Suffering in Luke

No long time ago I was observing a picture by the famous Dutch painter named Rembrandt, the name of the painting is “The Raising of the cross” and in that picture you can see Jesus dying but also you notice that Rembrandt is watching the scene, he is in the picture too, symbolizing that Christ died for him. After studying the painting you notice that Rembrandt found joy in the sufferings of Christ because in Him he found Everlasting Life.
What can a man living in the 21st Century contribute to the complex idea of human suffering? What can we say to other human beings who are having bad times in their lives? The best we can do is to present the everlasting gospel, showing them how God can use all things in life even those little pains that seem eternal. The purpose of this paper is to present the view of suffering as it is seen in the gospel of Luke, demonstrating that sincerity of knowing who we are and the need of redemption in our lives and dependence upon faith in the death and resurrection of Christ are connected in our personal search to understand the reality of suffering. We will look at some passages of Luke that contain elements of affliction and suffering, especially the sufferings of humankind and the sufferings of Christ. We will see three parts: Jesus and pain, Jesus and His way to death, Jesus and His triumph: Resurrection and the overcoming of sin.
Why write about suffering in the Gospel of Luke? According to the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, “The writers of the New Testament are concerned first with the sufferings of Christ, especially his suffering on the cross”1. The main point of emphasis of the writers of the New Testament was the suffering of Christ as means of redemption, because they knew that Christ died for them. The testimony of the early church, which was persecuted by the Roman Empire and also a Church that suffered many privations had great expectation in the work of Christ on the cross, knowing that they were saved.
According to Charles R. Erdman, “Luke was a man of culture and scientific training”2. Luke was a physician (Col. 4:14). Luke was a companion to Paul in his missionary journeys (2 Tim. 4:11, Phlm 1:24). Luke knew about pain because of his job as a doctor and also as friend of Paul.
Luke was the man who wrote the Gospel according to Luke. We can see this evidence, such as the early church fathers who quote that Luke wrote the Gospel. Luke appears in the muratorian canon and also in the canon of Marcion3. Luke wrote to an individual named Theophilus, an orderly account concerning the things he had been taught (Luke 1:3-4). Darrel L. Bock states, “Luke highlights God’s plan. It explains how Jew and Gentile could end up as equals in a community planted by God”4.
Jesus and Pain
Jesus came in pain. The Son of God was born in humility (Luke 2:7), but he received exhaltation. The Gospel account relates that a group of angels sang for joy because of the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). A modern scholar states, “The peace that the angels sang that belonged to the earth as a result of the birth of Christ is not a generic, worldwide peace for all humankind but a peace limited to those who obtain favor with God by believing in His Son Jesus”5. It is interesting to notice that since the very beginning Luke is impliying that because of our faith we can find favor in God. We need to be sincere concerning our condition, that we need Him, and also the need for redemption in our lives.
After his baptism Jesus “was led by the Spirit to the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). Jesus was tempted for forty days by Satan. We can see an example of the second Adam. The first Adam was tempted and by him sin entered into the world. Here the Second Adam is tempted three times, but he doesn’t fall. Jesus answered Satan according to the Scriptures. Jesus is fulfilling the law by obeying God. William Hendricksen states about Jesus in this passage, “By means of this obedience he was clearly indicating that he had taken upon himself and was removing the sin of the world”6. Jesus was the only one who could overcome the sin of the world, a sin that separates us from God and causes us pain in our lives because of that separation.
The English poet John Donne stated, “As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face, may the last Adam's blood my soul embrace”7
Hendricksen also states about Jesus, “He was therefore ready to begin his ministry of teaching, preaching, healing, casting out demons, and overarching everything else, suffering and dying for all those lost sheep who would place their trust in him”8. In the same chapter we see that Jesus starts to experience rejection. Jesus went to a synagogue and read a passage from the book of Isaiah. Jesus said that the passage was fulfilled with Him, because he is the one who has the Spirit of the Lord with Him (Luke 4:18). The people of the synagogue didn’t believe Him. They were expecting a worldly Messiah not a heavenly one. A Messiah who would deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. But the kingdom of the Messiah was not a worldly one, but a spirititual kingdom. J.C. Ryle states, “ Messiah’s kingdom at His first coming was to be a spiritual kingdom over hearts. His victories were not to be over worldly enemies, but over sin”.9
Jesus started his ministry, according to the account of Luke, healing people. In chapter 4, Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit and the mother-in-law of Simon. Jesus started teaching with authority (Luke 4:32) and people started to feel impressed by this man. Also the demons recognized him (Luke 4:34), even the demons followed His commands (Luke 4:35). By his simple word, Jesus can heal a person who is suffering or who is afflicted. Joel Greene states, “Jesus ministry carefully balances word and deed, teaching and healing”10. It is important to notice that in all his miracles Jesus performs miraculous acts by grace, not by any deed of man. All His miracles are leading up to revealing who He was and that the best gift was the everlasting life that a person could find in Him. The miracles can be temporary, but salvation, believing in the work of Christ on the Cross, is eternal. We can see examples of that in Luke chapter 5 when Jesus heals a leper and a paralytic. The leper asked Jesus that he could clean him if he “will” (Luke 5:12) Jesus answered him that He “will” and he touched him and he was healed (Luke 5:13). Williams Hendricksen states, “The healing power (of Jesus) did not originate in his fingers or his garment. It came straight from the divine and human Jesus, from his almighty will and infinitely sympathetic heart”11 When Jesus heals a paralytic, he first forgave him his sins (Luke 5:20). Because of the incredulity of the Jews, they didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, even when He healed the paralytic (Luke 5:25).
