Suffering that Heals

Then He said unto them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26, KJ21)

Would it be that human beings could make a way for salvation to come to them for their sins, would they not make it easy to obtain and without hardship? They would most likely require little in the way of cost requirements to bring this triumph over failure about. They would probably delight in the spectacular without requiring having any kind of hardship.

The Jewish people longed for the Messiah to come and for the glory that He would bring to the chosen nation. They envisioned a kingdom with strength and superiority in their individual lives and as a people. This kind of thinking brought about a hope of dominance and future pride even as they lived out their days oppression throughout much of their daily existence. Thus their thoughts would have been focused on a Messiah would conquer and release them from their oppression not on a Messiah who would suffer, be killed and set aside from His rightful kingdom.

After the resurrection various disciples were still wondering about how this great kingdom would now come about especially since Christ had risen from the dead. They were excited, yet confused and ignorant of what had really happened. Christ gently listens and then explains to them about the gate of suffering that He came through to usher in the glory of the Kingdom of God and how it has been promised since the beginning (Luke 24). Moses had declared that Christ was to come (Deut. 18:17-19) but Isaiah had offered that the Messiah would suffer for sins of those whom he would redeem (Is. 53).

Christ the Messiah had come, suffered and died but now He was alive amongst His perplexed Apostles. It would take time for them to understand all that happened and it would take time for the Holy Spirit to penetrate and clear out their expectations in order for them to understand and convey the message of salvation in their Christ, the true Messiah. The great message of the cross is that it is the all sufficient power to save (1 Cor.1:18) to those who believe. Nothing was withheld by Christ that was required to secure salvation. The power of the resurrection is complete victory over sin. Christ lives now and forever, reigning with God not just in an earthly kingdom but a Kingdom without end (1 Cor. 15:17).

As we acknowledge the sufferings of Christ, we are saved and we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). As we look to the cross for salvation and celebrate Jesus Christ is raised from the dead, we find our faith and hope. In the fullness of His presence through the Spirit we can truly live now and forever. All of this came about because of God’s great love for us, even as we are sinners (Ro. 5:8). All persons have access to this great love and this saving relationship. No one is excluded except by their turning away. We must never forget what was given for us and what we now have in Christ. God is indescribable but it is also beyond words, what Christ suffered and did for us. Any sufferings that followers of Christ may encounter, experience or even die under; pale in regard to what was given for us and what is guaranteed by Christ’s sufferings. Amazing, unbelievable and impossible for any of us to even envision or comprehend but promised, given and guaranteed by the God who loves us all.

Suggested Reading … 1 Peter 2