THE MESSIAH HAS TO SUFFEr
One of the great mysteries of love is the willingness of people to endure suffering for and because of it. The Jews had an image of what they hoped or thought the Messiah would be, and suffering was not part of it. So when Jesus started to talk to His disciples about having to suffer, they could not comprehend it. This is why Peter is repelled by the suggestion of Jesus having to suffer. Yet Jesus is aware that this is all a part of what He has come to do.
Suffering has always been one of the great mysteries in life. The reality is that it is only in relation to the suffering of Jesus that we can make sense of human suffering. Jesus’ suffering on the cross gives God the right to be able to affirm to us that everything will be all right in the end. God, in the person of Jesus, has endured human suffering to show us the way through it up to His resurrection. It is the resurrection of Jesus and His return to His Father in heaven that is the final word on human suffering. This reminds me of the words in the opening chapter of John’s Gospel where he tells us that the darkness or sin in the world is unable to overcome the light or goodness that finds its origin in God. The goodness of God has overcome the evil of sin in the definitive statement of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. What looked like a victory for sin, namely the death of Jesus on the cross, becomes the means of sin’s ultimate defeat!
Thus we can see why Jesus had to suffer. Through the resurrection, which is God the Father’s answer to the suffering and death of His Son, we are given the hope and grace to endure suffering ourselves. And it is a matter of simply enduring — our suffering can have meaning and purpose if we choose to unite it with the suffering of Jesus through faith. In this way our suffering becomes both powerful intercession and redemptive. All of the great men and women of faith had to endure suffering of one kind or another. Suffering is a part of human existence — we may as well make the best of it! Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What is your attitude to human suffering? Do you see any redemptive value in it?
Holy Spirit, help me to understand the Way of the Cross in my life more fully so I can live it more faithfully.
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