Lie #4: God Doesn't Understand Our Suffering

 

October 18, 2020                                   NOTES NOT EDITED
Ten Lies People Tell About God
“He Does Not Understand Human Suffering”
Is. 53:1-10

 SIS: When people suggest by their actions or words that God does not understand or is indifferent to human suffering, they miss the very heart of the gospel.

One of the most significant movies of all time was a movie nobody thought would be a blockbuster—including Mel Gibson, the writer and director. But, Gibson said of this film, it was something “I HAD to do!”  Gibson went on to say that while directing the film he felt that a power beyond himself was in control: that power was the Holy Spirit of God!  This is quite a statement from a Hollywood type.

Some have criticized the movie as “too graphic” because it displays exactly what the Scriptures say happened, and it was bloody and violent.  One interviewer who saw the film remarked, “I wouldn’t think a human being could survive that [the brutal beating with a Roman cat-o-nine-tails] and survive to carry a heavy cross up a hill.”  Mel Gibson’s answer reveals the key to understanding the gospel and the hammer that shatters the lie that God does not understand human suffering.  Gibson replied, “Yes, but we’re not talking any human being!”

That’s the key to the gospel.  It was no mere human being who was tortured and then murdered on the cross on behalf of humanity.  It was God Himself, Jesus Christ, who suffered the cruelty of the cross.

So, when we see all the suffering in the world.  When we experience deep pain and travail in our own life; the one thing we should never say or imply with our actions is: God does not understand human suffering.  For, God Himself endured horrible suffering for us on the cross.  This is the message of the gospel.  God died to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.  We read Isaiah’s account of Christ’s suffering as Isaiah looked prophetically into the future (Isa 53:1-10).

These are some of the most profound and powerful words ever recorded in human language.  They are the prophetic account of what would take place some 8 centuries later on a lonely hill called Calvary. They describe, The Passion—or suffering--of the Christ.

The word, “passion” comes to us from Greek by way of Latin.  The original word means simply, “to suffer.”  When applied to the Biblical account, the passion, refers to “the suffering of God.” The sufferer is God incarnate in Jesus Christ.  As Gibson stated, “It was no mere human that endured the suffering of the cross.”  Three words will help us better understand the suffering of God and more effectively apply that lesson to our lives.  These three words are: Substitution, Submission, and Suffering.

1.  SUBSTITUTION:  Jesus took our PLACE (4-6, 10)

 Notice throughout Isaiah’s passage the number of times he uses the couplet: “he . . . our.”

4 Surely HE took up OUR infirmities and carried OUR sorrows. . .5. HE was pierced for OUR transgressions . . .5  HE was crushed for OUR iniquities . . .5 and by HIS wounds WE are healed. . .6 the LORD has laid on HIM the iniquity of US all.

Then verse 10 explains the suffering of Christ as a substitutionary guilt offering from the book of Leviticus: 10 the LORD makes his life a guilt offering. . . (Lev. 5:14-15)

The “guilt offering” refers to a significant part of the Jewish sacrificial system. The idea of substitution was fundamental to the sacrificial system of the Jewish people.  Death was the penalty for sin.  Something had to die.  Sometimes it was a bull, sometimes it was a sheep or goat.  The priest would lay his hand upon the sacrifice and the sin of the one bringing the sacrifice would be transferred to the animal.  The animal would then be killed in the place of the sinner: a substitution.

The concept of “substitutionary death” is as old as the story of Adam and Eve.  After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, animals were killed to cover their sin-discovered nakedness.  When Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God provided a sheep that was caught in the brush that was accepted as a substitution for Isaac.  The night the children of Israel were delivered out of bondage in Egypt, the blood of a lamb was smeared on the doorpost of their houses.  This caused the Death Angel to pass over the house and the death of the lamb was a substitute for the death of the first-born of the house.  All these examples and more are the foreshadowing of a greater substitutionary sacrifice that would be offered “Once for all.”  God Himself would pay the penalty of sin.  The Holy Spirit declared through the Apostle Paul,   Heb 10:1-4

10:1 The law [and its system of substitutionary sacrifice]  is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

[but] ....................................................................... Heb 10:10 we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

In order for our sins to be paid for “once for all” there needed to be a substitution with “sufficient value to bear the penalty.”  The only possible substitution for our sins had to be acceptable to God–a God that is perfect and absolutely pure.  Therefore, only God, Himself could be a “sufficient substitute.”  God in Christ willing substituted His suffering and death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.

As one writer analyzed, “God Himself choose to bear the penalty for sin that He, Himself, demanded.”

