WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.580 Who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:13.179 For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:19.780 He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:27.580 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.639 and as one from whom men hide their faces. 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.119 He was despised and we esteemed him not. 00:00:36.519 --> 00:00:44.659 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 00:00:45.980 --> 00:00:48.079 But he was pierced for our transgressions. 00:00:48.899 --> 00:00:50.780 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:56.159 Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.579 And with his wounds we are healed. 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:02.519 All we, like lost sheep, have gone astray. 00:01:02.879 --> 00:01:04.979 We have turned everyone to his own way. 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:10.719 And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:01:13.979 --> 00:01:15.819 This ends the reading of God's word. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:17.959 Thanks be to God. 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:22.919 We're here tonight to consider the cross. 00:01:24.619 --> 00:01:32.099 Not only what happened, we heard John's account read a moment ago, but we're here to consider what it means. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.139 What it means for us. 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:40.920 And the passage that I just read comes from what is called the fourth song in Isaiah. 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:48.019 These poems, these songs in Isaiah about someone known only as the servant of the Lord. 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:56.899 This servant is a mysterious figure who's one day going to come and bring salvation and healing to the world. 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:05.399 And centuries after this was written, Jesus' followers considered him being crucified on the cross. 00:02:05.539 --> 00:02:09.620 And they realized that this song was ultimately about him. 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:11.539 It's about the cross. 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:21.299 In other words, this is the most detailed account in all of scripture of the cross and what it means. 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.340 There's a lot that we could say about it. 00:02:24.459 --> 00:02:32.959 I didn't read the whole thing because for the sake of time, we're only going to focus on the first three stanzas of this song. 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.899 But this shows us something quite profound. 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:38.639 This is what we're going to meditate on this evening. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:50.779 That the cross is a place where God not only defeats evil and suffering, but he transforms evil and suffering. 00:02:51.119 --> 00:02:55.259 He transforms what it means in the world. 00:02:55.259 --> 00:03:03.799 And he transforms the relationship that we have with the evil and the suffering and our own lives. 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:10.380 And each stanza shows us something about how that happens. 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:17.060 And so I invite you as we consider the cross to call to mind your own experience of suffering. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.560 There's a lot that we might bring into this moment. 00:03:22.720 --> 00:03:27.040 For me, I think about the periodic struggle that I have with depression. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:32.479 It's not the kind of depression that comes from things being hard or stressful. 00:03:32.699 --> 00:03:33.639 It's clinical depression. 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:35.099 Runs in my family. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:42.959 Something that from time to time comes upon me like a dark, thick cloud descending over your life. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:45.879 It makes everything extremely difficult. 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:49.039 And when it sets in, there are times when I have... 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.340 It takes all that I have to get out of bed in the morning. 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:57.539 And in times like that, I think about the cross. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.200 And I think about what it means. 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:07.280 And so I encourage you to take a moment to think about what is this for you right now in your life. 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:12.480 And then invite Jesus to speak to us from the cross. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.099 Let's pray and then we'll look at these stanzas together. 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:26.519 Lord, we ask that as we consider your cross and we consider your word, we pray that you would speak to us. 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:33.759 Lord, that you would speak from this place of your own suffering into our suffering. 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:42.659 Lord, that in hearing your voice and in seeing you there, we might be healed. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:47.600 And that our hearts, that our souls might be lifted. 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:49.780 Lord, encouraged. 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:52.420 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:52.980 Amen. 00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:59.160 So the first stanza I read is from chapter 52, verses 13 through 15. 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:02.000 And what we see here is pretty profound. 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.680 We see the servant is lifted up. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:05.820 He's exalted. 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:07.080 He's victorious. 00:05:07.340 --> 00:05:09.980 He's achieved this great victory. 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:13.620 We're not yet sure what it is, but something profound has happened. 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:17.740 And in verse 15, we see that it has worldwide implications. 