Leon Morris states something interesting about this passage, “The healing did not center on the human Jesus: it was God that the man glorified”.12 The main purpose of Jesus was to forgive the sins of the man because of his faith. Doing that, the person can be born again and fix his eyes on God and have a new life. Jesus also healed the paralytic to prove his redemptive acts. Jesus even healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day to prove that “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).
After the Sabbath Jesus started to minister to a multitude, healing many (Luke 6:19) but also teaching them. Jesus started teaching people the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes Jesus describes different kinds of people that we see in our daily lives who sufferer. In these kinds of people we can see: poor, hungry, people who weep and people who are hated. Jesus call them all blessed. J.C. Ryle states, “Th poverty here spoken of, is a poverty accompanied by grace. The want is a want entailed by faithful adherence to Jesus”13.Jesus is saying that we will have affliction in this world, like Jesus had. But in Jesus we can overcome all difficulties because in the future we will reign with Him.
In Luke chapter 7 Jesus performs a miracle on a servant of a gentile, a Roman centurian (Luke 7:2). That passage shows a connection between faith and healing. Jesus even said that “Not even in Isarel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9). William Hendricksen states, “Sometimes it is added that Luke’s favorable mention of the elders of the Jews, who thought very higly of a man who was a Gentile by birth and who showed a friendly and even reverential attitude to Jesus, was made in order to facilitate the entrance of non-Jews into church and kingdom”14. Luke is talking again that the Gentiles will have the same privileges as the Jews if they believe in the Messiah who can clean the sins of all people.
In Luke 7:11-17 Jesus performs a miracle that He will perform again later on, and that is to raise a person from the death. Jesus Himself will rise again from the dead to give us eternal life and to establish the reality that everything He said is true. Jesus healed the son of a widow woman. He must be afflicted because she lost her husband and now, she lost her only son, something that is hard to experience.
Jesus just told the boy, “arise” (Luke 7:14), and immediately the boy was alive and people started to glorify God. It is interesting that Jesus didn’t stop them from doing that, because He had joy too.
The next three miracles that Luke accounts have a relationship with faith, those miracles are: A sinful woman forgiven, healing a woman and Jairus daughter. To the sinful woman Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50). To the woman who was sick, Jesus says “Your faith has made you wel’ (Luke 8:48) and to Jairus and the people around Him, Jesus said “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well” (Luke 8:50). William Hendricksen, who was taught Redemptive History following the Reformed Dutch Tradition, states, “When it seemed that all was lost, believers placed their trust in God and were delivered”15. Placing our thrust in Christ is to obey God and to receive all His promises. Robert Walter Wall states, “From many differing vantage points the Biblical writers and their communities sought to interpret their suffering in light of who they were and what they were to do as God’s people”16. Were are all our sinners, but because of the sufferings of Christ on the cross we became children of God and the real people of God. We can see this in the lines that J. Gresham Machen wrote a long time ago, “Jesus came not to reveal to men that they were already children of God, but to make them God’s children by His redeeming work”17. Peter confessed that Christ is the Messiah (Luke 9:20), with this we know without a doubt that Jesus was He who was supposed to be: the Savior and the fulfillment of the promises
After the Confession of Peter in Luke 9:20, the gospel would be centered on the death of Christ and the implications that His death would have on the lives of people. The death of Christ was part of the salvation to humankind and by His death we can be delivered from sin. Robert P. Lightner states, “The question under consideration is not, did Christ suffer in life and in death? But rather, why did He suffer in life? What was the theological importance of all He endured prior to His death on the cross?18. Jesus Himself states that, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). According to Darrell Bock, “The road of glory runs through the cross”19. Jesus also talks about the cost of following Him. Jesus is very clear when he says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”. The cross was a horrible sign of a horrible death. The cross was used in the Gentile world to kill people and here Jesus is using that as an illustration of the cost of discipleship. William Hendricksen paraphrased the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23 as follows, “If anyone wishes to be counted as my adherent, he must once and for all say farewell to self, decisively accept pain, shame, and persecution for my sake and in my case, and must then keep on following me as my disciple”20. We know from history that when a person was supposed to die on the cross he needed to carry his cross. As Jesus did. The cross was heavy. Jesus is clear when he states that to be his disciple can cause one to be mocked, like Paul the apostle experienced in his ministry. It is interesting how Luke, who is a Gentile, states this fact because the Gentiles will also suffer for Christ in order to reign with Him. Michael F. Bird in a recent Journal states, “The Gospels intend to narrate a story and to evoke the significance of one called Jesus, Israel's Messiah and the world's rightful Lord”21
Jesus talks about “do not fear” in Luke chapter 12. Jesus is making the emphasis on “do not worry” about people who can kill the body but rather fear the person who can “throw you into hell” (Luke 12:5). Fearing God, knowing who He is helps us to realize that the sufferings are all under His control. We can taste His sovereignty. Jesus says about humankind, “you are worthy” (Luke 12:7). He said that because He will die for them and also in the next verses, He starts to talk about acknowledging Him before the Father. That is the process of salvation, believing in Him.
In Luke chapter 13 Jesus is talking about some Galileans that suffered. Many Jews thought that those Galileans suffered because of their sins (Luke 13:2). Many people even in our day think that suffering is caused by their intended sins, something they knew was completely wrong and even though they knew that they still committed those sins.
