A Suffering Savior

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Scripture: Hebrews 5:7-9 (ESV)

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Devotion:

            Our church book study group is reading Tim Keller’s book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering right now. The chapter we read for today’s class is about “The Suffering of God.” The chapter got me thinking about the issue of suffering and how it is that God is able to relate to us as we suffer as the Bible promises we will. See John 16:33. Some people claim that it is impossible for God to suffer. The Bible, however, gives us many examples of how God suffered or was grieved in the Hebrew Scriptures. All the way back in Genesis 6:5-6 God is seen as experiencing grief on account of human sin. God’s ultimate suffering would take place on a cross just outside of Jerusalem.

            Jesus came to earth as Immanuel which means God with us. Jesus suffered throughout his life here on earth. He was rejected by his own townspeople. The religious leaders of his day were constantly badgering him about one thing or another. Eventually these same leaders and the people who followed them chanted “Crucify Him” thinking they could get rid of this problematic teacher for good. Jesus endured much torture at the hands of Roman soldiers before he was eventually hung on a cross to die a criminal’s death. But fortunately for us that is not the end of the story.

            That is how God is able to relate to our pain and suffering. Being rejected, tortured, and killed the innocent Son of God suffering for a sinful and rebellious people. Today, when people reject God and determine to live their own way it still grieves God’s heart. God knows what rejection is. No matter how we suffer in this world we know that God suffers along with us. Because God came to be one of us, we know that whatever we suffer God is there with us. God comforts us in way that only He can.

            Our comfort comes from our faith that even in death we cannot be separated from God and his love for us. We know that Jesus was raised from the dead and is now in heaven interceding for us. The final chapters of Revelation explain that at God’s decree there will be a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more suffering and death. Every tear will be wiped away by Jesus himself. The sin and death that seek to reign over us will be no more. We will be at last a people freed from our chains of slavery to the curse of Adam and Eve and transformed into people of the blessing of God.

Prayer:

            Glorious God, we worship you today because you are a sovereign God and are holy in all your ways. Yet you loved us enough to suffer with us and for us on the cross. We rejoice in the fact that you will return again to make all things new and right. Thank you for loving us so much. Amen.

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