Hebrews 5:7
14 December 2025
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears,
to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7)
We're reading Hebrews chapter 5 as we continue this series working through the Book of Hebrews. In this section we've been dealing with the beginning of the most comprehensive argument in all of the book of Hebrews with regards to the links to the Old Testament and the fulfilment of the office of the priesthood. And we're going to be dealing specifically this week and next with something that relates very much to the season in which we're in, which is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and especially how that has its fulfilment with regards to Jesus as the priest. So, we're going to read Hebrews chapter 5. We'll begin reading at verse 5 and we'll read down to verse 10 and our focus today is verse 7. So, Hebrews chapter 5 from verse 5. This is the Word of God.
“So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 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, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek”. Amen.
Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for what we have already studied over many, many months now in this book, this book that is rich in doctrine, that is from the Old Testament grounded, pointing forward, types and shadows leading to the coming and fulfilment that we see in Jesus Christ. And with the office of the priesthood, help us, O Lord, in our ongoing study to learn more of the magnitude of what it means for Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of our souls, to be our great High Priest. Shape and fashion us as your people according to your will, for your glory, through the preaching of your Word now we ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, if we think back to probably a year ago when we were in chapter 2, there's quite an extensive section in that chapter which deals with the humanity of Christ. Think of chapter 2 and the introduction to so much of the fulfilment, so much of the magnitude of who Christ is and what He comes to do, and the significance in chapter 2 of Him becoming a man.
Now as we come to chapter 5 and this little section in verses 7 and 8 particularly, which we'll be dealing with this week and next week. This again comes to the subject of the incarnation, which is God becoming man, dwelling among us and that is our Christmas reason season which is the baby born in Bethlehem is none other than the Messiah the chosen one come to this earth.
Now, this isn't simply repeating the points of chapter 2 though it very much draws on this but those points from chapter 2 are now being focused particularly in relation to Jesus again yes being a man but becoming a man in order to fulfil this office. The office of the priesthood.
Now if you think about what we saw in verses 4 to 6 of chapter 5, we were dealing with Jesus calling. Jesus Christ being called to be the high priest. And now as we come to verses 7 to 9, 10, we're dealing with a section which is the outworking of this. How Jesus lived and was this priest.
Now what's particularly noteworthy about these verses is that they're very difficult for us to grasp and we should quickly understand why. If we're dealing with the subject of the Most High God becoming a man, no matter how many times you've heard this being preached and taught, however many times you've thought and reflected on it, there are truths about this that are so difficult to grasp, so awesome in the right use of the word to comprehend. God becoming man and particularly God becoming man here and what that looked like in order to be our, yours, my great high priest. And what did we see of what a priest's calling is.
Think back to verse 2 of our chapter. Just scroll back to there and we see that the priest of the Old Testament is, at the end of the verse, beset with weakness. The priest is beset with weakness. Both bodily and also morally, the priests of the Old Testament were beset. They were weak. Now Jesus Christ, the coming of God to this earth as a man, is the anti-type. And He also comes in weakness. And again, that's so difficult for us to comprehend. God, the Most High God, Creator of all things coming in weakness. But yes, that is what it means for Jesus, to stoop down so low and become a man. He also comes in weakness. And yet, the striking difference, brothers and sisters, though He comes in weakness in the flesh, He has a strength in the purpose by which He comes like no other.
So, Jesus in some ways is a man just like us. Jesus in some ways is a priest just like the priests of the Old Testament. But fundamentally and crucially, He is like no other. Now remember that, Jesus is like no other. Because the emphasis of his weakness is something that we're going to be dwelling on in this week and next week's verses. And that's what makes these verses so difficult. Because the idea of God being a man and being in a condition of weakness by being a man is something that we in our finite minds cannot fully grasp. Though we've known this, though we've heard this, though we believe this, it is very difficult for us to grasp. And these two verses in particular, in all of scripture, really dig into some of the depths and the heart of what this means and how we can understand what this looks like.
Another key verse, uh which we've already dealt with and we've referenced is found in Hebrews 4 verse 15. Hebrews 4 verse 15 says, of Jesus, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. This is the one who laid down his life for your sin, Christian. This high priest who can relate to us, who can sympathize with us, he has laid down his life for the sins of the Christian, those who he came to save, and he is the one who can sympathize with your every weakness. So where you think you're weak, where you're struggling, where you're anguished, right now the burdens and the pains that you're dealing with, Jesus can sympathize, he can relate to this. Why? Because He Himself is one who has faced incomparable anguish. He has faced incomparable sorrow. And he has overcome.
