Matthew 16:21-24 (The Message)
21 "Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how."
21 "Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how."
Peter wanted suffering eliminated from Jesus life. We all would like to see the same.
Suffering is so costly. It hurts so much, demands so much, takes so much.
Helmut Thielicke has said the problem for Americans is that we don’t know how to deal with suffering. We regard it as something “which is fundamentally inadmissible, distressing, embarrassing, and not to be endured.”
What Peter and we do not understand is that suffering belongs to the very nature of this world and to the very nature of Jesus - the suffering servant who emptied himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:5-8)
As Douglas John Hall reminds us in “God And Human Suffering”, “there are forms of suffering which belong, in God’s intention. to the human condition. Not all of what we experience as suffering is totally absurd, a mistake, an oversight, or the consequence of sin.” Some of it is a part of what it takes to give us deep appreciation for what life is really all about.
How would we discover the power of love without suffering loneliness?
How would we experience wonder, surprise, or gratitude without the experience of limits. Of not having everything we want, when we want it, without ever going without anything.
How would we know what was good if we never experienced the pain of what is bad?
become more truly whole, unified, and centered.”
Life without limits, without a purpose beyond having it bigger and better; without struggle, commitment to something beyond my own happiness and economic security; without denial, without the struggle which comes in loosing oneself in being an instrument of love in a world of hate; life without integrity and responsibility, servant hood and compassion IS NO LIFE AT ALL! IT IS INDEED VERY THIN!
The challenge for all of us is not only to try figure out what God’s will really is.
It is also to be willing to suffer rather then lose our integrity. Suffer to discover the deeper truths of life. The secret of life is that it has to be lost to be found; it has to dare suffer to be real and have integrity.
“A pain-free life would be a life-less life.”
“Becoming is suffering…through it we
become more truly whole, unified, and centered.”
Douglas John Hall
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, you suffered for me and you suffer with me. Help me to accept suffering as a part of life and transform it into goodness and joy.”
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