What does Hebrews 5:8 mean when it says Jesus “learned obedience”?

Hebrews 5:8-9 reads: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”

“Learned obedience” does not imply that Jesus was disobedient or that He lacked understanding of obedience. Jesus Christ was perfect spiritually and morally. However, Jesus took on the seed of Abraham and came to this world in the flesh. He experienced temptation, rejection, sorrow, and pain so that he might be a qualified mediator between man and God.

Jesus, as both God and man, demonstrated obedience in action through His human experience. On earth, Jesus obeyed His earthly parents and His heavenly Father. That obedience was not without struggle in the flesh. Jesus prayed that if it were possible, the cup of suffering might be removed; yet He submitted as a man in the flesh to the divine will of the Father. 

Philippians 2:8 adds to our understanding: “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” It was obedience through experience and practical application.

Jesus submitted Himself to the death of the cross as a perfect sacrifice. His mission as the author of salvation was perfected, or completed, when He died and rose again. In essence, Jesus “learned obedience” by actively living and suffering in the flesh while being perfectly surrendered to God even in death. ■