That's your Lord and Savior. He has fought for you. He has bled for you. He has died for you. And we're right in the thick of some of the key and deep teaching of exactly what that looked like. These are not pious throwaway remarks. Jesus literally fought for you, bled for you, and died for you. And that's exactly what this very verse that we're dealing with here this evening is tackling. Let me read this again. In the days of His flesh, Jesus as a man, He offered up prayers and supplications. And note with what? With loud cries and tears. He had loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his reverence. That's the verse that we're dealing with. And we're going to tackle three key points from this verse. We're going to consider that Jesus came in flesh, He came in prayer, and He came in anguish. He came in flesh, He came in prayer, and He came in anguish.
Jesus came in flesh
Now this first point, Jesus coming in flesh, the beginning of the verse states, in the days of his flesh. So in the days of the flesh of the Lord Jesus. Now the first thing that we need to note about this is that this is not where it began. This isn't where it began, here in the coming of Jesus to this earth. As we have seen earlier in chapter 5, as we've seen earlier in the book of Hebrews, Jesus is the begotten Son of the Father. He is the one for whom the throne is declared is forever. He is the one who is God Himself. So the coming of Jesus to this earth is not the creation of a being who's going to fix the mess of this world. Jesus is not the created being. He is the Creator. And we must have this in mind, the significance and the magnitude of the incarnation of Jesus becoming a man is so mighty and wondrous to behold because He is God from everlasting to everlasting. He is the sovereign Lord Almighty. That's who we're dealing with. That's who we're speaking of. And so it becomes boggling to the mind that the great, majestic, all-encompassing sovereign Lord God Almighty would come in flesh. And that's what the verse says. Of God, the second person of the triune God, it says, in the days of His flesh. Back in Hebrews 2:14, it says, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself, that's Christ, likewise partook of the same of the same things. Jesus also partook of flesh and blood. And the coming in flesh is something which consistently throughout Scripture is beset with weakness.
Psalm 78:39 states, he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. And we see that man in the flesh is created in God's image. We come from the dust and we are distorted in our sin and we are confined to the substance of that nature, of our flesh and blood nature. That's who we are. We're confined to this earthly body in this fallen world. That is who and what we are as finite beings on this earth. Jesus Christ on the other hand is not created. He is the radiance of God's glory and he has no sin in him. And yet he, as we sit and stand here this evening, comes like us assuming flesh and blood. Take the sin. This is God, the God of all glory, coming in flesh and blood.
1 Timothy 3:16, it says that our Lord was manifested in the flesh. In Hebrews 2:9 it says, in this He was made for a little while lower than the angels. This the Lord Jesus, rich in the divine splendour of glory, made Himself poor by emptying Himself, becoming a servant, taking flesh and blood. He actually became a man. Physically, bodily, Jesus became a man. So, in this way, he is exactly like us. In his time on this earth, he couldn't be picked out from the crowds in what he looked like and was as a man. And yet, crucially - though he was like us physically, was not like us morally and spiritually. For he knew no sin. We have an inherited sinful nature, not something we become in time, we are sinful by the very nature in which we are born. We lie. We cheat, we steal, we're wicked, wretched, fallen sinners, deserving of hell. This baby who will be born in Bethlehem has none of this.
Now this is crucial to dwell on with what we'll unpack later this week and what we will also dwell on next week. He is a baby just like any other baby and yet at the same time crucially, he is not like us. For he knows no sin; is born by miraculous conception. He is born and rises without any sin in his nature. He is not corrupted; he is not defiled. And so when we deal first of all with, he comes in flesh, this is a baby like all other babies and yet this is the unique baby. And it's why the message of the coming of the baby in Bethlehem is worthy of the highest praise. It's why the angels in Luke chapter 2 sing glory to God in the highest. Because this is the coming of the miraculous, sinless baby to this sin-stained fallen world. So as we take note of this - We have the coming of one who will fulfil the office of priest beset with weakness like any other priest and yet He knows no sin.