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:22.060 Kings are considering what has happened. 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:26.879 The implications of this are sprinkled over the nations. 00:05:27.280 --> 00:05:32.060 And yet, this victory has come through unimaginable suffering. 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:36.819 This servant is horribly disfigured. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.720 People see him and they're dumbstruck. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:40.680 They're speechless. 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:47.639 It implies that when they look upon this scene, it makes them want to vomit. 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:55.340 His appearance has been so marred by violence and pain that he is no longer recognizably human. 00:05:55.339 --> 00:06:02.659 It says his form beyond that of the children of mankind. 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:08.339 There's a paradox at the very heart of the mystery of redemption. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:09.679 And here's the paradox. 00:06:09.859 --> 00:06:14.939 That the suffering of Jesus on the cross is the greatest evil ever committed. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.799 It is the greatest evil that ever will be committed. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:27.360 And yet, at the same time, God transformed it into the greatest good. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.699 The greatest possible victory. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:35.699 The achievement of eternal salvation for all of humanity. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:42.040 And so what we see here is that the cross goes, in the words of Pope John Paul II, 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:47.720 the cross goes to the very root of evil and transforms it. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.620 Victory comes out of defeat. 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:54.420 Right? 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.780 It is a root that should only produce defeat. 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:01.300 And yet, somehow, this nature of the root of evil has been transformed. 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:03.560 And a victory springs up out of it. 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:09.060 Fruit that should never come from this kind of root, nevertheless, springs forth. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.920 And so the first point is this. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:18.400 Through the cross, God is able to repurpose evil for good. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.620 And God can do the same with all evil. 00:07:24.400 --> 00:07:30.460 You know, the best example of this in the story, or in the Bible, is the story of Joseph in Genesis. 00:07:30.840 --> 00:07:32.740 He's betrayed by his brothers. 00:07:32.960 --> 00:07:36.879 He's sold into slavery in Egypt because of their jealousy. 00:07:37.080 --> 00:07:38.259 That is evil. 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:46.860 And yet, God allows Joseph to climb the ranks until he is in a position of great power in the administration. 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:53.420 And when famine strikes and Joseph's family comes to Egypt, starving and looking for aid, 00:07:53.599 --> 00:07:55.360 he recognizes them. 00:07:55.659 --> 00:08:01.399 And they draw back in fear because they think that this is the time for Joseph's vengeance. 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:04.519 And yet, Joseph has mercy. 00:08:04.899 --> 00:08:08.299 And he says, you planned evil against me. 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:13.239 But God used those same plans for my good. 00:08:14.679 --> 00:08:16.639 And he shows mercy on them. 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:24.259 You know, I once heard a Colorado pastor preach in the weeks following the Columbine massacre. 00:08:24.259 --> 00:08:28.060 And I can't imagine having to do that. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:30.560 And he put it this way. 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.360 There are always two sets of plans. 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:39.139 Satan's plan and God's plan. 00:08:40.259 --> 00:08:44.939 And he said, Satan had a plan for Columbine. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.319 But God has a better plan. 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:53.319 Satan has a plan for all of the evil in our lives. 00:08:53.320 --> 00:09:01.500 And Satan's desire, make no mistake, is to rob us of hope, to corrode our faith, 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:09.379 to cut us off from God, to divide us from one another, and ultimately to destroy us. 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:16.840 And all of the powers of hell are aimed at that purpose in your life. 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:21.100 But God has a better plan. 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:25.680 If you've ever played chess against a master, 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:31.259 you know that you can freely make whatever moves you choose to make. 00:09:31.379 --> 00:09:33.220 And yet, no matter what you do, 00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:37.440 your moves somehow against every intention 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:42.460 become part of a sequence of events that lead to checkmate. 00:09:42.460 --> 00:09:46.920 And you can think that you are winning and you can think that you are winning, 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:51.920 but at some point you realize that you all along have played into your opponent's hand. 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:55.540 And like it or not, checkmate. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.400 God is the great master chess player of history. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:06.519 No matter how much evil and suffering you can throw at God, 00:10:07.079 --> 00:10:12.779 it all gets folded into a sequence of events that will one day lead to the new creation. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.519 And there is no stopping it. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:20.840 A renewed world to a moment when God wipes away every tear 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.100 and says, finally, there will be no more suffering. 