Contemplating the Suffering and Triumph of Christ
I have found that many people think me a little odd when I tell them I am excited for a long drive. This was one of those weeks when I could had at least a dozen hours of driving that I did. I was thrilled about it, as it finally allowed me time to catch up on many of my favorite podcasts, finish an audiobook, and begin another. This week was pretty podcast-heavy, so for me to share links to every episode I listened to would turn this entire post into nothing but a page of links. So, I will spare you all this. Instead, I will share with you an idea born in my mind while listening to them as I considered the Easter weekend.
The Suffering of Christ
As I listened this week, the idea of suffering came to me at a perfect moment; as I write this, we are between Good Friday and Easter morning. As I thought through what it means to suffer, I couldn’t help but wonder what the thoughts of the Disciples of Christ were on that morning after Jesus died. They had followed Him for three years. They must have had so many ideas of their futures, where they would go, and what they would do, some of which we read in the Gospels. I can’t help but wonder what were the thoughts that haunted Peter as he woke up that morning knowing he had abandoned Jesus and denied Him. I wonder if he found himself unable to get out of bed on that morning, I wonder if he was able to sleep at all. As the hope of the world lay in a tomb, they truly must have felt purposeless. They must have wondered about the time they had spent with Jesus and the hope and joy they had felt while in His presence, and now there was nothing they felt utterly empty and alone. I wonder if some of them felt like fools, having believed that Jesus was the son of God. I wonder if they even questioned the miracles they had seen Jesus do. I wonder if some sought to rationalize it as they all tried to understand what had happened. They had all gone into Jerusalem filled with hope that soon they would overthrow the Roman Empire and be free, and now everything seemed lost. Everything felt meaningless, as though all flavor in life had been drained away. On this day, the light of the world had vanished.
I also can’t help but rewind to that fateful day of betrayal, and the measure of suffering Christ endured. I imagine many of us have seen the movie “The Passion of Christ,” and through it, we can begin to imagine the physical torture He endured. However, even this film can not fully show us the extent to which he was beaten. But there is another piece to His suffering that I think we rarely consider. He not only endured the worst form of physical torture, but he also endured the worst forms of mental and emotional torture. Some people might discount this, but I think remembering is essential to understanding the extent of His suffering. I must admit I had never considered this idea until I heard Dr Jordan Peterson talk about it, as I have never heard it preached from the pulpit.
Jesus Christ was betrayed by one of His best friends; not only was He betrayed, but this friend sold Him out for a few pieces of silver. I have heard this story so many times that I often just skim past the details. Jesus knew this, Jesus knew and yet He loved Judas even so, and He welcomed him to their final meal together. Jesus was then later abandoned in the moment when He most needed these friends. He was left to suffer alone. I can’t begin to imagine the anxiety that He must have felt as He left their meal. I wonder if He delayed leaving the room where they ate. I wonder at the thoughts and pain He felt as He crossed through the doorway to go outside, where they had just shared a meal and likely laughter. I wonder if He missed a step as He descended from the upper room to make His way to the Garden to pray. I wonder at His anxiety so great that he sweated blood as He knelt in the Garden of Gasemity. I have, in moments of my life, felt great anxiety, but never to the point that I sweat blood. I remember as a child, when I knew I was going to get a spanking, often the anxiety of waiting was worse than the experience of it. So, too, here, Christ experienced the worst conceivable anxiety imaginable. He went from that place and was betrayed and abandoned; He was spat on and mocked, having done nothing but help and heal people all His life. As we go to the mock trial before the pilot, Jesus stood silently and never sought to defend Himself. At this moment, Jesus, being wise in all things, could have argued for His freedom again, and had He done so, I have no doubt He would have been freed. I can’t begin to fathom the temptation that must have existed at that moment. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of self-control Jesus had to not call upon a legion of angels to free Him. He knew He could do this and stop it at any point, yet He chose to allow it. He chose to take each step as blood ran down His brow from the crown of thorns they beat into his head. He willingly took the beating of a whip known as the cat of nine tails, with hooks and barbs that ripped and cut through His body. He could have stopped it at any moment, yet He did not. He stood silently, blood pooling at His feet, and His sandals stained red as they stuck to His feet.
As Jesus hung on the cross with His hands and feet nailed to the cross, He would have had to periodically try and stand on the nails in his feet, tearing apart His feet further in the process. Doing this would be the only way He could get a breath of air in His lungs burned for air. He would then lower himself again and hang by the nails in His hands, which would rip deeper gashes, and as He would begin to suffocate again, He would have to stand to breathe. He did this repeatedly, knowing that at any moment, He could ask God in Heaven to put a stop to it all. And then, at the height of all His suffering and pain, when He had endured physical torture so gruesome words can not capture it, when His friends had abandoned him, and there was seemingly no way it could get any worse, there is one final torture, and Jesus cries out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.” I dare not assume I know what exactly this means, but as I imagine it in my mind, that there on the cross alone and stripped naked, Christ must have felt abandoned even by God. Again, I dare not assume I know nor add to what the Bible says, but I wonder if, in those final moments if, even God’s felt presence, too, was taken away from Jesus, and in doing this, was His suffering made complete. Was it that in this moment, Jesus felt truly and utterly alone, abandoned even by God?
I would not and will not declare this to be true, but I can’t help but wonder. Christ chose to suffer on our behalf, but He also chose to take on our suffering in every conceivable way. This idea for me comes from Hebrews 4:15.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
Jesus chose to endure every possible form of suffering that a human being can experience on that day. Jesus experienced the very worst conceivable suffering of humanity. I have heard that one of the single most painful ways to die is by suffocation. This, as mentioned, was part of what made a crucifixion so miserable; you would slowly suffocate as you hung on the cross. Today, no form of torture can surpass the physical torture of a crucifixion. Jesus also endured the most extreme form of anxiety imaginable, and He experienced the worst form of betrayal and abandonment. He experienced the worst forms of emotional and psychological torture conceivable. And all of this He did for our sakes. He did this so that we who are sinners broken and flawed, and often evil and wicked beyond imagining, could be made right with Him. He chose this so that we might not have to. He took on the pain and suffering of Hell so that He might spare us from it. There is no form of suffering on this earth that He can not relate to. There is no anxiety, no loneliness, no heartache, no pain beyond what He felt that day as He hung on the cross. All this was done for our sake. He did this so that there could be rescue from our suffering. Creator God chose to step down into human form, choosing to be born in a lowly position, suffering the greatest pain of humanity to show us the extent of His love for us. Through this, He also negated anyone's ability to say that their suffering is beyond understanding, for Christ knew it fully. And I would say He knew it more fully than we can begin to fathom.
Today, we remember that two thousand years ago, the light of the world seemed to have gone out. There was no hope in that moment in history; there was only despair. Today, we live with a hope that was not known to the disciples of Christ, who were scattered and lost. Today, we have hope in knowing that Jesus Christ, who suffered and died, did not remain in the grave but rose again victorious through His resurrection.
As human beings today, we have created a great deal of suffering for ourselves and others. We hurt others and are hurt by them, and often, it can all seem pointless. It can all seem unbearable, yet in this, I find hope that we do indeed have a God who willingly chose to experience every imaginable form of suffering so that we might know that He truly understands the pain that exists in this world. He understands the pain of the single mother, alone, afraid and uncertain of tomorrow. He understands the pain of the man who has lost everything he loves in life and struggles to find meaning in life. He understands the student wrestling to withstand the temptations of the world. He understands the broken, the lonely, and the hopeless, and He suffers with us as we suffer; He does not make light of our suffering but understands it fully, and in all this, we have a reminder directly from Jesus in John 16 at the end of the chapter we read these words.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
So, I close today with this reminder that we can indeed take heart, for Jesus has overcome the world. He has once and for all made a way for us to find purpose and meaning in a world where suffering will occur. We may not understand the why of our suffering, but we can be confident that He will wipe away every tear in the end.