Jesus came in prayer
And so we come to the second point. The one who comes in the flesh is one who came in prayer. Verse 7, in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications. Now this wording is interesting. It says that Jesus offered up prayers and supplications. Now this term offered up means bear toward. He bears toward the Father who he comes to in prayer. Now just the first thing to note regarding just the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus. Does Jesus need to pray? Well, we would say, well, we need to pray. We're sinners. We need to pray for the forgiveness of our sins. We need to come to our Heavenly Father. What about Jesus? Absolutely. He needed to pray. It was the priority. It was the central focus. At key points in His ministry and throughout His life, Jesus Christ would offer up, he would bear towards prayers to his father. And this models the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus. It was not a peripheral thing. It was not a side note thing. And does that not bring such a great application to us every time we reflect and meditate upon the fact that Jesus' prayer life was getting up early, going to desolate places at dark times, late at night, early morning, because it was a priority. It was a focus. It was the time where he would have intimate fellowship alone with his father. And also, he would pray for things. Here in this verse, it says that he offered up prayers and supplications. He is coming to bring matters before his Father in prayer.
Matthew 7:11 says, If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? And that's the challenge. And it's the blessing of prayer. Jesus knew this intimacy with His Father perfectly. Now this is going to be also very important for what we're going to draw out in the remaining minutes shortly. He knows this perfect intimacy of prayer with His Father. He bears towards his father because of that intimacy, that relationship. And another crucial thing that is worth noting regarding the phrase, offered up, bear towards, is that it appears several times in the book of Hebrews.
So, if you were to do just a word study throughout the book of Hebrews of this term, offered up, as the ESV translates it, every time we see it being mentioned, it relates to the priest who offers up to God in his flesh. Hebrews 8:3, for every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Hebrews 9:7, on the high priest he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. It appears repeatedly in the middle of Hebrews 10:2. And there's a common theme, where there is a dependence that the priest has before God. And Jesus is that priest who has a dependence before his Father. There is a bringing before, an offering up that the priest does before God. And Christ is doing this here in Hebrews 5:7 in these prayers and supplications before his Father.
Now all of this leads up to the key climactic point of the verse. Jesus is God, the second person of the triune God. And there is a perfect fellowship, there is a perfect intimacy that Jesus has even on this earth with his Father. That's why he prioritized time and prayer, that's why he offers prayers and supplications to his Father.
Jesus came in anguish
And yet. uh And yet, there is one other crucial point which we find in this verse, which is our third and longest point to deal with. He comes in flesh, he comes in prayer, but he also comes in anguish. Note what it says about the offering up that Jesus does specifically in Hebrews 5:7. What does that look like? The prayers and supplications are with loud cries and tears. Remember the priest, verse 2, is beset with weakness. Here we're seeing, not just of a priest of the Old Testament, we're seeing of Jesus Christ, your Christian Lord and Saviour, who today is alive and seated on the throne, on this earth was bearing towards his Father with loud cries and tears. Loud cries and tears. And this specifically deals with how He bears towards His Father at the time of greatest need in the hours before His crucifixion in that garden in Gethsemane. Now we'll make reference mainly to the account in Matthew's Gospel in Matthew 26, which you can have open and referencing, but we will go to Luke's account later on, before we close. Now in Matthew's account, as all the accounts record, these loud cries and tears are no exaggeration. Hebrews 5:7 is not giving more than what we see in the gospel accounts. In Matthew 26:38, Jesus himself says, my soul is very sorrowful even to death. His soul is sorrowful to the point of death.
Now just remember something about the calling of the priest. The calling of the priest is to relate to his people and to represent his people. How is Jesus relating and representing his people here? With loud cries and tears, being sorrowful to the point of death. This is the anguish that our Lord is facing here. What is the cause of such anguish? The cause of such anguish is because of sin. Now let's just think for a moment before we deal specifically with Christ and his anguish. How do you deal with the anguish of your sin? Now what does your sin look like? What does my sin look like? Well looks like the lustful cravings of the heart. Looking at that image and yearning for it in a wicked, seedy manner. Excessively seeking to eat that food or devour that content. To waste that money to idle our time away with the idols of the heart. These are the sorts of things that we do so easily and so readily. And so, we come as the Christian, battling against the sin in our own hearts, battling against the sin that is all around us, that seeks to ensnare, to devour, to destroy us. And we pray, God, give us strength. Strengthen me for I'm a sinner and I need you. And especially for the Christian who faces especially great anguish, heartache, difficulties, suffering, even persecution for their faith. Take the most extreme examples we have on this earth as the Christians lie on that beach in the north of Africa a decade ago and they are about to be beheaded and we pray, oh Lord, may there be a special rich anointing of your grace upon the hearts of these people at this desperate time that they need you. They need you so much.
Why do we dwell on this? Because in this hour. This hour at Gethsemane. In Jesus Christ's greatest hour of need. What is the biggest problem that he faces? When you and I are often our own sin, we pray God be near to us, strengthen us. In Jesus' greatest hour of need when he's not facing his own sin, but your sin and my sin. The greatest anguish is that it will be God not being there to strengthen and bless him the intimacy of that fellowship with his Father. It's that the father would be against him. Father is the one who will be crushing him because of your sin and my sin. That's the anguish. That's the loud cries and the tears that he's going to be our sin bearer. And in order to be our sin bearer, he is going to face the righteous anger of the Father when he is nailed to that cross. That is an anguish like no other. He will bear the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53 verse 6. As we considered, where we struggle in our sin, the things we crave for, the battles, the temptations, how easily we're ensnared, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, Jesus craves none of it. He doesn't lust. He doesn't yearn for the fleshly. He yearns for that which is righteous, that which is holy, the perfect intimacy with his Father. And that's what is being attacked here because of sin. And it's not Christ's sin. It's our sin. That's the anguish of this priest. That's the fulfilment of the office of the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how much He will relate to you. That is how He is going to represent you. By suffering, bleeding and dying for you. This is how He fights for you. This is how He bleeds for you. This is how He dies for you. Have we any comprehension of the magnitude of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and what it meant for Christ to do this, to be this, to face this for you? That is how Jesus is the sacrifice for sinners.
That's why our Christmas season is so significant. Throughout Scripture, there are so many verses which point forward to, that give a prophetic expression of what Christ will endure. Let me read just one of them, Psalm 22 verses 14 to 15. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaw. You lay me in the dust of death. Be under no illusions brothers and sisters this is utterly crushing for our lord on this earth in human flesh to bear our sin as the one who knew no sin and in facing this it will not be with the strength and presence of His Father, but instead the divine wrath and judgment.
Brothers and sisters, can we even begin to comprehend the extent and the weight of the gospel and the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ? We are deserving of hell and Christ will face that hell-deserving punishment for us on that cross. Now with this anguish, the loud cries and tears of Hebrews 5:7 the verse goes on to say, to Him, that is to God the Father, who was able to save Him from death. And then it ends, and He was heard because of His reverence. Now we might then question what exactly were these loud cries and tears? Well in Matthew 26 verse 39 it says, father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Now we may think, looking at this, perhaps this suffering, this incomparable suffering was too much. And maybe Jesus was requesting to be delivered from the dying on the cross. And many commentators have argued in this way, that in this moment Jesus desires another way than Calvary. And yet in John 10:18, one example, our Lord declares, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, that's his life, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. Now a key emphasis of Gethsemane, as Jesus comes with this cry, My Father, it be possible, let this cup pass for me. Is not one for us to doubt whether Jesus is ready and willing to go forward because the posture of that very verse is to declare, yet not my will, but yours be done. In this time of greatest anguish, the focus of the Son is the will of the Father and the purpose by which He has come, which is to lay down His life. of his own volition, namely the eternal counsel of the secret will of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by which the second person of the triune God here in this garden is ready to go all the way to Calvary. And yet we might still look at Hebrews 5:7 and think, don't we have a problem? Because it says, him who was able to save him from death, and then it even goes on to say, and he was heard because of his reverence, or more literally, because of his fear.
