“Guest post: The Cross & Our Suffering”

Monday, November 14, 2016

The following thoughts were presented by one of our senior brothers to draw our minds to the cross before the Lord's Supper this past Sunday morning. They are shared here for their excellent quality of thought.

"Then he said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.' He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And he said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will."  (Mark 14:34-36)

I am sure that most of us can, in some small way, indentify with what Jesus was feeling. We have fallen to our knees in agony, praying to God, "Hear my prayer," or "You can do anything," or "take away this pain," or "lift this terrible burden."

Maybe we weren't even asking on our own behalf. Perhaps we were praying for a loved one, or a dear friend, or a child, or a companion or a parent. The fact that we were praying for another person hardly made the anguish any easier to bear. We may even have begged, "Father, if someone has to bear this burden, let it be me. Take it from that person and let it be me who bears it."

Usually, it is a great comfort knowing that God is almighty. But there are moments when that knowledges adds to the agony. "All things are possible for you." The question isn't "if God?" But "will God?" And that leads us to ask, "why God?" If God can, then why doesn't he?

This question has been a major stumbling block for those who do not believe. If God can end suffering, why doesn't he? If he is all-powerful, why doesn't he stop tragedy, or feed the hungry, or do something about cancer or aids? Why must men drink so deeply and so often from the cup of pain and suffering? I DON'T KNOW.

But we do know that at one great moment in history, the Son of God came to earth to take the world's burden upon himself. We know that he fell to the ground beside us in Gethsemane, bearing the pangs of impending doom and death in his heart. We know this Lamb of God wrestled in agony, despising the shame that loomed ahead, crying, "Abba, Father! All things are possible for you; remove this cup from me."

Above all this, we know that Jesus uttered his prayer in unwavering trust in the Father's will: he said, "YET NOT WHAT I WILL BUT WHAT YOU WILL."

His faith could hear a promised of glory despite the awful silence of God that weighed so heavily in the garden. His faith enabled Jesus to see beyond the grave to the joy set before him. And because of this, we know that when we fall to the ground in our Gethsemane, WE ARE NOT ALONE BUT HE IS THERE WITH US. Having overcome death, he sits at the Father's right hand making intercession for us.

- Jim Largen

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