Shallow Thoughts on Suffering

“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” Luke 23:39

It is easy to see this criminal on the cross as a blundering fool spouting the venom that was simply part of his unlawful lifestyle. Even though Jesus was innocent and unjustly crucified, most who received that sentence were the worst of the worst. So, it is no surprise that we are quick to deride this fellow’s sarcasm that ugly day.

It is just like the other criminal said to him, ““Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” (verses 41, 42). We might jump in with similar accusations, telling him to keep quiet and take his punishment like a man. “Who do you think you are, taunting this Righteous Man,” we might chime in. “He is the Christ, and He is doing exactly what the Christ is supposed to do.”

But that is exactly the problem, isn’t it? The criminal wasn’t the only one to think that the Messiah certainly shouldn’t be bleeding from nail wounds of capital punishment. Conquering kings don’t go to death row! If this is God’s man sent to make everything right again, then what is he doing moments away from death at the hands of the Romans who have occupied the Promised Land for so long. “If you are the Messiah, yes, prove it! What in the world are you thinking? The Messiah doesn’t get pushed around, bloodied and spat upon. He takes authority because He is God’s man!”

That fatal Friday took even Jesus’ closest disciples by surprise. Peter denied Him three times during the mock trial, and only John stayed to see the whole horrid course of events through. To add insult to injury, the indictment which is written and hung above Jesus’ head on the cross reads: “This is the King of the Jews”.

I am sure the blaspheming criminal took in the sight of handwritten sign and Jesus’ blood-soaked and battered body and saw the glaring inconsistency. “The King of the Jews” and a body torn beyond recognition could not both apply to the same person. I am certain the thief echoed what the majority of the gathering throng thought as well.

I think one of the reasons Jesus stayed around for a full 40 days after His resurrection was how fully He needed the disciples to understand that the cross was not an accident, as if God had been sideswiped by an unexpected enemy strategy. No, over and over, Jesus taught them, both before the cross and after the resurrection, that the Messiah must suffer.  The suffering wasn’t just a bed of fire Jesus had to walk over to get to the goal. The cross was the goal!

As much as we say we believe the cross was God’s plan from the beginning, we still have some difficulties in always accepting that. If Jesus is the Christ, then He should have changed things by now. And, for goodness’ sake, He should at least do something about His church and how imperfectly it represents Him. “Jesus, save us (change the world) and Yourself (change Your church) and prove You are the Christ!”

I know, I know, you nor I have never actually said that; we have know our theology as least good enough to realize that is not how things work. But we have thought it. Well, I have, anyway; I’m not sure about anyone else other than a handful of believers who have, either in agony or straight out honesty, confessed the same thoughts to me.

I think we learn something from the second criminal’s response; his famous request, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Poor soul, I think he had the same image of the Messiah as the first thief. He asks Jesus to remember Him when He “comes” into His kingdom. He cannot imagine that the cross is actually the beginning of Jesus’ reign, but at least He believes Jesus will reign, sometime, somehow.

Jesus compassionately corrects that view by saying, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Well, I suppose I have rambled more than I meant. But we all have things in our life that we think a truly powerful Christ could take away, change, or make us more able to bear. In the fifth year of daily headaches, I wonder, “Jesus, if You are the Christ…”, and my eyes mostly fill with tears.

I do not understand the purpose of this unending pain nor why it remains when I have a God who can do anything. I have a Savior in Jesus who loves me more than anything, as He does each reader. The truth is, much like the disciples that day when Jesus was crucified, I don’t understand it well at all. But at least I understand that He suffered, and having suffered, can offer me comfort while I await healing; here or when I finally see Him in Paradise.