00:10:25.920 --> 00:10:29.240 We will not always know how God's plan works out. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.860 It took Joseph most of his life before he saw it. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.259 We may not see how the evil in our lives works out in our lifetime. 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:39.759 We may never see it. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:44.259 But God will repurpose the evil in your life for good. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.200 And you say, well, how can we possibly know the cross? 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:52.639 So that's the first point, the first stanza. 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:55.259 That leads to the second stanza. 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.039 Chapter 53, verses 1 through 3. 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:03.399 Isaiah, looking at the servant, this suffering servant, 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.919 he recognizes this servant as more than just a man. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.819 This is the embodiment of God's power. 00:11:10.959 --> 00:11:14.219 That's what the phrase, the arm of the Lord, means. 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:17.120 This is the embodiment of God's power. 00:11:18.199 --> 00:11:23.719 And yet, this embodiment of God's power is a man of sorrows. 00:11:24.479 --> 00:11:26.579 His life is full of grief. 00:11:26.839 --> 00:11:30.000 He faces all kinds of suffering all throughout his life. 00:11:30.199 --> 00:11:32.319 He's the kind of person that you look at and think, 00:11:32.579 --> 00:11:33.759 well, it could be worse. 00:11:33.839 --> 00:11:35.099 At least I'm not that guy. 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:40.019 And Isaiah says in verse 1 of chapter 53, 00:11:40.300 --> 00:11:44.440 who would ever believe that someone like this could be the arm of the Lord? 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:51.360 That a man of sorrows who grieves like this person is God's power incarnate? 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:53.860 And you know, that's a fair question. 00:11:54.540 --> 00:11:58.159 For those of us living in 21st century Western culture, 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.779 it's a particularly apropos question. 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:06.860 We enjoy historically unprecedented wealth and prosperity. 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:12.019 We naturally assume that normal daily life should be happy, 00:12:12.339 --> 00:12:13.500 should be fulfilling. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.539 And we see any form of suffering as a kind of aberration from the norm. 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:24.419 And this has seeped into the Christian church. 00:12:25.819 --> 00:12:26.379 Right? 00:12:26.459 --> 00:12:32.759 It's seeped into how we think about our faith and the expectations that we have for our lives. 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:35.259 There is, of course, the prosperity gospel, 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:38.759 the idea that faith in God leads to health and wealth. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:43.539 Now, I'm assuming most people in this room would not believe that that is a biblical idea, 00:12:43.539 --> 00:12:45.099 because it's not. 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:48.879 But even for those of us who reject the prosperity gospel, 00:12:49.219 --> 00:12:54.139 there can still be a way of thinking that we might call the emotional prosperity gospel. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:59.099 If I give my life to Jesus and if I trust in him, 00:12:59.419 --> 00:13:00.919 I will be fulfilled. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.379 I will be satisfied in him. 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:08.779 My life will hopefully be relatively free from suffering. 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:14.980 But if that's the case, then how do we make sense of Jesus? 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:20.259 The Son of God is a man of sorrows. 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:25.659 And how do we make sense of the fact that Jesus directly tells his disciples, 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:29.700 if you follow me, you will have to take up your own cross. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.279 You will most certainly suffer. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:36.860 You will likely suffer more than anyone else. 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:44.299 So know the cost and count it before you commit to me. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:51.339 Now, here we tread upon a mystery that is so profound 00:13:51.339 --> 00:13:58.059 that I hesitate to articulate it for fear of doing it a disservice. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:02.779 Because if I say it incorrectly, 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.679 I risk minimizing your suffering and mine. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.279 But I also risk minimizing the glory of the cross. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.419 And here's the mystery. 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:18.419 That although God hates suffering, 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.199 and although suffering is a part of the curse of the fall, 00:14:25.419 --> 00:14:30.919 nevertheless, he uses suffering to sanctify those whom he loves. 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:35.139 The second point is this. 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:45.799 Through the cross, God transforms suffering from a curse into a crucible. 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:51.039 Before precious metals can be used, 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:56.019 metals like gold or silver, they have to be refined. 00:14:56.279 --> 00:15:00.439 They have to be put in a crucible and refined. 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:06.220 And in the same way, God uses suffering to refine his people. 00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:11.880 The apostle Paul, if you read the scriptures, was able to heal the sick. 