“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9).
Hebrews 5:9 introduces another potentially troublesome question for any dedicated student of God’s Word. We can phrase that question as follows: “If Jesus is perfect, then how can this passage say, “After he had been made perfect…” (CEB)? After all, Jesus once challenged His opponents with the following question: “Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am speaking the truth, why don’t you believe me?” (John 8:46 Mounce). How then could Jesus be made perfect if He already was so?
To answer this question, we must first define the concept of “perfect” as it appears in this passage. This word conveys the qualities of completion and accomplishment in the original language of this verse. (1) Thus, Jesus was not an imperfect person who attained perfection. Instead, He fully completed the course of human experience.
The Amplified Version of Hebrews 5:9 highlights this idea in its translation of this passage: “And having been made perfect [uniquely equipped and prepared as Savior and retaining His integrity amid opposition], He became the source of eternal salvation…”
It’s also important to think about the overall context of this verse as we consider this question. You see, the general theme of this chapter (and several that follow) is Jesus, our High Priest. Hebrews 5:2 established the basis for that discussion in telling us that a High Priest “…is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.” With this in mind, we can say that Jesus was a perfect human being who added to that perfection through experience.
Because of this, no one can truthfully say, “A perfect God cannot understand or appreciate what it was like to experience the pain, suffering, and affliction that human beings are often forced to endure.” On the contrary- Jesus, (as the God-man), is personally familiar with those experiential aspects of human life. Thus, He is perfectly suited to His priestly ministry on our behalf.
For instance, Jesus knows exactly what it means to live in the world we inhabit. He knows about love, joy, pain, and suffering. He is personally familiar with acceptance and rejection, respect and humiliation, happiness, sadness, and other human emotions. Because of this, Jesus is fully qualified to represent us before God as our High Priest. Since Jesus knows what it means to live as a human being, no one will ever be able to truthfully say to Him, “You don’t understand.”
(1) G5048 teleioo https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5048/kjv/tr/0-1/