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Tag: suffering

CRUCIFIXION! – The Pangs of Sin
So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.
John 19:16 NASB

Tarrying on the road of Suffering

“Father, the hour is come,” the Lord Jesus had prayed in a most personal prayer just hours before.

Then in the darkness of Gethsemane Jesus had asked Peter, “Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

It it the Cup of the Blood of His suffering; some by scourging just witnessed, when 39 times Jesus had NO SIN to confess.

“Crucify ben ‘elyown ‘elyown,” they had shouted; CRUCIFY the SON OF GOD!

And shortly Jesus will cry out from His final pain:

“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Mark 15:34 NASB

What Father remains silent on suffering?

And what Man must suffer silently for sin?

Crucify! Crucify!

John 19:17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha.

Hours before: Sanctification of the Sacrifice

Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You, just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:1-3 NASB – The Son’s High Priestly prayer

The Pangs of Death

‘I feel your pain,’ some must have mocked toward Jesus at His suffering the 39 lashes of scourging. No one ever truly feels the pain of another’s suffering.

But for His dear friends the Apostles the Son of God had assured:

“A little while, and you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
John 16:16 NASB

Jesus had not dwelled on His prophesied suffering. Yet by the scriptures perhaps the Disciples denyingly sensed what He must suffer this day.

Isaiah 53:

Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

The Apostles did not want to believe all of it, but to them the LORD revealed the Son embraced by the Father’s right arm.

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

They also grew up near Him and even though some knew Jesus’ family, they were not attracted to Him until by Him they were called. In these three years Jesus became their Lord, Teacher and beloved friend.

He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Jesus was despised by the ruling council and leading Jews. The Disciples continually witnessed the Jews hatred for Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:4 NASB

John 8:

Temple officials had previously despised and did not esteem Him. These Jewish scholars had never believed His message or the Prophets.

21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”

25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?”

These politically powerful religious officials most likely asked this mockingly, as they did while striking their blindfolded Messiah during the mockery of a trial before Caiaphas High Priest of the Jews and later in the presence of Pilate.

‘Who are YOU to talk of God or teach us the Law?‘

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me.
John 8:28

And the Apostle John adds this witness then in his Gospel:

30 As He said these things, many came to believe in Him.

Many believers will follow Jesus Christ in a victorious procession to the place of worship, but only a remnant remains following a captive King to the Cross of Calvary.
Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

The Pangs of Pain

Returning to Jesus’ metaphor of suffering, He prophesies this day to His Apostles:

John 16:

20 Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy!

As the Disciples had scattered as sheep from the wolves, surely they did not recall this at the time of Jesus’ arrest, trials, scourging and crucifixion.

Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come;

but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.

22 Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.

And why this suffering? – SIN!

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

..Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, Cursed are you..

And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.” – Genesis 3

The Prophesy of Christ’s Suffering

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 NASB

..

‘By oppression and judgment He was taken away,‘ prophesied Isaiah in the generation of Uzziah king of Judah. It was more than seven centuries Before Christ.

Isaiah, by the mouth of the LORD, indicts those who falsely convict Jesus.

They have just sent innocence to the Cross as the Substitute Lamb of Sacrifice for their own transgressions (sins).

‘And as for His generation,
who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of my people,
to whom the stroke was due?
Isaiah 53:8 NASB

The Good News of John:

1:¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

מֵעֲמַ֤ל נַפְשֹׁו֙ יִרְאֶ֣ה יִשְׂבָּ֔ע בְּדַעְתֹּ֗ו יַצְדִּ֥יק צַדִּ֛יק עַבְדִּ֖י לָֽרַבִּ֑ים וַעֲוֹנֹתָ֖ם ה֥וּא יִסְבֹּֽל׃
Yeshaiya 53: WLC

²⁹.. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

And now sinners take the sinless Sacrifice to the altar of the shedding of Blood.

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.
John 19:17-18 NASB
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To be continued...
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November 4, 2020
Suffer for Good – a letter from Peter – 6
To do good or evil?

Previously, from the background of Psalm 34 Peter urges the church to be like-minded in doing good. The Christian Standard Bible labels these verses, “Do No Evil” and the New King James Version, “Called to Blessing.” Yet just five verses later Peter calls on us to suffer.

Our action? “Seek peace and pursue it.” [1 Peter 3:11b CSB]

Peace, from the greek, εἰρήνη – eirēnē, is a trait of witness for followers of Christ, therefore Peter insists that we must pursue it to be Christ-like.

Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
Psalm 34:14-15 NASB

This, too, Peter urges from the Psalm; but then he draws an application from this Psalm of David applying it to followers of Christ.

Pursue Suffering?