John Calvin says, “He teaches (Jesus) first that those who are treated more harshly than the rest are not the worst; for God executed His judgments in the order and manner He thinks best”22 Calvin is right, the only thing we can do is to pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”. In Luke 13: 5 Jesus says, “I tell you, no! But unless, you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:5). Darrel Bock states about this passage, “The threat, is not Jerusalem's fall but not being to stand before God”23. Jesus draws people to himself. He doesn't want to see people perish but to come to him, because in Him we can find everlasting life. According to Machen, “Jesus came to earth not to say something, but to do something; He was primarily not a teacher, but a Redeemer”.24 Jesus is going to become the Savior dying for His people later on in Luke's Gospel.
Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, the Lost Sheep, the lost coin and the Lost Son in Luke chapters 14 and 15. In these teachings Jesus emphasis is that even though people can suffer and get lost loosing all expectations, in Jesus we can find hope, joy and ourselves. We can have reconciliation with God and others. Jesus was clear in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. Jesus is serious about suffering, he didn't came to heal us on a temporary basis, the healing miracles in the gospels last some years but they were not eternal. Jesus really wants to heal us of our sins because He is the only one who can do that.
In Luke 17, we can see a dramatic healing of ten lepers. They told Jesus, “have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). Jesus had mercy and cleaned the ten but only one returned to Him to give thanks and praise God, and that one was a Samaritan (Luke 17:15). A Samaritan was considered a foreigner, a person who yoked with non Jews. This passage is very interesting because we can see the need: to be clean. The person who can clean: Jesus and the response: praise God. The only one who did that was the most unexpected person.
William Hendricksen states about this passage, “Does it not become clear that what Luke is saying is this: an international church, consisting not only of Jews but certainly also of non-Jews; is gradually being establish?”25 Jesus is starting to establish a church of people from many different races. From those who will belong to Him. D.A.Carson and Douglas Moo state, “Luke had an emphasis on Gentiles as ultimate recipients of God's salvation”26
We can meet Jesus because faith. Having faith that he really died and rose again. But in Luke 18 Jesus is asking an interesting question, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on earth”? (Luke 18:8). Jesus had healed and perfromed many miracles, but did that cause the people to believe in Him? Not necessarily, nine lepers never thanked him. Darrel Bock states that, “The Son of Man will be looking for those who are looking for Him”27. Jesus wants us to believe in Him, to obey Him, to look at His sacrifice. In Luke 18:35 Luke foretells his death for a third time. Jesus is clear about the things that will happen to Him, He says this about the Son of Man“He will be handed over the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him”(Luke 18:32). William Hendricksen states about this passage, “It will become evident that Jesus definitely looked upon his life as a part of the realization of the divine plan; that is, of God's eternal counsel”28. We can see how even in the Old Testament, God is presenting sacrifices and the shadow of Christ is there. In the covenant of God with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 God asks Abraham to kill animals. We see in this passage that, “A smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces” (Genesis 15:17). Also after Adam and Eve committed sin God dressed them with garments made of skin (Genesis 3:21). This presupposes the death of an animal. Jesus is the sacrifice, theLamb of the passover. The only one that will overcome the power of sin in the world.
Jesus and His way to death
Luke chapter 19 deals with the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is interesting to see that people started to sing praises when Jesus entered into the city. The fame of Jesus preceeded Him because of his miracles. People believed that Jesus was capable of doing anything that was needed to stop the Roman Empire and deliver the Jews from oppression, just like Moses did. People started to sing using the following words, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38) We can see a relation between the singing in Luke 19 and the singing of the angels in Luke 2. The angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). But soon, that song of joy would become a loud voice of anger.
Jesus wept in Luke 19:41. It is interesting to see that Jesus is sharing his feelings. He was human and God at the same time. He knew the need of man. Jesus never sinned even though he was tempted. He had a perfect relationship with God. Darrel Bock states about this passage, “These are the tears of one who knows that the people have already turned their backs on God's messenger”.29 J.C. Ryle give a comment about the same verse, “How great is the tenderness and compassion of Christ toward sinners”30. Jesus knew for sure that He was going to die, that He was going to be betrayed by one of his friends and that at the end there would be people that would not believe in Him. This scene can be noted as a bitter-sweet time in the life of Jesus, more bitter than sweet.
