Necessary Suffering

“. . . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.” Luke 9:22 NASB

Must suffer – We investigated the upside-down logic of God’s actions in Job’s inquiry.  Sinners are forgiven; the righteous are persecuted.  If I keep the Law and don’t miss the mark, I may discover that I am a target, not just of other men but of God Himself.  Job makes that clear in chapter 7 verse 20.  Not surprisingly, the Messiah says much the same.  “The Son of Man must suffer . . .”  The Greek text makes it an imperative.  “Must suffer” leave no escape clause.  If the Messiah must suffer, then apparently Job’s expectation is out of alignment with the divine reality.  In fact, the prophets and the apostles make the same point.

The OT, of course, has much to say about suffering in Job, the Psalms, and Is. 53. The term occurs more commonly in the apocryphal works, e.g., for the sufferings of both Israel’s enemies and of Israel itself, the former as a punishment, the latter as discipline with a view to salvation^[1]

The patheín is not a necessary consequence but a validation of the apostle as a chosen vessel (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23ff.). The fact that the suffering is “for the sake of my name” gives it an active character.^[2]

If this is true not only for the Messiah but for those who follow him, we’d better have a clear idea of what this suffering is like.  The Greek term is páschō.  It has a critically important element often overlooked, namely, this suffering is notemotional anguish.

The basic meaning of páschō is “to experience something that comes from outside.” At first the “something” is usually bad, and while a neutral use develops, the idea of suffering evil remains so strong that an addition is needed to show that good is meant unless the context is very plain.^[3]

The stress is always on the experience of evil rather than painful feelings. ^[4]

Did you understand?  The suffering of the Messiah and of his followers is from the outside.  It is the attack and its consequences of some external force.  It is not the suffering of an internal collapse of faith.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  Suffering is a mark of faithfulness!  Those who are truly aligned with YHVH should expect external suffering, and rejoice that when it happens it is a validation of their faithfulness.

I have often commented that the typical Christian has a backwards view of life’s trials.  We usually believe that if we are righteous enough God will bless us, when the truth is that God knows precisely what we can handle and He moderates the requirement of suffering accordingly.  Therefore, those who seem blessed with prosperity and health experience God’s “kid gloves” treatment because he knows they aren’t able to handle the real challenge of fidelity.  That real challenge is reserved for those whose faith is so secure that they can endure outward suffering unscathed—and are therefore a far greater witness to the power of grace than those who have to be handled with fragile care.  Job and Yeshua are perfect examples.

Are you?

Topical Index: suffering, patheín, páschō, Luke 9:22

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (pp. 798–799). W.B. Eerdmans.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.