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:14.340 He was able to cast out demons. 00:15:14.540 --> 00:15:16.880 He was even able to raise the dead. 00:15:18.180 --> 00:15:22.480 And yet, Paul suffered in almost every way imaginable. 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:23.580 He was mocked. 00:15:23.640 --> 00:15:24.340 He was imprisoned. 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:25.400 He was beaten. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:26.460 He was stoned. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:27.440 He was shipwrecked. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:28.280 Shipwrecked. 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:31.420 And Paul faced chronic suffering, 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:35.280 known only as the thorn in his flesh. 00:15:35.760 --> 00:15:39.160 And yet, no matter how much Paul prayed to God, 00:15:39.380 --> 00:15:41.600 God would not heal him. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.560 Paul was able to raise the dead. 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:50.460 And yet, God would not heal the thorn in his flesh. 00:15:50.900 --> 00:15:52.600 Instead, God says this. 00:15:52.600 --> 00:16:00.680 My grace is sufficient for you. 00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:06.779 My power is made perfect in weakness. 00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:13.659 God wanted to use Paul's suffering to refine him. 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:21.759 And we see in Romans chapter 5 the effect that suffering had in Paul's life over time 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:26.500 as he continued to trust in and follow Jesus no matter what. 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:30.439 It says that Paul learns to rejoice in his suffering 00:16:30.439 --> 00:16:33.419 because through it he became more resilient. 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:36.419 His character was forged. 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:40.579 He began to cultivate a hope that was not dependent on circumstances. 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:45.120 And he experienced the love of God being poured into his heart. 00:16:45.199 --> 00:16:46.500 He said that came through suffering. 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:52.639 Some of my deepest experiences of the love of God being poured into my heart 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.059 came in the midst of my worst experiences of suffering. 00:16:56.059 --> 00:17:04.740 Many of the greatest virtues that you desire for yourself 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:08.460 when you think, I want to be the kind of person who 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:11.279 I want to have the kind of faith that 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.059 those are virtues that can only be found on the far side of suffering. 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:26.859 When Stephen Colbert was 10 years old, his father and brothers died in a plane crash. 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:32.799 And about 10 years ago, an interviewer asked him about this loss 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.460 at such a young age and how he coped. 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:37.579 And here's what Colbert says. 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.440 He says, I'm not bitter about what happened to me as a child. 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:45.099 And my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:50.619 What she taught me was directly related to the image of Christ on the cross 00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:53.740 and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. 00:17:54.899 --> 00:17:57.659 And that, listen to this. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:00.659 Here's what he learned. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.779 The deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:09.879 It is that the pain is actually a gift. 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:24.340 If you pray for spiritual growth, just know 00:18:24.340 --> 00:18:29.660 God will most likely use suffering and weakness to answer that prayer. 00:18:31.620 --> 00:18:33.120 It's not the exception. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:34.700 It's the norm. 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:42.319 So the first two stanzas show us these truths that through the cross, 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:44.920 God repurposes evil for good. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:51.279 And that through the cross, God transforms suffering from a curse into a crucible. 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:54.940 But all of this raises a question. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:58.720 If God is the kind of God who uses suffering, 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:02.299 then how can he possibly be a good God? 00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:06.759 He sounds like a masochistic or sadistic God. 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:12.019 And in the third stanza, we see the answer to that question 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:16.940 because Isaiah has a shocking realization in verses 4 through 6. 00:19:17.379 --> 00:19:21.960 In verse 4, Isaiah looks at this suffering servant and he says, 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:29.340 we thought that the suffering in this man's life was because of something he did wrong. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:30.539 Right? 00:19:30.600 --> 00:19:35.660 Which is a natural assumption that human beings make when somebody is facing extraordinary suffering. 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:38.640 We think, what did they do to deserve that? 00:19:39.059 --> 00:19:44.140 There are several points in the Gospels when the disciples actually ask that question to Jesus. 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:48.079 They say, what did that person or what did those people do to deserve that? 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:54.599 But then Isaiah realizes something as he looks on this suffering servant. 00:19:55.139 --> 00:19:57.299 He says, we thought it was something that he did wrong, 00:19:57.939 --> 00:20:00.419 but it's our pain he feels. 