Before Jesus is betrayed he talks about the affliction that will come. In Luke 21 we read about the things that will come after He died and rose again. How Christianity would replace Judaism and how the redemptive acts of Christ are the only ones that can deliver us from the wrath to come. Jesus talks about the temple using the following words, “As for you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down” (Luke 21:6). Hendrocksen states about this passage, “Jerusalem was taken by Titus, son of the Emperor Vesapian (A.D. 69-79). The Temple was destroyed. It is believed that more than a million Jews, who had crowded into the city, perished. As a political unit Isarel ceased to exist”31
Christianity would be shown to be a religion of Redemption. Paul's emphasis on Christianity was redemption. Hendricksen states something interesting and unique about the destruction that followed, “Over the ruins of the earthly temple another “temple” was being established, that of Christ's body, the church of both Jew and Gentile”32. Jesus also talks about the ends of the time and the end of the age. Jesus talked about this because of the question raised by his disciples, “when will these things happen” (Luke 21:7). The disciples still didn't know what was going to come, they still didn't know for sure that Christ was dying and would rise again from the dead. Jesus talks about many afflictions, but he also affirms later in the same chapter, “But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life” (Luke 21:18-19). Hendricksen states about this passage, “What Jesus meant was that nothing, not even our hairs, is excluded from the domain of God's tender care, so that we may be assured that if any hair perishes it is by His will and for His purpose. That purpose is always the promotion of our salvation, to God's glory”33. For Christians, sufferings have a purpose and that purpose is to bring us close to Jesus. Following this matter, the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. Jesus says about Jerusalem, “For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written” (Luke 21:22). It is interesting to notice that, “Jesus had been sent from heaven to earth, with a message of God's grace. But by ever so many, especially by the leaders, He and His message had been rejected”34. Even one of his disciples will rejected him and experienced sorrow. Jesus is talking about the Gentiles too, “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). We can see a relationship here very briefly of how the Gentiles are united as people of God. The Israel of God will rise again and that Israel is the people who will be saved by the death of Christ on the cross. The last point that Jesus talks about in Luke chapter 21 is the coming of the Son of Man. According to Dr. Michael J. Kruger, “Son of Man is one of the most important titles of Jesus in the New Testament. This is Jesus favorite way to refer to Himself. No one calls Jesus Son of Man, only Jesus calls Himself that”35
The term Son of Man is found in the book of Daniel 7:13-14. A person who was worshiped by many (Daniel 7:14). that person was Jesus of Nazareth, who was also worshiped. Both have glory. Hendricksen states something interesting concerning this, “The glory that marks the Son of Man's sudden and brilliant manifestation is a definite proof of the Father's delight in his Son and of the justice of the cause of Him”36. The Son of Man will suffer unto death, but by His suffering we will be clean and we will see that later on. Jesus says, “your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). The reason why Christ came to earth will be clear and his plan for us will be revealed.
Jesus and His triumph: The resurrection and the overcoming of sin
Chapters 22 and 23 have a recount of the Betrayal, Crucifixion, Death and Burial of Jesus. The Passover was near (Luke 22:8). Jesus, who knew He was the real Lamb of the Passover, gave bread and said, “This is my body that is broken for you” ((Luke 22:19) He also said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). This is a bitter sweet dinner. Jesus is talking about the afflictions of the things he will suffer very soon. Jesus anticipates the denial of Peter and the betrayal of Judas. Just like human, here is Jesus is experiencing sadness, even before the process he will face. It is interesting that Jesus cries out loud, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). This is a prayer that many of us had the experience of praying in the past. We live in a fallen world with fallen people, but we can say without a doubt, “Thy will be done”. We read, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him” (Luke 22:43). Jesus receives comfort. He can also give us comfort in time of need. The Holy Spirit can be with us if we just believe. Jesus is betrayed and made prisioner. Judas betrayed Him. Peter, one of the closest disciples of Jesus denied him. Jesus was mocked by the guards and insulted by them. How can we feel about it if we experience the same? I believe it is extremely hard but we see how Jesus Christ is suffering because of His love for us. Jesus is presented before the authorities and it is interesting to see that three different persons ask him the same question, “Are you the Son of God?”. Jesus is finally facing death on the cross.
Death on the coss was horrible. When Jesus is bleeding and dying on the cross He is still bringing people to Himself, in a very dramatic scene37.At least two people recognize Christ as the Messiah. The first was a person who was suffering next to him dying in the same way. This person said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). William Hendricksen states about this passage, “He does not ask for a place of honor. He knows very well that such a place is not for him. But he casts himself upon the Savior's grace, asking only to be remembered; that is, of course, to be remembered for good”38. Jesus answered his request saying, “I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Here we see the first promise of heaven by believing in Him. A promise made for a person who was dying and suffering. The other person we see close in the scene is a Roman centurian, a Gentile. He is the person who gives the order to the soldiers to kill Jesus. Luke says, “He glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man”(Luke 23:47). The Gospel according to Mark states, “This Man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). William Hendricksen states, “The centurion had seen how Jesus had been conducting himself in the midst of all the wicked taunts and mockeries and all the pain he suffered”39 The most unexpected person is the one who is glorifying God. He didn't know until he faced the sufferings of Christ. Is it the same with us? We will never give praise to God until we face the sufferings of Christ on the cross.
Christ suffered unto death, we don't have any doubt about it. The thing is that he fulfilled his promised, he rose again from the dead. The heart of the Gospel according to Luke is found in Luke 24:46. Jesus says in this verses, “Thus it is written, and thus it was ncessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day”. Jesus is saying those words, he had just suffered an awaful dead and he just recently rose again to save us. J.C. Ryle state, “Our faith does not depend merely on a set of texts and doctrines. It is founded on a mighty fact which the sceptic has never been able to overturn40. That is that Christ rose from the dead and we can have assurance that we will be raisen with him. Jesus says also, “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 23:48). By His death we have forgiveness of our sins and we are made righteous by His name.
Michael F. Bird states, “ What the Gospels produce is not the Christ of faith superimposed on to the historical Jesus; rather they offer a dramatic representation, much like a docu-drama, of Jesus's actions in the past and his voice for the present available though the public memory of Jesus”41
Conlusion
The coming of the Lord started a new era where everything is not lost anymore, but God in his grace is still attracting people to Himself, because of the work that He did more than 2000 years ago. But to be Christians, we must recognize the sin in our lives and accept the forgiveness of God. We see that humankind is exepriencing suffering, because of the first sin that was introduced by the first Adam. We also see that Jesus experienced suffering, not because of sin, he never commited a sin but because of us. He is the only one who can overcome sin. Humankind will experience suffering, but with Christ they can have hope and joy in this world and in the world to come. A dictionary states, “Suffering also helps believers to identify with Christ, which is more than suffering for Christ”42. We can identified with Christ in His sufferings. The prophet Isaiah stated, “By his stripes we are healed” (Isa 53:5). Jesus prove that the best healer is the wounded healer, the person who can heal us by his own wounds. Like Jesus on the cross. We first need to know who we are and second, we need to know the dependence that we need in Christ every day. These two things will help us to realize the meaning of sufferings because these two things are tied together just as two pieces of wood that form a cross.