Recently, I read of a mother and child that was in a serious accident. In this incidence the car suddenly began to spin out of control.  As near as the investigators could determine, as the car began to spin the mother threw herself over her child in the seat next to her.  The impact killed the mother but the child lived and was discovered a couple days later.  The mother became a substitute giving life to her child.  She literally (and willingly) died “in the PLACE of her child.”

In a greater, more infinite sense this is exactly what God did on the cross.  God in Christ became our substitute.  He died in our place to pay the awful penalty for our sin.  As a gospel song writer once wrote:

He paid a debt He did not owe // I owed a debt I could not pay // I needed someone // to wash my sins away. // And now I’m singing as I go, “Amazing Grace,” // Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

There is another important word to help us understand the passion of the Christ.  It is

2.  SUBMISSION: Jesus followed God’s PLAN (6b-7; 10-11)

6b the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,  so he did not open his mouth ......................................................................... 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

One of the great controversies surrounding the movie, “The Passion of Christ” is the accusation by some in the Jewish community that the film is anti-Semitic.  History cannot be denied.  The leaders of the mob that sought the death of Jesus Christ (at least on the human level) were the Jewish leaders.  There can be no white-washing of the statement made at the time by the Jewish mob:  Matt 27:25

 25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

But, this historical statement must be put into the proper theological context.  Jesus is referred to by Isaiah as a lamb, not because he is weak and helpless, but because he is submissive.  Sheep are very submissive animals and follow their shepherd faithfully.  When Jesus died as the “Lamb that took away the sins of the world,” he was being submissive to the will of the Heavenly Father.  Now, this creates a mystery, but it is not illogical.  We know God is One God in Three Persons.  We also know that while Jesus was on the earth the Bible says that “he always willfully subjected Himself the God the Father in Heaven” (Jn. 6:38; 14:31). While praying in the Garden the night he was arrested contemplating the horrible punishment He would face, Jesus said, “May this cup pass from me” (Mat 26:39).  As sweat like drops of blood fell from His face, the Lord added these important words to His prayer: “But, not my will but Thy will be done.”

So, it was not the Jews that are responsible for the death of Christ – a thousand times NO!  Neither was it the Roman guards that tortured Christ and nailed Him on the cross who are responsible for the death of Christ.  Neither is it the angry blood-thirsty mob that is responsible for the death of Christ.  The person responsible for the death of Jesus Christ was Jesus Christ, Himself.  Jesus said very clearly and plainly,

“No man takes my life but I lay it down willingly.” (Jn 10:18)

 Here in our text in verse Isaiah says, “The Lord laid the iniquity of us all on Him” (vs 6) and “It was the Lord’s will to crush Him. . . ”  (vs 10). The death of Jesus was no surprise to God.  It was a part of God’s plan.  Now, let’s apply this to our lives:  our pain is no surprise to God—even our pain is part of His plan.  It takes both sunshine and rain to grow a crop.  Someone has said, “all sunshine makes a desert.” We know instinctively pain is a part of life.  We need to be constantly reminded that our pain is a part of God’s grander plan.

To misunderstand the submissive nature of Christ as He marched to the cross on our behalf is to completely miss the message of the gospel. Some people seem to believe that salvation is a matter of trying to persuade a reluctant God to do something about the awful plight of humanity.  This idea flounders in the face of what we know about God.  It is not our prayers or our righteousness or our religiosity that persuades God to act on our behalf.  It is His unmeasurable, incomprehensible love.  The Bible says,

 “For God so loved the world He GAVE his son.” (Jn. 3:16)

 The cross is the perfect example of perfect submission to the plan of God.  Someone has said, “the nails were not necessary to hold Christ on the cross but it was His love and devotion to God, and to man.

To understand the passion of Christ we must understand, submission: on the cross Christ willingly submitted to God’s PLAN.

3.  SUFFERING: on the cross Jesus took our PAIN (verses 3-5)

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,  he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,  and by his wounds we are healed.

The language is graphic:  “despised, rejected, sorrows, familiar with suffering, stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, crushed, punishment, and wounds,” just to name a few of the descriptions of Christ’s physical and emotional pain.  Can God feel pain?  Did God feel pain? This is a puzzling question that is foundational to finding meaning and purpose in our lives.

During his campaign, Bill Clinton offered this memorial phrase to urging people to vote for him.  He said, “I feel your pain.” Even if Clinton were sincere, it is not possible for any human being to truly understand another’s pain.  We may want to do so.  We may try to do so.  But, there is something intensely personal and private about human suffering.  On a human level, true sympathy or empathy is impossible.  But, what about with God?

