Even in Fear you'll be Heard

[Christ4Ever]

"He was heard in that he feared." Hebrews 5:7

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Did this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that He was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken? "See," said Satan, "Thou hast a friend nowhere! Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of His compassion against Thee. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to help Thee. All heaven is alienated from Thee; Thou art left alone. See the companions with whom Thou hast taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there Thy brother James, see there Thy loved disciple John, and Thy bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when Thou art in Thy sufferings! Lo! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against Thee. I have stirred up mine infernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon Thee this night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm Thee: and what wilt Thou do, Thou solitary one?" It may be, this was the temptation; we think it was, because the appearance of an angel unto Him strengthening Him removed that fear. He was heard in that He feared; He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. It may be that this is the reason of His coming three times to His disciples—as Hart puts it—

"Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,
As if He sought some help from man."
​

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken Him; He found them all asleep; but perhaps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow, the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any rate, He was heard in that He feared. Jesus was heard in His deepest woe; my soul, thou shalt be heard also.

Charles Spurgeon

 

[james1523]

"He was heard in that he feared." Hebrews 5:7

​

Did this fear arise from the infernal suggestion that He was utterly forsaken. There may be sterner trials than this, but surely it is one of the worst to be utterly forsaken? "See," said Satan, "Thou hast a friend nowhere! Thy Father hath shut up the bowels of His compassion against Thee. Not an angel in His courts will stretch out his hand to help Thee. All heaven is alienated from Thee; Thou art left alone. See the companions with whom Thou hast taken sweet counsel, what are they worth? Son of Mary, see there Thy brother James, see there Thy loved disciple John, and Thy bold apostle Peter, how the cowards sleep when Thou art in Thy sufferings! Lo! Thou hast no friend left in heaven or earth. All hell is against Thee. I have stirred up mine infernal den. I have sent my missives throughout all regions summoning every prince of darkness to set upon Thee this night, and we will spare no arrows, we will use all our infernal might to overwhelm Thee: and what wilt Thou do, Thou solitary one?" It may be, this was the temptation; we think it was, because the appearance of an angel unto Him strengthening Him removed that fear. He was heard in that He feared; He was no more alone, but heaven was with Him. It may be that this is the reason of His coming three times to His disciples—as Hart puts it—

"Backwards and forwards thrice He ran,
As if He sought some help from man."
​

He would see for Himself whether it were really true that all men had forsaken Him; He found them all asleep; but perhaps He gained some faint comfort from the thought that they were sleeping, not from treachery, but from sorrow, the spirit indeed was willing, but the flesh was weak. At any rate, He was heard in that He feared. Jesus was heard in His deepest woe; my soul, thou shalt be heard also.

Charles Spurgeon

"Heard in that He feared" means that Christ's prayers were heard because of His reference for the Father, not that Christ was fearful. I'm not sure how Spurgeon could make this simple mistake, that is not even made by his contemporaries. But the fact that God hears our prayers even in fear and doubt, is true nonetheless.

 

[Christ4Ever]

"Heard in that He feared" means that Christ's prayers were heard because of His reference for the Father, not that Christ was fearful. I'm not sure how Spurgeon could make this simple mistake, that is not even made by his contemporaries. But the fact that God hears our prayers even in fear and doubt, is true nonetheless.

I’m sure you mean “reverence” and not reference.

I looked to see what type of breakdown in versions/translations in regards to word usage for this verse. Came up with the following, minus the use of the word "piety" in some documents.

Reverence: NLT, NIV, ESV.
Feared: KJV, NKJV, RSV, ASV, YLT, WEB, HNV

As you can see, feared is not so out of place in translation.

A disagreement maybe. Mistake? Hardly when seen from the “human” side of Christ. To state that Jesus did not know fear, is to make Him less human. Yet, this was not the full purpose of the sermon. The name of the complete sermon is "The Sympathizing Priest". Once I'm able to format the complete Sermon I'll post it under that section. Should you read it, you'll see that the devotional doesn't really capture the intent in its entirety. Yet does clearly speaks of our Lord's humanity. I want to believe that you will also find yourself in agreement once all is read and understood in the context it was intended even as you disagree with this extracted part of it.
Love you brother James.
C4E