1 T. Desmond Alexander, Brian S. Rosner, eds. New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press 2000) 804
2 Charles R. Erdman, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1928) 7.
3 Dr. Michael J. Kruger, Gospels, Reformed Theological Seminary, Fall 2005.
4 Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume 1 Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994) 1
5 Verlyn Vebrugge quoted in Willaim Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2003) 43.
6 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2004) 243.
7John Donne, Selected Poems (London: Barnes and Noble 2003) 97.
8 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 243
9 J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1956) 117.
10 Joel Greene, The Gospel of Luke (Cambridge: Eerdmans 1997) 220.
11 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 289-290.
12 Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1974) 118.
13 J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke, 177.
14 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 378.
15 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 460.
16 Robert Walter Wall, “The problem of observed pain: A study of C.S. Lewis on suffering” JETS (December 1983) 451.
17 J. Gresham Machen, The Origins of Paul Religion (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers 2002) 164.
18 Robert P. Lightner, “the Savior’s Suffering in Life” Bibliotheca Sacra 127 (2005): 31
19 Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume 1 Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 849.
20 William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 498
21 Michael F. Bird, “The Formation of the Gospels in the setting of early Christianity: The Jesus tradition as corporate memory” Westminster Theological Journal 67 (2205):134
22John Calvin, Calvin's New Testament Commentaries: A Harmony of the Gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke Volumen II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1972) 94
23Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume II Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996) 1207
24J. Gresham Machen, The Origins of Paul Religion, 167.
25William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 799.
26D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2005) 220.
27Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume II Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996) 1456
28William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 839.
29Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume II Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 1560
30 J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke, 313.
31William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 927.
32William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 928.
33William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 933.
34William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 938.
35Dr. Michael J. Kruger, Gospels, Reformed Theological Seminary, Fall 2005.
36William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 938.
37Dr. Michael J. Kruger, Gospels, Reformed Theological Seminary, Fall 2005.
38William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 1032
39William Hendricksen, New Testament Commentary: Luke, 1037.
40 J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke, 313.
41Micahel F. Bird, “Bird, “The Formation of the Gospels in the setting of early Christianity: The Jesus tradition as corporate memory”, 134.
42Herbert Lockyer, ed. Ilustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville:Thomas Nelson 1986) 1015

John Donne, "Hymn to God, my God, in my sickness"

We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,
May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace.

Henri Nouwen

"Uno de los aspectos mas gratificantes de vivir en tierra extraña es la experiencia de ser amado, no por lo que se puede hacer, sino por lo que se es. Cuando nos hacemos conscientes de que nuestro vacilante, endeble y vulnerable yo es amado aun cuando casi no progresa, podemos renuncia a nuetsra obsesion de demostrar lo que somos capaces de hacer y ser libres para vivir con los demas en la fraternidad de lo debil. Y ello es verdaderamente sanador. La perspectiva psicologica del "shock" cultural puede permitirnos adquirir una nueva comprension de la gracia de Dios y de nuestra vocacion de vivir una vidas agraciadas"

Suffering

Living within a materialistic society, where no one other than the church seems to be aware of the fact that people are really experiencing great personal struggles in their lives, makes it difficult to talk about suffering. I looked at some paintings of Van Gogh, the son of a Reformed pastor in Holland. One particular painting caught my attention. The name of the painting is “Old Man in Sorrow”, and studying that painting, one can see the problems that Van Gogh experienced in his life: problems with suffering and with no hope in the future at all.
What can a man living in the 21st Century contribute to the complex idea of human suffering? What can we say to other human beings who are having bad times in their lives? The best thing we can do is to present the everlasting gospel, showing them how God can use all things in life even those little pains that seem eternal. The purpose of this paper is to present the Pauline view of suffering as seen in his epistles, demonstrating that sincerity of knowing who we are and the need of redemption in our lives and a dependence upon faith in the death and resurrection of Christ are connected in our personal search to understand the reality of suffering.
Why write about suffering in the Pauline epistles? According to the dictionary of Paul and his letters, “The questions of the inevitability and purpose of suffering in the life of Christians in general, and in the life of Paul as an apostle in particular, are recurring themes of great significance throughout Paul’s letters.”1
Paul wrote at least five of his letters while under arrest (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and 2 Timothy)2. The letter to the Ephesians and the letter to the church in Philippi are two of the most quoted in many churches during a Sunday worship service. It is incredible to see that made use of the time to write those magnificent letters during his confinement in prison, where he endured many afflictions (2 Tim 2:14) but was also thankful (Phil 1:3).
The sufferings of a man called Paul
Paul experienced suffering from the beginning of his Christian life. The book of Acts in the Bible chapter 9 describes the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus, including the words of the Lord about Paul: “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15). Jesus was sincere about the condition that Paul would experience the rest of his life, Paul would suffer because of the name of Christ. Also, before his conversion Paul was blind for a brief period of three days (Acts 9:9) Since the very beginning of his ministry, the most outstanding theologian and missionary the world has ever known would realize the cost of following Jesus as he took up his “cross” daily. Paul even noticed suffering as a mark of his ministry (2 Tim 1:11-12). It is important to notice that Paul suffered because he obeyed God. John Calvin stated that “Paul has been imprisoned not for any kind of bad behavior but because he obeyed God's call”3, obeying God’s call in the midst of persecution was a real danger that Paul needed to face. The mark of suffering would be a part of his ministry until the end of his life (2 Tim 4:5-7).
