Jesus--hope only in suffering

by lanier67

Why is there suffering?  Why is there temptation?  Why is there a devil?  Why is there pain?  The so-called "Problem of Evil" has stood the test of time as one of the most powerful arguments against the Christian God, an all loving, all knowing, all powerful God.  How could such a God exist in a world that is clearly so full of pain? I've recently been restudying Marin Luther's theology of the Cross.

One of Luther's most captivating ideas is that suffering is not an objection to God, but the means by which we know Him.  How can this be?

Luther's theology of the Cross states that God has only revealed himself to us in His suffering on the Cross.  All philosophical proofs, all pseudo-theological ponderings are merely the idle speculation of mortal men.  God, however has revealed himself to us, but only in the very place we least expected: suffering.  Jesus, God, dying on a bloody Cross, naked, exposed, condemned, humiliated:  This is God.  Do not look for God in the proofs of academia.  Do not look for God in the monk's fastings.  Do not look for God in the beauty of a spring morning.  Doubtless he is there in those places, but you will not be able to find him.  Or if you do, you have no way of knowing if its really him, or just something you have created.  But he is not hidden, at least not completely.  The Cross shows Him to us.

A sacrificial God.  A just God.  A jealous God.  A caring God.  A relentless God.  A tender God.  A warrior God.  A soft God.  A different God.  A plain God.  A God that identifies with us, and a God that dies for us.

And in our sufferings we are actually closer to him than in our triumphs.  In our sufferings we recognize our frailty, our need for God's intervention to make us whole, our weakness.  In our triumphs we tend to see our strengths as stronger than they really are, our will as purer than it is and our mission as more significant that it could ever be. Our sufferings reveal the reality of our vulnerable humanity.  They also show us the depth of God's love.  Sure, its easy to say, "God loves you enough to be crucified for you," but wouldn't the experience of a crucifixion magnify your grasp of the depth of God's love?  All of our sufferings, then, wean us from the glitz and glamor of the world and show us the glory and love of the savior.

Do not, therefore, despise our current sufferings, only in them can we begin to find hope in Jesus.