Suffering and Death

  With all the TV and internet buzz about Syria, many people are asking questions about whether we can stand by and watch innocent people suffer when we are in a position to do something about it. In today's post I'd like to discuss suffering and death generally, rather than talk about the rights and wrongs of military intervention, which I leave to wiser heads than mine.

  First of all, let me say that suffering in all its forms is felt by God. He is not absent and aloof from His creation, as some would have us believe. The Lord grieves when He sees what sin has brought about in this world; He grieves when He sees people suffer. When He became a man, He felt suffering just as we do. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus (John 11:32-36). He wept not only at the loss of His friend, but also at seeing Lazarus' sister weighed down by grief. 

 Similarly, He wept over Jerusalem when He arrived there on Palm Sunday, because He knew that in rejecting Him, her leaders were rejecting Peace (Shalom). He knew the day would come when the Romans would destroy the city, slaying and enslaving her inhabitants (Luke 19:41-44).

  He suffered physical pain when He was scourged by the Romans and nailed to the Cross (Matthew 27:26-35). I'd like you, dear reader, to pause on this for a moment. Those of us who have had happy families and no problems with the law or criminals have little knowledge of what it is like to be physically and verbally abused in this fashion. While we may have experienced physical pain from accident, illness, or exertion, we do not know what it is like to be scourged in this way. It was a truly horrific event in Christ's life. Many did not survive this process - small wonder that He stumbled and could not carry His Cross all the way to Golgotha afterwards.

  But terrible as this was, the worst was yet to come. On the Cross, Jesus, quoting David's words from Psalm 22, cried out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34.) Jesus, being sinless, could not and would not lie. He meant what He said; it was true. At that moment, God the Father turned His face away from God the Son. 

  He did this because God cannot look at sin and our sin Jesus took upon Himself. As Isaiah said, 'the LORD has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all' (Isaiah 53:6, NIV). This pain that Jesus felt none of us will truly understand, because we aren't God. We cannot know what it is like to eternally and perfectly love someone and then forsake them because they have accepted the punishment for sins incurred by others. But it is the beauty, the humility, and the glory of God that He did this for us, that He identified with us sinners who also cry out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

  Isaiah described Jesus as, 'a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3, NKJV). This has to be one of the most touching, beautiful, and understated lines in the Bible. God knows personally and experientially what it is to watch someone suffer and what it is to be the one suffering. 

  So, where does this leave you, dear reader? Firstly, don't turn away from God. If you are experiencing sorrow, share it with Him. As the Apostle Peter said, 'casting all your care [sorrow/anxiety] upon Him, for He cares for you' (1 Peter 5:7, NKJV). Scream at Him, cry before Him, lean on Him; but don't turn away from Him: He wants to help you. Secondly, don't harden your heart. Jesus took into His soul the suffering of the world. If you would follow Him, you must do likewise. Pray for those who are in sorrow and let God lead you in this. As Paul said, 'weep with those who weep' (Romans 12:15, NKJV). Practically, there are steps you can take, and I would advise you to seek God's will in this. Just because the UK will not be involved militarily in Syria doesn't mean you can't bless the people of the Syria, wherever they may be. 

God bless.