According to tradition in the early church Paul was beheaded. Paul speaks of affliction and suffering per se sixty times,4 and he uses the terms interchangeably. There is no difference between the two terms, at the end affliction is caused by suffering. The matter of suffering in the Pauline epistles is very important because the liberals and radicals would never accept Paul's teaching which taught that Jesus was a redeemer, but the liberals don’t believe in the real sufferings of Christ as being put to death and rising again. If they don’t understand that message, they would never understand the real meaning and emphasis on suffering in the message of Paul. J. Gresham Machen, arguing with the liberals in his time said that “ Jesus, according to Paul, came to earth not to say something, but to do something; He was primarily not a teacher, but a Redeemer”.5 Paul was introducing the message of a heavenly Redeemer to people who had struggles; especially to people who were suffering because of their sins. Paul offered the cure, faith in Christ.
It is not new to present Jesus as a mere teacher, for even Paul in his letter to the church of Galatia, addressed this important issue, in the first letter he wrote. The church started to have different ideas about the sufferings of Christ (Gal 3:1). It is important to notice “the apostle never valued sufferings as a desired avenue to experience moral education. He too seemed willing to dispense both suffering and education for normal apostolic ministry”. 6 Paul cared much about the real sufferings of Christ, because Jesus had a real death on the cross. That death brings us eternal life; the Incarnation was a historical fact.
But why does Paul write about that? Why does he care so much about the real sufferings of Jesus, his own sufferings, and the sufferings of the church?
Paul wrote about suffering because he knew that his sufferings had a real meaning. Jesus himself suffered unto death to give us life. Paul suffered unto death to present the real gospel of Jesus Christ and to let us know that in Christ we have salvation. We have a way of identification with Christ because he experienced everything that we experience and all that we will experience in the future. Also, he knows all the things that we will see in heaven. Paul wrote, “Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of His body that is the Church” (Col 1:24).
Paul had many problems and many privations in his life (2 Cor 11:24-27). When Paul said that his afflictions are for the sake of the believers he let his readers know that the Christian life is a real commitment and is sometimes not easy. Also that all the things that are in the past would not compare with the glory that he would receive.
He had a thorn in his flesh (2 Cor 12:7). We still don't know what kind of problem he had; it was probably physical. But that problem made him realize his dependence on his Savior. Paul also recognized that “his power” was made in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Simon Kistemaker states: “The evidence of Christ's power in Paul's weakness demonstrates that not the false apostles, who boasted of their own prowess, but Paul, who boasted in the Lord, was a true apostle”7.
This is a mark of Paul as an apostle; he demonstrated that his sufferings were the assurance of the grace of Christ in his life. He, like King David in Psalm 51 was very honest about his condition. Because of his honesty, he was able to share his experience with one of the most liberal churches that he ever encountered, the church of Corinth. The afflictions of Paul as an apostle became a sign of his legitimacy as an apostle.8 Paul addressed in Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us”. Paul looks for the future expectation, the everlasting life in heaven. Hendricksen says, “Paul was not speaking as an armchair theologian or philosopher”.9 Paul had already suffered for the name of Christ, but he knew that his hope was in the work of Christ on the cross.
William Hendricksen states “Closeness to Christ causes Paul to write as he does”.10 Paul met personally and heard first hand the real fact that Jesus died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3). The emphasis of Paul in suffering was to show people that the suffering of Christ brings us redemption, and not only that, but that Jesus rose again on the third day (1 Cor 15:4).
Paul is talking about dependence. Our faith stands on historical facts. He believed not only because that satisfied his needs, but also because he knew that the death and resurrection of Christ was a real fact. He personally saw the resurrected Lord (Acts 26:15).
Richard Gaffin is right when he claims “The resurrection of Christ is the pivotal factor in the whole of the apostle’s soteriological teaching”.11 Paul is the master of soteriology and all his teachings are centered in the passion of Christ. Paul carefully tried to address the real fact that Jesus is in us all, and that He can make us a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). All comes from His grace alone. That is the message: a new life in Jesus Christ. The importance of Christ bringing us new life is great because we realize that all the things that happen in our lives are not meaningless, and at the end Jesus covered everything by his death on the cross. Calvin said that, “God is the new Creator of the Church by refashioning His people into His own image”.12 Paul afflicted the early church; he persecuted the church (1 Cor 15:9). One of the most beloved apostles used to be one of the most hated people within the Christian community. Paul recognizes the grace of God (1 Cor 15:10) as the means by which his condition was transformed and he was thankful for being saved. Paul knew his condition of sin and he found the solution to that problem by becoming dependent upon Christ.
The sufferings of a creature called man
So far we have seen a brief explanation of the sufferings of a man named Paul. Now we consider the suffering of what I would like to call the sufferings of the creature called man.13 All of us have experienced affliction many times in our lives: a death of a relative, a breakup with a girlfriend, etc.
Also we can see that some members in our church are suffering, that all of these are translated into sin, and “sin is the transgression of the law”(1 John 3:4).