1 Peter 3:

The CSB calls it, “Undeserved Suffering” and the NKJV heads this section, “Suffering for Right and Wrong.” J.B. Phillips summarizes Peter’s central message of his letter to the church, “Do good, even if you suffer for it.”

13-16 [PHILLIPS] After all, who in the ordinary way is likely to injure you for being enthusiastic for good?

It’s a question of fairness, but also one about our motives in what we pursue.

We may sense some fairness from unbelievers when we do good. Yet those who pursue good (but not Christ) sometimes pursue evil and may turn against Christ-followers.

The Greek idea of pursuit here, διώκω – diōkō, actually suggests:

‘to make to run or flee, but also, to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after or to press on.’ Metaphorically to pursue good, to seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavour to acquire.

Peter reminds from the Psalm that the Lord watches both those who pursue evil and those who pursue good.

14 CSB But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed.

Peter quotes the Prophet Isaiah [8:12] urging:

Do not fear what they fear or be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Christ, holiness in your heart

Patiently endure suffering, for our Lord and Savior also suffered.

The NKJV states: 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and the NASB urges: 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. What does this mean to a follower of Jesus?

Who is Lord? Who is supreme in your life?

Peter’s guidance to the church comes from his own personal witness.

– excerpt from Mark 8:27-29 CSB

Jesus had asked Peter and the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am?” He then asked the Disciples, “… who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”

Christ Jesus Lord!

Χριστός Christos Ἰησοῦς Iēsous κύριος kyrios

All of the Apostles (not just Peter) witnessed Jesus as the Christ to the church. John, who would have been with Peter here, also writes the Good News of their earlier calling:

One of the two who heard John [the Baptist] speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon [that is, Peter] and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
John 1:40-41 NASB

Have you found the Messiah?

That is, do you have Christ [God with us] in your heart, Peter asks those who suffer for Jesus?

Sanctify Christ as Lord

If God is with you, then act like Jesus so that unbelievers may see the Lord in the actions of your heart.

15-16 NKJV But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

Sanctify Him in your hearts.

What does that mean, what must I do?

Understand the holiness of the Lord God!

The Creator is not like any other man or object of His creation. And the Messiah Jesus must be honored with this same Holiness.

Sanctify – ἁγιάζω – hagiazō – from hagios, ‘sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated)’ – 1. to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable [commanding respect because of great age or impressive dignity] or hallow; 2. to separate from profane things and dedicate to God; 3. to purify

Some will recall Jesus’ instruction to the Apostles about prayer from the King James Version:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9a KJV

Hallow the Lord in your heart, Peter tells us. καρδία – kardia, which we recognize as the heart ‘denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life.’

All tradition from Jewish teaching recognizes the heart not only in the physical sense, but more importantly as ‘the centre and seat of spiritual life.’

A Model for Suffering

Gentleness and respect begin Peter’s list here of qualities of a sanctified heart for Jesus.

He continues with keeping a clear conscience, so that unbelievers who slander you for doing good are put to shame before the Lord.

Suffer only for doing good, but not for doing evil as the false followers of God will claim.

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.
1 Peter 3:18a CSB

Do you realize that your suffering for Christ Jesus may lead someone unrighteous to God?

Peter, having God’s own Spirit in his heart, puts forth Jesus as our example of both suffering and hope.

He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…
1 Peter 3:18b CSB

He went and preached to the spirits in prison.

Peter witnessed the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus! And Peter tells us more of the Lord’s victory over sin and death.

Without Jesus’ death for our sin we would have no victory. Those who died not knowing Jesus had no victory, though they did suffer death.

Who are these spirits in prison?

It’s a somewhat secondary debate from the greek of Peter’s letter, but consider the events following Jesus’ death and His appearance three days later.

The Gospel records that He yielded up His spirit [gk. pneuma].

Matthew 27: NKJV

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints [ hagios or holy ones ] who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Peter now proclaims a cleansing of the spirit comparing baptism (permanent change possible only in Christ) to the Lord’s cleansing of the earth at the time of Noah.

One understanding of prison as a Greek metaphor for waiting illustrates the time of one of the three watches of the night. (See Stongs’ explanation.)

1 Peter 3:

NIV 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
1 Peter 3:21-22 CSB

Why Suffer?

1 Peter 4:

Therefore since Christ suffered physically, Peter begins, understand why you must suffer for doing good for Him as your Lord. (Remember that these first century believers were already suffering for their faith in Jesus.)

“Arm yourselves also with the same purpose,” the NASB reads.

Why?

“… because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…

You, beloved believer are changed permanently in Christ. For you suffer in the flesh as did our Lord AND you have ceased to sin.

