I am inserting this post here to shed light on a very important point Paul made in Romans 8:17 regarding suffering.
Some months ago, I was searching the Scriptures to find out the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering. I had thought that what Jesus suffered was the terrible things that happened to Him when He was crucified, but then…the Holy Spirit began to show me from the Bible, that His suffering was much more than that.
My question was connected to something Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans.
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Romans 8:17 NIV
Paul’s words puzzled me. What if I never suffer like some people suffer for their faith in Jesus? Does this mean that all the people, like me, who never suffer in this way, will not share in His inheritance or reign with Jesus?
So, if I must suffer like Jesus suffered, what did He suffer?
The first thing the Spirit showed me was that Paul didn’t say that we must suffer FOR Jesus. He said that we must suffer WITH Jesus. Our identity and union with Jesus means that we are part of what He suffered and the way He suffered.
This thought led me to the next discovery. What did Jesus suffer?
Isaiah prophesied…
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
Isaiah 53:3 NIV
Rejection! He was rejected. He was dismissed and treated as though He were worthless…like rubbish to be thrown into the trash. This is the worst that one person can do to another. They cancelled Him! This must have been the nature of His suffering…so I thought.
So, was it rejection that caused Jesus’ suffering? No, rejection was not the cause but the trigger…but His suffering went deeper than that.
Injustice! Did the people treat Him with injustice by rejecting Him? Why do they reject Him? Why did they crucify Him?
Did Jesus suffer injustice? Yes, He did! Injustice of the worst kind because the religious leaders punished Him by crucifixion for being who He said He was…the Son of God… but was His suffering in the injustice He received…or was it something else?
Jesus had the same capacity to respond in a sinful way to unjust treatment as we do because He was human.
Hebrews tells us that…
“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered…Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Hebrews 2:10, 18 NIV
Now we are slowly getting nearer to the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering. Not only what He suffered but also when he suffered. When did Jesus suffer? He suffered when He was tempted! His suffering was not about what people did to Him. His suffering was about the way He reacted to what they did to Him. Jesus’ reaction was about revealing what was in Him when He suffered…in His humanity, especially in the way He reacted to injustice.
Why injustice?
Why injustice? Injustice is the one thing that arouses our urge to retaliate. Everything inside us revolts against unjust treatment. I retaliate because the other person treats me as worthless, has no regard for who I am, that I am a person of worth created in God’s image.
This truth reaches deep into our souls, and affects us right from the moment someone says or does something unfair, even and especially in our early childhood. A careless, unthinking comment can damage a child for life even if no harm is intended.
Something like “You can do better…” when a child produces something imperfect, can cause a child to believe that the person was meaning, “You are not good enough,” or even, “You are not wanted.” From that moment on, a child might react to any words or actions that trigger the same belief even if they are not true. Nasty words, rebellious actions, unruly behaviour…tell the story of retaliation against words that make them feel rejected by unfair treatment. People retaliate against injustice by punishing everyone around them, and especially those nearest to them, by bad attitudes and bad behaviour…or punishing themselves by actions and behaviour that cause harm to themselves.
Think about it! A careless comment to a young child spoken even without intention to wound, can be a deep hurt that lodges in the soul and colours everything that is said to or about him/her. From that moment on, the child behaves in a way that retaliates to the perceived hurt… and usually overreacts. Everything is viewed through the original perceived wound.
“You can do better,” is interpreted as, “You are not good enough…” or “You are imperfect,” or ”I reject you because you don’t measure up to my standard.” Whatever the statement, it is filtered through, “You can do better.”
So, we come to the issue of Jesus’ attitude to retaliation. His life was peppered with rejection. How did He react? Did He defend Himself? Did He hit back? Did He take revenge? No! He refused to retaliate to injustice. He practised self-control…self restraint. He said “No!” to the temptation to vindicate Himself by punishing Himself or others…and therein lies the temptation and the suffering. He always spoke the truth, not out of emotion or out of what others thought or said about Him, but out of who He knew He was…the Son of God.
Consider these words that preceded the greatest act of humility as the Son of God.
“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”
John 13:3-5 NLT
Only someone who knew who he was could do that!
Imagine how difficult it must have been for Him to stay silent during His trial, when His judges accused Him of blasphemy and many other trumped-up charges. He had every reason to defend Himself, but He did not. Before the Sanhedrin…before Pilate…
“Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply….”
Mark 14:60-62 NLT
“Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.”
Mark 15:3-5 NLT
“Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Mark 14:62-62 NLT
Jesus answered only one question…not in defence but in testimony. I AM! That was the last straw for His accusers.
“Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.”
Mark 14:63-65 NLT
Peter summed up Jesus’ attitude throughout His trial. He was not looking for a way to wriggle out of His predicament but willingly submitting to the Father’s purpose because He was a son who always submitted to and obeyed the Father… and because He knew the outcome. How He reacted to injustice during His last hours was a testimony to His victory over sin in all its forms, throughout His life.
Peter holds up Jesus’ example as a pattern for believers to follow…the only and effective way to respond to injustice…
“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
This is the way we suffer with Jesus, by adopting His attitude and doing what He did.
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:20-24
The key to the victory over the onslaught to one’s identity depends on which way we are looking. Inwardly…we are insulted…we retaliate. Upward…we are untouched. We entrust to the Father the right and power to take revenge because He is just
and He will act for us.
Paul affirms Peter’s counsel with a
command…
“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:19, 21 NIV
Only by grace and through the power of His Spirit can we follow Jesus’ example. Retaliating to injustice has set the world on fire…everywhere! Refusing to retaliate stops the downward process in its tracks and puts the fire out.
So, why do some people speak and behave in cruel and unjust ways towards others? They are inadvertently giving evidence to deep hurt that festers inside and shows on the outside that their lives are poisoned by their own unresolved rejection.
What is the solution? Cut off the root by honest confession to God and the choice to trust Him for vindication… and the flow of poison will cease.
Do not retaliate! Retaliation in all its forms…anger, bitterness inside or revenge outside, will effectively disqualify you from inheriting the nature of Jesus when you see Him face to face. Confirm His nature being formed in you in this life by entrusting yourself to Him who judges justly. Then you will receive your inheritance in the life to come…the glory of Jesus!
To be continued