Even the book of Genesis establishes sin as the cause of pain in human life. Our “first parents” Adam and Eve experienced suffering after the fall (Gen 3:16-17). Because of sin, women “in pain shall bring forth children” (Gen 3:16) and because of the sin of men, “the ground shall be cursed” (Gen 3:17-19). All of us came from Adam and Eve, so all of us suffer pain.
Ridderbos states “One man has given sin access into the world; he has as it were, opened the gate of the world to sin”.14 Paul wrote, “in Adam all die” (1 Cor 15:22a), and “for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation” (Rom 5:16). Paul emphasizes the figure of the two Adams (Romans 5:12-21). Paul also preaches about our union with Christ and the victory of Jesus over sin (Rom 6:5-8). Jesus Christ is the second Adam, and in Him “shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22b).
But among all Paul is very honest about the status of mankind and the afflictions that would come. In the book of Romans Paul wrote, “Provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom 8:17b). We must suffer in order to have glory. I agree with Hendriksen in his commentary on Romans when he said, “We can add nothing to Christ’s redemptive suffering for us, but by means of our willingness to suffer for his sake we are drawn closer to the Savior’s heart”.15
The essence of Paul's teaching is incredible because he is not saying that we are not to suffer or that we as Christians will never have problems. Paul is here saying that our own process of sanctification and glorification is not an easy job. That process is by grace too, but we need to be aware that our sufferings will never compare to the sufferings of Christ. Also we must have hope that Jesus will use that pain in our lives for his own glory. Our sufferings bring us closer to Christ who suffered for us; Christ experienced suffering in order to communicate his message of salvation to afflicted people.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians says, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (Phil 1:29-30). A great scholar stated that these two verses “brings Christ nearer to the soul of the Christian. In his suffering for Christ’s sake the believer begins to understand the One who suffered preemptively for him and receives the sweetness of his enduring fellowship…it brings assurance of salvation, the conviction that the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon the sufferer”.16 Suffering can bring to us the idea of our need and honesty of knowing our condition as sinners, and then to provide us with a sense of dependency on Christ. This raises a question: how can we know that God takes care of us if nothing bad happens in our lives? The answer is that pain is still there and it will be there as Paul implies in Romans 7. That passage in Romans shows us that when we start to struggle with sin, we realize that the Holy Spirit is working in us.
If we don’t have that struggle we must examine ourselves and see if we really are saved. The good news is that Jesus is going to be there, taking care of us. And not only that, but the church is there too and we know that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her (Matt 16:18b). He always keeps his promises. We need to understand that “our pain also reminds us all that as God’s people we must be about the task of participating with him in righting all that causes pain in the world”.17
We need to remember that all Christians will suffer as a result of identifying themselves with Christ.18 But this identification will bring us joy because the righteousness of Christ is transmitted to us, and we are justified in God's sight.
R.C. Sproul mentions something similar; “The divine vocation to us is not ultimately or finally to suffering, but to hope that goes far beyond suffering. It is the hope of our future inheritance with Christ”.19 We are members of the body of Christ (Eph 5:30), and if we are the body of Christ, then we must take care of other Christians. Because they are part of the same body, then if someone is within that body is suffering, we must suffer with that member. But if that member is experiencing joy, we must rejoice with him (1 Cor 12:26). There is no difference between all the members of the church, because we are one in Christ (Gal 3:28). The purpose of our suffering is that, one-day, “we may also be glorified with Him”(Rom 8:17).
If we are becoming sons of God we must be like Jesus. We will never be completely like Him because he is God, but to find glory we need to look at Him, His work on the cross, and His provision for us. This is because all those who love His appearing will receive the crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:8). There is no better image of receiving glory from our Savior. Paul says that we need to “rejoice in our sufferings” (Rom 5:8), and he also said that we must “not be ashamed of our testimony about the Lord”. As we “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God” (2 Tim 1:8). As we suffer together, we realize our dependence and our need to be honest about our weakness and the necessity of God in our lives. Paul showed this dependence and honesty in Philippians 1:21, when he stated that, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. We will suffer in our lives because we are still living in the evil age. We have sin and we will fight against it. The good news is that to those who have found a new life in Jesus believing in His promises have hope, and that hope is sustained in the inerrant Word of God that we posses.
The sufferings of a man called the Christ
The third aspect we are looking for is the meaning of the sufferings of a man called the Christ.20 Christ was the “Man of Sorrow” (Isa 53), even the Old Testament portrayed Jesus sufferings (Psalm 22) since the Old Testament, the writers are giving an accurate picture of the sufferings of Jesus. Christ was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16); also Christ is God (Rom 9:5). Christ died for Paul. Christ died for me and for all who receive Him.
It is incredible to see how Paul is showing the orthodoxy of the early church; the primitive church believed that Jesus was God and he was the Savior. But the question remains: why did He came into this world? Why did He suffer? Robert P. Lightner says, “the question under consideration is not, did Christ suffer in life and in death? But rather, why did He suffer in life? What was the theological importance of all He endured prior to His death on the cross?”21 With this argument we can't fight against the liberals and radicals of our day because as we can see, Paul didn't care to much about looking to discover if Jesus was a great teacher, probably he already knew the work of magnificent rabbis like Hillel and Simmei, but rather Paul was looking to Jesus as the heavenly redeemer, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, Christ was the Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7). J. Gresham Machen wrote a book fighting a new liberal tendency that described Jesus just as a mere teacher. The liberals were arguing that Paul almost never wrote stories of Jesus, but Machen said, “If there is something fundamental in the religion of Paul, it is his conception of Christ as a divine Redeemer”.22 The central teaching of Paul is centered in the passion of Christ and in his resurrection, and our hope as Christians must be centered in those two elements. If we don't believe in that “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:19). Later on in the same chapter Paul states, “Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Cor 15:20).
