Suffering and Jesus

Questions about SufferingWhy is there suffering? Where is God? Does God care?

The Bible and SufferingMark 15:33-34 Christ on the cross

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

The Bible and SufferingIsaiah 52:13-53:13 (especially 53:2-11) (p. 559)“The Suffering Servant”

despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, beaten, oppressed, condemned

Why did Christ suffer?“It was the Lord’s good plan...” v. 10

God suffers with us.

Questions about SufferingWhy is there suffering? Where is God? Does God care?

Understanding Suffering1. Natural disasters2. Sickness and disease3. Relational sin

Christ and Our Suffering1. Natural disasters. A new heaven

and earth.2. Sickness and disease. New glorified

bodies.3. Relational sin. Free to love.

God’s Plan1. Christ, The Suffering Servant

“Only the gospel dares to proclaim that God enters smack-dab into the middle of the hell we create...and suffered firsthand the hellish depth of all that is nightmarish in human existence.”

Letters from a Skeptic by Gregory Boyd and Edward Boyd

God’s Plan1. Christ, The Suffering Servant2. Being transformed into Christ’s

image3. The Church, the Body of Christ

God’s Question to Us

How will you respond to suffering?

Responses to Suffering1. Ignore it.2. Turn away from God.3. Turn toward God.4. Be part of His plan to address

suffering.

“Jesus Christ did not come to explain suffering. He came to fill suffering with

His nearness.”French poet Paul Claudel

Respond to God