In the early centuries of the church this was a hotly debated topic.  Can God experience pain and suffering?  Many said, He could not.  They developed the doctrine of the IMPASSABILITY OF GOD.  This is the doctrine that says God is incapable of experiencing pain.  He has, some have argued, no emotions that are affected by what happens on earth.  He is removed and distant from man.  He is indifferent to our trauma.  In fact, the creed of the Reformed Church asserts that God is “without body, parts, or passions, immutable.”  I cannot imagine how good men could read the Bible and come up with an idea so foreign to its very core issue:

“God was in Christ [on the cross] reconciling the world unto Himself” 2Corinthians 5:19.  That reconciliation involved unimaginable pain for Christ—Who is God, The Son.  We may not understand “how” this can be, but only a blind man could fail to see that the suffering of God in Christ is central to the gospel. 

It is true that God does not indulge His passions as man does. It would be dishonoring and sacrilegious to suggest that God might be capable of acting like a child who loses his temper, or that God might be frustrated like a lover who has been jilted by a companion.  It would be highly disrespectful to even suggest that God is a victim of His emotions, and like us, is subject to whims and changeable moods.

But, this is a far cry from saying He cannot suffer and feel the pain.  The difference is: God CHOSE to feel pain and misery.  We have no choice.  Our pain is the consequence of human sin—ours and others.

Look at verse 10: It says, “God was PLEASED to crush Him putting Him to grief.”  As we said a few moments ago: God does not suffer as a victim, but as  a victor.

Yes, God knows the sting of humanity.  “He was tested and tried in every manner as a man – yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). When they ripped out His beard, God felt the sting of man’s inhumanity to man.  When the Roman whip ripped through his flesh, God felt the sting of humanity’s cruel and vicious rebellion.  When the Roman guards drove spikes through His wrists, God felt the burning sting of man’s sinfulness.  Oh, if ever a man did suffer it was Christ – and Christ was God.

Can we think of the gospel story culminating in the cross and think of anything else but suffering?  If you can read the gospel story and not see the emotional, physical, and spiritual suffering of God in Christ, then you miss the meaning of the story completely.

Dennis Nigien, a seminary professor, points out: “A God who cannot suffer cannot love. If God cannot feel the pain of His people, it would be difficult to refute the conclusion that He is indifferent to our plight.”

I’ve been in the Valley of the Shadow of Death many, many times over my four decades of ministry.  It has always been a painful, dreadful, dark and foreboding place.  What always gives me hope and comfort in times of suffering is to realize the My God has suffered.  My God does feel my pain.  And, beyond that: My God suffered not as a victim but as a victor.  My God can lead me through the Valley of the Shadow of Death because He has been that way Himself.

Friend, there is perhaps no greater lie than the lie that God does not understand human suffering.  The fact is exactly the opposite: God understands our pain because He submissively substituted Himself in our place of suffering so that we may have life.

To understand the Passion of Christ we must understand SUBSTITUTION: He died in our PLACE.  We must comprehend SUBMISSION: Christ willingly died according to God’s PLAN.  Finally, we must understand SUFFERING: on the cross Jesus took our PAIN.

We can have happiness and hope because we have a God that truly feels our pain.  He is not a dispassionate deity that cares nothing of His creation.  He is a compassionate Father that loves His creation.

Let me go back to Mel Gibson’s blockbuster movie, “The Passion of the Christ” as we try to nail down our understanding of God’s suffering on our behalf.  This film focuses on the very heart of the gospel: God in Christ suffered and died upon the cross to pay sin’s penalty of death so that any man, woman or child who would accept what Jesus did on his or her behalf could have eternal life. 

Something goes almost unnoticed in Mel Gibson’s movie.  He actually appears in a “cameo shot” in the movie, but I don’t think anybody would recognize him. Think back to the clip of the movie we saw earlier.  It was  Mel Gibson’s hand seen putting the nail into the palm of Christ as Jesus is nailed to the cross.  According to fan sites for the movie, Gibson’s “cameo” gesture underscores his feeling of guilt knowing it was for him Jesus Suffered. (Today, 2004)

This is true for every one of us.  It was for our sins that Jesus died.  It was for our sins that Jesus felt the cumulative pain of every person’s sin who had ever lived, was living, or will every live.

Does God understand your pain?  He understands it much more deeply than you could ever imagine.  He took your pain so you could experience His love.  Pain is a reminder of the penalty of sin, and it should also remind us that God, in Christ, has already paid that penalty Himself.

Give God your burdens and let Him give you His blessings.