Prayers With Strong Crying and Tears

I wondered who the author of Hebrews was referring to as I read this passage this morning: “As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:6-8). Verse 6 is a reference to the Savior who was a high priest after Melchizedek’s order, but the “who” in the subsequent verse could refer to Melchizedek or to Christ: both surely offered up prayers and supplications in mortality and were sons who learned obedience in suffering. Alma taught that “Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.” Thus he was a “son” to some prominent father (perhaps Noah), just as the Savior was the Son of the Eternal Father. We don’t know much about Melchizedek’s life or how he might have suffered except in that he was king over a people who “had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness” (Alma 13:17-18). We do, though,  know of the suffering of the Savior who indeed showed perfect obedience to His Father in His suffering: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). And so, it would seem, that this verse could refer to both Melchizedek and Christ, and that is exactly what Bruce R. McConkie taught. The student manual explains: “Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained that Hebrews 5:7–8 pertains to both Jesus Christ and to Melchizedek: “[Hebrews 5,] verses 7 and 8 apply to both Melchizedek and to Christ, because Melchizedek was a prototype of Christ and that prophet’s ministry typified and foreshadowed that of our Lord in the same sense that the ministry of Moses did…. Thus, though the words of these verses, and particularly those in the 7th verse, had original application to Melchizedek, they apply with equal and perhaps even greater force to the life and ministry of him through whom all the promises made to Melchizedek were fulfilled.”

                Hebrews 5:7 was referenced in general conference by Elder Juan A. Uceda in October 2016. He said this: “Paul describes how Jesus prayed ‘in the days of his flesh,’ especially in Gethsemane: ‘When he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.’” Perhaps this was indeed referring to the prayers that Jesus offered in Gethsemane as He suffered for the sins of the world. He prayed there with “strong crying and tears”—meaning with all his heart—to His Father who could have saved Him from that death. His prayer was heard but the answer was as He feared: the Savior was indeed to suffer and die and His Father was not going to spare Him the pain in that moment. Elder Uceda used this as an example for us to follow in our own prayers. He questioned, “When you pray, are you really praying or just saying prayers? Are you superficial with your prayers? Jesus prayed intensely and spoke with His Father.” While the Savior was in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying like no other ever had as He endured the pains of death and hell, He said this to Peter, James, and John: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me…. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:38, 41). They were to follow His example of prayer, and so we too should “watch and pray” constantly to save us from temptation and to learn obedience in our own suffering like the Savior did. Like Melchizedek and Jesus we too can offer up “prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” to the Father of us all.