When I see someone wearing a cross, I occasionally ask them what it means. Some respond that it is a nice piece of jewellery while for others it is a good luck charm that will protect them from harm and danger. Others are closer to the truth when they explain that it means Christ died for their sins. In this passage Jesus is nailed to the cross and subjected to humiliation and ridicule.
Read More suffering, power, weakness, the cross
It’s one thing to endure hardship for a season. It’s quite another thing to suffer interminably, to languish at the miserable intersection of chronic pain and diminished hope.
Psalm 39 is a lament for the Sufferer who has endured too much for too long. It’s a prayer for the Pray-er who suspects her cries to the heavens are really just shouts into the void. It’s a liturgy for the Bewildered; a hymn for the Seemingly-Forsaken.
Read More suffering, prayer, perseverance, bewildermentWe have not finished with Simeon. As he blessed the young family he also, under the inspiration of the Spirit, added words that introduce the first ominous hint into Luke’s story. Jesus is the promised Messiah, yes, but the light of his truth introduces a foreshadowing of conflict. Mary will suffer, beyond anything we can imagine, as she watched her own dearly loved son, crucified. The blessing comes with unspeakable pain.
Read More service, freedom, sufferingAt first the psalms may bring to mind gentle brooks and rolling meadows, beautiful poetry extolling God’s magnificence and care. Some of them, however, are anything but. A number seethe with anger. There are bad people out there, doing horrendous, evil things, and the psalmist is fed up. He rails against them, getting downright explicit with the sort of punishment he hopes God doles out. In the end, he declares, good people will be glad to see the evildoers get their own.
Read More persecution, retribution, justice, suffering“Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord, have mercy on us!”
I uttered those words as I read the horrendous details of the September 2013 shopping mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya. One bright, sunny day terrorists stormed the mall, shooting and throwing grenades. Over four days they tortured and killed more than 70 people and injured more than 200 men, women and children. So many innocent lives destroyed.
Read More suffering, death, hope, tragedyThis part of Luke continues the section that began at 12:1, where Jesus warned the crowds of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who clung to him in the hope that they would catch him out in something he said (11:13-12:1). He was now surrounded by huge crowds.
We don’t know anything more about the incident related here, of Pilate ordering the massacre of Jews while they were offering sacrifice, presumably in the Temple.
Read More sin, judgment, suffering, mercy
Few of us are likely to be a king. The wealth and authority may appeal to us. However, with the wealth and authority come responsibility and challenges. King or not, we do experience life like King David and life is not always easy. We live with the choices that we or others have made. Some of those choices are good. An education usually means a higher income. A wise choice in a spouse means a happy home and family.
Read More suffering, prayer, trouble, rock“Father, if you will, please don’t make me suffer…” This is Christ, fully aware of the importance of what he is about to accomplish but also fully aware of the suffering about to be imposed. His words underscore the depth and intensity of this hour of darkness. Scourging, denial, mockery and hours of excruciating pain and torture. Verse 44 gives us a glimpse of the magnitude of this horror when it tells us “his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood.”
Read More suffering, resurrection, darknessFor anyone who has suffered, or for anyone whose loved one has suffered, this passage has implications.
The disciples make an assumption (v 2) based on scripture. They know God is sovereign. They have been taught he punishes sin into the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5; 34:7, Deuteronomy 5:9).
Read More blindness, miracle, suffering, sinWe all walk through seasons of our life which are stormy. We understand how the disciples may have felt in Matthew 8:23-27. While they were at sea a fierce storm rose and they were panicked. Fear gripped their hearts, though Jesus was right there! They thought he was not paying attention.
The writer in this portion of Psalm 119:97-120, while acknowledging his great love for the Word of God, is suffering terribly.
Read More suffering, God’s presence, prayer, trouble