In Hebrew 5:8 we learn that Jesus of Nazareth, like all other men, had to LEARN TO OBEY GOD. He did this by undergoing testing and trying so that the difference between right and wrong would become obvious, thereby giving Him the option of which one to choose. This was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14-17. Here the Lord through the prophet about the coming Messiah, saying that before the miraculously conceived child called Emanuel would know good and evil and to choose the good and reject the evil, much evil would come upon the House of Israel. This happened when both Judah and Israel were defeated and taken into slavery by the Babylonians and Assyrians respectively. The point I am making is that Jesus (Emanuel) came into the world with no special God-given insights, powers or abilities. Like His brethren, He had to learn right and wrong and which one to choose. The Scriptures reveal that He spent much time in prayer, which enabled the Father to communicate with Him on a personal level. Just as He did not know when the end of the world would take place (Mat. 24:36), Jesus, being a man, had to learn most things exactly as do His disciples and ministers today. He DID know when and how He would be killed, who would kill him, that one of His own would betray Him and how many days and nights He would be in the tomb. But this knowledge came to Him from studying the Old Testament. JESUS WAS A STUDENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Though He had been the God of the Old Testament, He had divested Himself of all of His foreknowledge, power, etc. when He came to earth as God’s Son (Phil. 2:5-8). Though He had been equal to God as one-half of the Godhead (Jn. 1:1-4,14), He voluntarily emptied Himself, took on the likeness of men and became a servant of both God and man. He rejected His own will and answered the call of the Father to fulfill His (the Father’s) will. This was made clear as He awaited His accusers on the morning of His arrest. On the Mt. of Olives He prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.” Obviously He knew what was coming and, like any other man, dreaded it. But like no other man, He went voluntarily to the cross where He became sin and died a most horrible death.

Let it be known that it was God’s will that the Word come to earth as a man and, through prayer, fasting and study of the Scriptures, become His sinless servant. What so few know is that the same qualities Jesus acquired while on earth are available to God’s Very Elect. Such gifts are available only through prayer, fasting, Bible study and obedience to the Will of God. Read John 14:12. L.J.