The First Adam introduced death and affliction, while the second Adam overcomes death and affliction and brings salvation. As one of the old English poets said, “As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face, may the last Adam's blood my soul embrace”.23
William Mounce states, “Our salvation is sure because Christ's death totally defeated the effects of sin, completely”.24 The center of the New Testament preaching is salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ. Romans 5:8 reads, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. It is impossible to define God's love, but it is not impossible to understand that He really loves us and that is the main thing. Ridderbos said the same thing about the preaching of the New Testament, “The basic motif of the entire New Testament kerygma is that of the fulfillment of the historical redemption which began with Christ's coming”.25 Christ became a curse for us (Gal 3:13) and by doing that he delivered us from evil. Richard Gaffin says,
“Redemption is defined expressly in terms of resurrection (with Christ) and in the final analysis consists in the state of being raised (with him)”.26 That is the important thing about Paul; his recognition of sin in his life, the honesty that he had as a sinner, and the dependence on Christ as his redeemer (1 Cor 15:3). Christ expressed a dependence on God and was sincere in showing the real message of salvation.
Christ was crucified to fulfill God’s justice, even at the cross, by bleeding and dying he was bringing more people to him (Mark 15:39) also (Luke 23:43).
Conclusion
It can be said of Paul's whole doctrine of the world and man in sin “it is only to be perceived in the light of his insight into the all-important redemptive event in Christ”.27 The coming of the Lord started a new era where everything is not lost anymore, but God in his grace is still attracting people to him, because of the work that Christ did more than 2000 years ago. But to be Christians we must recognize the sin in our lives and accept the forgiveness of God.
Augustine in his Confessions opens with these words, “because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you”.28 No matter what happens in our lives, we need to seek Jesus because without Him our lives don't make sense. Jesus is a real Redeemer and he is the only one who can overcome the sin in our lives.
George Macdonald said, “The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that His sufferings might be like His”.29 The sufferings of Christ have a great meaning because those were means to an end, the end was to fulfill God’s wrath, also by His suffering we have a new life. The prophet Isaiah portrayed that by “His stripes we are healed” (Isa 53:5) it is not just in the past but a continuous action that has relevance in our present time.
A recent journal stated, “ From many differing vantage points the biblical writers and their communities sought to interpret their suffering in light of who they were and what they were to do as God’s people”.30 We can identify who we are and what we can do as God’s people. Sooner or later we will suffer, but we don't need to be worried because Christ has come and He promised to return one day, we have the promise of being saved by faith (Eph 2:8), but we must remember always to have a radical acceptance of who we are and a radical dependence on the work of Jesus Christ, these two things are tied together just as two pieces of wood that form a cross.
1 Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid, eds. Dictionary of Paul and His letters (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press 1993) 919.
2 Dr. Robert Cara class notes, Pauline Epistles, Reformed Theological Seminary, Fall 2005.
3 John Calvin, Calvin's New Testaments Commentaries: The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1964) 299.
4 Gerald, et al. “Dictionary of Paul and his letters”, 919.
5 J. Gresham Machen, The Origins of Paul Religion (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers 2002) 167.
6 Ronald Russell, “Redemptive Suffering and Paul’s Thorn on the flesh” JETS 39/4 (December 1996) 569
7 Simon J. Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary: 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2004) 420.
8 Gerald, et al, “Dictionary of Paul and his letters” , 919.
9 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2004) 291.
10 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Galatians (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2004) 86.
11 Richard Gaffin, Ressurection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1987) 135.
12 Calvin, Calvin's New Testaments Commentaries: The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, 76
13 I am trying to use the words that G.K. Chesterton already used in his famous book entitled The Everlasting Man. He used a great comparison between a creature called men and a man called the Christ.
14 Herman Ridderbos, Paul An Outline of His Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 96.
15 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004) 263
16 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Philippians (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004) 90-91.
17 Robert Walter Wall, “The Problem of observed pain: A study of C.S. Lewis on suffering” JETS (December1983) 451.
18 Gerald, et al, “Dictionary of Paul and his letters”, 919.
19 R.C. Sporul, Surprised by Suffering (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1989) 178.
20 G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993) 13
21 Robert P. Lightner, “The Savior's Sufferings in Life” Bibliotheca Sacra 127 (2005): 31.
22 Machen, The Origins of Paul's Religion, 131.
23 John Donne, Selected Poems (London: Barnes and Noble 2003) 97.
24 William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2003) 224.
25 Herman Ridderbos, Paul and Jesus (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed 1958) 67.
26 Gaffin Resurrection and Redemption A Study in Paul's Soteriology, 135
27 Ridderbos, Paul an Outline of His Theology, 137.
28 Saint Augustine, Confessions (London: Penguin 1961) 21.
29 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of the Pain (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco 2001) 1.
30 Wall, “The Problem of observed pain: A study of C.S. Lewis on suffering”, 444.

G.K. Chesterton, "el poeta y los lunáticos"

"Mientras más veo el mundo, mientras más hombres encuentro, mientras más libros leo y mientras más preguntas respondo, vuelvo con una convicción más profunda a los lugares donde nací y donde jugué en mi infancia; cierro mi círculo como un pájaro que retorna a su nido. Tal es para mí el fin de todo viaje y sobre todo el del más grande: la vuelta al hogar"