[You are] finished with sin— 2 in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

What an uplifting encouragement from Peter to the suffering church. Yet he strengthens their personal resolve further.

What remaining time did these suffering believers have?

Perhaps little; some only days or weeks.

And you, beloved follower of Christ, what little time might you have left to suffer in the flesh?

Our Former Sin

3 For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

Judge yourself, fellow sinner. Even if we have not committed some of these godless offenses in the eyes of the Lord, our flesh without Christ has coveted evil. Peter warns suffering believers to hold firm in our faith.

4 They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living—and they slander you.

And I remind us where Peter began this contrast between you or me and those who cause us to suffer for Christ.

2 … live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Peter then assures us of God’s fairness and judgement.

They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.
1 Peter 4:5 CSB

Hope in the Gospel

Peter speaks of Jesus preaching even to the dead. The end is near for some of the believers to whom he writes. What is the hope for those who suffer? Why must we suffer for Christ?

For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.
1 Peter 4:6 CSB

We were once dead in our sins. Yet God wants us to live in the spirit according to His will.

Jesus, our Savior will judge, separating those who follow from those who will receive the justice of their own sin — punishment without the grace of God’s mercy.

Endure in your suffering for Christ Jesus, in these last days.
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To be continued...
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September 10, 2019
The Curse of Disease and Death

We don’t understand death. Illness, disease and all the relatives of pain. These challenge our sense of mortality and question our grasp of purpose.

Why did God make it this way?

Wrong question. God created mankind in his image. Sin brought forth death and suffering out of our disobedience to a Father’s command.

Just like understanding death, we cannot eat of the tree of all knowledge the fruit of what the spirit will endure. Death brings judgment of decay and suffering. But what of the spirit resting, the spirit awakened from death?

Why a man can hardly understand the fall of adam, let alone the fall of angels. Yet angels and adam rebel against the righteous authority of Almighty God. These fallen ones affect our lives in ways we cannot know. Yet unseen scores of angels answer the righteous beckoning of a loving heavenly Father, who looks upon the mortal and eternal lives of His own.

A Story of Suffering

We think we know this oldest of stories of a man whose final blessing we cherish. He received twice the blessing. Fair enough. That’s worth some time when God will not help. Right?

You don’t really believe that, do you? At least, not if you are the suffering one or the one living every minute with the anguishing pain of a dear loved one. This is the story of Job we quickly overlook on the way to the double-blessed ending.

Job 1:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Question #1

Would that be a man like you? Or a woman like you (if that is your gender)? Was Job a man like me?

Certainly not. I am a sinner time and time again, certainly not ‘blameless‘ nor upright before the Lord God.

[ctt title=”תָּם – täm – blameless: complete, perfect, sound, wholesome, morally innocent, having integrity” tweet=”How are you doing at ‘blameless’ minute by measured minute of your mortal life?” coverup=”jaG0i”]

The fallen angel of disobedience challenges God:

“Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land…

Isn’t that how we pray to the Lord?

Hedge us in. Protect us. Give us those double blessings. It’s as if our mortal minutes were all about God giving us a gardens of blessings in all that we do.

Is that why the Lord created man?

Job’s Bad Day

Job didn’t bring on his own distress as we often do. Yet put yourself in this loving father’s place as he hears of the fates of the sons and daughters he has raised.

15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword..

… “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

… the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21c

Would that have been your (blameless) reaction?

Me neither; but it gets worse. Once again, Satan challenges the Lord at the integrity of Job.

Job 2:

“Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

Can you imagine any righteous man suffering like this, though he is blameless? Image the constant suffering, the pain this man endured.

8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place…

12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Tragic Suffering

Have you ever seen it? (Did you for a moment blame God?) Was it your wife, or a parent, perhaps even a child…

Why such suffering!?

Job’s friends came to him because of the report of the evil Job was suffering. The story of Job in the Bible clearly not only shows us the unseen origin of Job’s tormentor, the fallen angel Satan, but also describe Job’s suffering as evil.

רַע

[ctt title=”The evil of suffering sometimes seems larger than God.” tweet=”Remember, though, the Lord suffered for your sins and for mine.” coverup=”Sm646″]

Wickedness, mischief, hurt, trouble, affliction, ill, adversity, harm and other suffering often leading to death have nearly disappeared from our mortal consciousness.

For like good, evil has become a measure of no meaning in the minds of mankind.

Job goes on to lament his very life. Have we not done that when in great distress? Have we not questioned God’s motives in the suffering of man, especially those nearest our mortal hearts?

All the lessons of life taught from Moses to the Prophets to the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John show suffering – consequence of the disease of sin, yet a hope of redemption and cure of righteousness, resurrection from the suffering of this fragile flesh.

To be continued…

March 5, 2017