The Suffering of God
Why We Are Speechless
Suffering is a phenomenon that demands an explanation. It shocks us, disorientates us, frustrates us and humiliates us. It throws all our tidy philosophies of life into confusion. It fills us with questions and we feel that it is our right to know the answers.
In many ways, we hate suffering not so much because of the actual pain but because of the feeling that we are not in control. If we could, we would organise our whole life such that all suffering would be carefully avoided, even down to the slightest inconvenience. So when painful things occur we know that some other person or power has intervened, and we want to know why. If we just knew why, perhaps the suffering wouldn't be so bad.
Why the Why?
Every human knows that good things need no explanation but bad things do. No one questions God when a perfect baby is born, when crops are successful, or when there is peace in the world—these things need no explanation. But when the baby is deformed, the crops fail and war begins we want to know why. In our way of thinking, suffering is only justified if there is a positive outcome. We will put up with the needle that prevents disease, the confession that relieves us of guilt, or the sacrifices that provide our kids with decent education because the good justifies the bad. If we know the positive outcome, we will endure the painful means.
When we read the Bible we notice that some people were told why they were suffering and some weren't. Imagine getting an explanation like this, for example:
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
[Rev. 2:10 (ESV)]
But then we have the famous suffering of Job who, to our knowledge, was never told about the discussion that took place in heaven. Should we expect to be like Job who endured the loss of everything he had—including his family and his dignity—with no explanation, or should we expect a specific message from God about why we are suffering like the church in Smyrna, to whom the above was written?
The Message
It may not be a letter by Roman mail but in the suffering of God we have the message we have been waiting for. And yet it is not an explanation for why we suffer—it is a message that will silence our questions; it is the message of the suffering servant of whom it is said, “kings shall shut their mouths because of him”.
The truth is that we have no right to expect anything less than constant suffering. As descendants of Adam we are part of a race that has cut itself off from God. We have decided as a race that anything his leadership has to offer is not worth having. But Jesus chose to suffer. This should make our jaw drop—we know it so well that it is no longer amazing, but we need to step back and consider the enormity of this fact: God bothered to save us, and he bothered to save us by subjecting himself to excruciating pain and humiliation.
Speechless trust
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It sounds like the cry of someone who has has no idea why he is being made to suffer. But Jesus knew exactly why he was there and why he was suffering. Throughout his ministry he predicted that he would suffer and die. If you read carefully the 22nd Psalm that Jesus is alluding to, you will read about a man who, though surrounded by enemies, never loses faith in his God. Yes, Jesus knew why he had to suffer, and he suffered graciously, full of trust in his Father.
The knowledge that we need is not knowledge about why we are suffering now. We need to know why he suffered then because that suffering is the event that has defined our history. We need to know that he suffered because we hated God and that through his suffering God was bothering to save us. We need to know that his death marks the end of the age of rebellion and that his resurrection marks the beginning of the kingdom of God, in which all suffering will be put away, forever.
When we see what our sin did to him, we know that we cannot complain about our own state, but are left speechless, waiting patiently for our God to end all the injustice and all the pain.
Ben continues to struggle against his desire to make absolutely everything as convenient as possible.
Psalm 22 (ESV)
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 "He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
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