the prayer Jesus himself prayed — and was heard.
Your messy prayers. Your tearful prayers. Your desperate, inarticulate, crying-out-loud prayers. God hears them. He heard his own Son's. He hears yours.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Who in the days of his flesh,.... Or "of his humanity", as the Arabic version renders it; or "when he was clothed with…
Who - That is, the Lord Jesus - for so the connection demands. The object of this verse and the two following is, to…
Who in the days of his flesh - The time of his incarnation, during which he took all the infirmities of human nature…
We have here an account of the nature of the priestly office in general, though with an accommodation to the Lord Jesus…
Who i.e. the Christ.
of his flesh The word "flesh" is here used for His Humanity regarded on the side of its weakness…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture