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Luke 24:46 – Two Thoughts When We Suffer
Two Thoughts When We Suffer
As we congregationally study the problem of pain and suffering, and how the word of God shows what God is doing about it – and will continue to do – we are learning this is our preparatory work. By that I mean the problem of evil is not solved in the ER. We must be prepared BEFORE the tragedy to be prepared FOR the tragedy.
Consider this, “He also said to them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day,'” (CSB’17 Luke 24:46). When we suffer pain, “natural evil” as it is sometimes called within theodicies, we tend to lose our focus. To keep focus, dwell on these two truths from Luke 24:46:
1. Jesus didn’t get lost in the suffering.
Jesus looked past the present in hope knowing what God was going to do about it through the resurrection. Don’t get lost in your suffering. God will end the pain in his glorious way. Share in Jesus’s hope!
2. Jesus didn’t escape the suffering.
What I am about to say sounds callous, but it shouldn’t. This is why suffering is not solved in the ER. Prepare for it by asking these questions now, “Why should I escape suffering when Jesus didn’t?” Follow that up with, “Am I falling into the pity trap thinking I am better than Jesus?” Share in Jesus’s sufferings.
Let me repeat myself:
1. Suffering is not solved in the ER. That’s when compassion is needed more than theology debates (see Job). Compassion itself is a theological wonder because people need reminding people care as does God. Just as there’s a time and place for everything, there’s a wrong time and place too.
2. We must prepare BEFORE the pain and suffering to be prepared FOR the pain and suffering. Jesus prepared by talking about it. This is what we are doing congregationally. Such doesn’t make it any less painful, but it is necessary to withstand what is inevitable.
I’ll close within quote, “The story of humiliation and exaltation of the beloved son reverberates throughout the Bible because it is the story of the people of God about whom and to whom it is written” (Jon Levinson)
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