OBEY
Although he was son,
he learned to OBEY through suffering.
We sing this text as an antiphon at Vespers during Lent in our monastic liturgy. In fact, as soon as I start to read it the tune begins playing in my head. It is very much one of the sounds of Lent in the monastery.
In the context of the Letter to the Hebrews Jesus is presented as the ideal High Priest, one who bears our burdens and intercedes for us with the Father. Jesus has a unique status. New Testament scholar, Marie Isaacs, helpfully suggests that ‘His suffering is neither punitive nor corrective but an act of filial obedience.’
St Benedict would recognise this idea of filial obedience. His Rule is writ through with the many ways in which obedience is to be cultivated in the monastery. In Chapter 5, On Obedience, St Benedict is clear that love is both the motivation and goal of obedience: ‘It is love that impels them to pursue everlasting life, therefore, they are eager to take the narrow road…’
It’s easy for Obedience to be seen as something that can limit our potential rather than expand it. Christ is our surest model of the life-giving nature of true obedience. The place that suffering plays within this is will be different for each one of us.
How has Christ called you to walk the path of obedience this Lent?
(Hebrews 5:7-9, Fifth Sunday in Lent)