So, in what way might we ask is Jesus being saved from death? In what way is he being heard? And there are two key points to draw out as we draw this to a close. The first one can be found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22. So please turn with me to Luke's account of Gethsemane and chapter 22. In Luke chapter 22 verse 42. We have this cry, our Lord Jesus saying, Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. And then note what happens in verse 43. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. An angel appears. How often do these celestial beings, these messengers from heaven come at these crucial points throughout scripture? At this point when our Lord, bodily, morally, spiritually is facing an anguish that none of us can even begin to imagine. Even as sinners, the notion of bearing someone else's sin is something that would be abhorrent to us. Consider how utterly repugnant and impossible it would be for the sinless one to be bearing sins of people like us. So, Jesus is beset with that weakness. For He is the most holy and mighty God in human flesh. And in such weakness, the angel comes and strengthens him with a readiness to face what he will bear at Calvary, to face that divine wrath and judgment of his father. So that's a first crucial point.
A second one, which is even more poignant and crucial too, the very victory we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. How is Jesus saved from death? Some could say, well, Jesus wanted to be saved from dying on the cross. No, not from dying on the cross. And yet, at the same time. It was to be saved from the effect, the impact of death. Consider what happens, what should happen, what we are deserving to see happen when you die. You as a sinful man, as a sinful woman, you die because of sin. The grave and hell is the consequence of sin. What is transformatively different about the sinless one dying? About Jesus Christ himself dying. It is that He, unlike you and I, knows no sin. So when He dies a sinner's death, it is not because of any sin in Him. In fact, it is because there is no sin in Him that He is able to take upon Himself our sin. That's what He does as the sin bearer. That is what makes Him the sacrificial lamb who is slain for sinners. Now what's crucial then about this is that Jesus, by His life being laid down and dying on a cross, He is therefore dealing with sin. He is crushing sin and He is defeating death.
So, Jesus is therefore going to be saved from the impact, the effects of death because of who He is and what He will secure. Death has no claim over the sinless one. That is the eternal consequence of death which is in hell. Death is crushed. Jesus saves people from death. And this is why Hebrews 13:20 begins - Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. And this is why on the third day he rose. For the anguish, the loud cries and tears that our Lord faces. Jesus is victorious. This is the extent to which He had to go through, He had to face our sin and in facing it, facing the wrath and judgment of the Father on that cross, He defeated sin and death. He Himself had to die, be buried, and because of this He is victorious and He rises. This is how He is heard. In this fear before the Father at Gethsemane, the fear of what He is to face, of the sin, of the dying on the cross, of all of the horrors of what that would mean. Jesus was strengthened and ready to face it. And He was heard. And by His perfect life laid down, He was victorious. And that's your hope tonight, Christian. Your hope tonight is in this alone. Let Christ bore your sin. The punishment of eternity in hell under the wrath and judgment of the Father, Jesus bore it for His people. And if you sit here as one tonight convicted of your sin, coming in repentance of your sin, believing in Christ as your Lord and Saviour, then in Christ there is victory. There is eternity with God in heaven. It's not found in anyone else. There's no earthly priest of the Old Testament in which, oh well, if there's a lamb or a goat that's unblemished, that will do. No, only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If your hope's in Christ, in His blood shed, there is salvation. There is eternal life. And that is the Gospel. And that is what, 2,000 years ago, the baby in Bethlehem being born came to do to secure your salvation, Christian. He did it by becoming the fulfilment of the office of the priesthood, becoming the priest who would lay down his life, his blood being shed, all the loud cries and the tears that would be bearing towards the Father, all of this, that he could save you. And He has saved you. By the faith you have in His blood shed on that cross, there is salvation, there is eternal life. This is the great High Priest. This is your hope, your only hope, your eternal hope, your everlasting life, which is found in the one who reigns from everlasting to everlasting today on the throne, victorious. The one who is interceding for you. He can relate to you. He does represent you. This is how. He bore your sin. He died for your sin. He rose victorious over your sin. And now sin and death has been defeated. And for all who are in Christ, there is that victory in this and this alone, great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for so great, so rich, so mighty, so wondrous a salvation that we have in our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be His precious and mighty name. Thank you for the gospel of the Lord Jesus, for this saving message, for this life-saving hope in the one who came in the flesh, the one who prayed bearing towards the Father. The one who lived in such anguish, the anguish of Gethsemane, the loud cries and tears that were heard because of his fear and reverence. Thank you, Father, that Christ went all the way to Calvary, that he has defeated sin and death by his life being laid down. Oh Lord, thank you for the Gospel and the hope that we have in Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour, our King. May He be worshipped and praised in our hearts and our lives. For we ask these things in His precious name. Amen.