There are a couple of passages in Hebrews that always astound me. One of them is in Hebrews 2:9-10: “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”
The part that surprises me is that it says Jesus was made perfect by what He suffered. Not that He was ever imperfect in any way, yet in some sense He could not be complete or all that He was intended to be apart from suffering. If that was true for Jesus, how much more so will it be true for us, who are imperfect in many respects. Not only that, but as we see in verse 9, His being crowned with glory and honor was directly tied to the fact that He suffered death. Our death is integrally tied with His, just as our glory is integrally tied with His. We must die to self to live to Christ. Suffering in the flesh is tied to victory in the spirit.
This is something I find difficult. My flesh enjoys being coddled and spoiled. Just as the body is trained by putting it through the difficulties of intense exercise, so I need to embrace spiritual training which comes by denying the desires of my flesh for comfort and ease in order that I might pursue the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