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:03.659 It is our sorrows. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:06.079 It's our sins. 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.699 And he begins to realize he took it all on himself. 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:17.519 And as you see what he writes, he says, you know, we're the ones who abandoned God. 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:21.100 We're the lost sheep who have gone our own way. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:25.279 So the suffering in the world, the reason that they're suffering, it's our fault. 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.299 And then he says, he was innocent. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:32.400 All of this is on us. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:33.519 He was innocent. 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:37.360 But then God laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:42.779 So we ask the question, how do we know that God is good? 00:20:43.139 --> 00:20:46.419 And this is the third and final thing that we will see tonight, 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:50.779 that through the cross, God suffers to end our suffering. 00:20:51.219 --> 00:20:55.579 That through the cross, God suffers to end our suffering. 00:20:56.939 --> 00:21:00.240 We all want an answer to the question of suffering. 00:21:00.479 --> 00:21:05.839 No honest human being who lives in this world doesn't want an answer to the question of suffering. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:09.720 Every major religion and philosophy endeavors to give us that answer. 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:12.659 But quite frankly, all of the explanations fall short. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:14.720 They all do. 00:21:15.859 --> 00:21:18.079 We all want God to give us an explanation. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:25.240 And quite frankly, even the explanation within Christianity, in my opinion, somewhat falls short. 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:35.259 But the reason is because God's answer to the question and the problem of suffering is not an explanation. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.160 It's the incarnation. 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:41.400 It's the incarnation. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:47.299 We want an abstract philosophical set of reasoning. 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:52.460 God gives us the word become flesh. 00:21:54.379 --> 00:21:56.919 He takes up our suffering. 00:21:57.659 --> 00:22:03.299 Which means he speaks into our pain from his own pain. 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:07.599 He comforts us in our grief with his own tears. 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:10.299 He weeps alongside us. 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:20.519 What this means is that God offers a depth of comfort that we will never find anywhere else. 00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:25.659 It means, number one, that we will never suffer alone. 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:28.619 We will never suffer alone. 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:34.460 The apostles, like Paul and Peter, faced tremendous suffering. 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:40.660 But in their suffering, they saw an opportunity to have fellowship with Christ. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:45.980 They saw their suffering as a participation in the suffering of Christ. 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:51.600 This became one of the main ways for them to experience intimacy with Christ. 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:53.960 They saw themselves as Christ's body. 00:22:54.120 --> 00:22:56.900 And as he suffered, so they suffered with him. 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:01.380 And so you hear Christians talk about offering up their suffering. 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:06.220 And being partakers of and having fellowship with Christ in his suffering. 00:23:08.340 --> 00:23:13.080 Remember when Paul is still Saul and he's persecuting the church. 00:23:13.340 --> 00:23:15.720 And he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus. 00:23:15.840 --> 00:23:16.860 What does Jesus say? 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:20.260 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my people? 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:22.260 That's not what he says. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.660 He says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:32.200 What you do to his people, you do to him. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:33.080 Why? 00:23:33.300 --> 00:23:38.120 Because he has taken our pain upon himself. 00:23:38.340 --> 00:23:41.560 He bears our sorrows even still. 00:23:41.860 --> 00:23:46.840 The pain that you feel in your life at this moment, Jesus bears with you. 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:48.060 He feels it. 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:52.500 It also means this. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:55.279 Not only will we never suffer alone. 00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:57.879 It means that we will not suffer forever. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:02.779 By his wounds, we are healed. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.179 By his wounds, the world is healed. 00:24:06.659 --> 00:24:10.339 By his wounds, we will one day suffer no more. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.039 We will be restored. 00:24:12.639 --> 00:24:15.019 There will be no more suffering or tears. 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:28.200 And as the Apostle Paul says, all of the suffering in our lives will one day seem like a light, momentary affliction compared to the glory that awaits. 00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:30.839 And you say, well, how do we know? 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:34.440 The cross. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:36.799 The cross. 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:38.900 The cross. 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:41.639 Let's pray. 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:56.380 Lord, we thank you for the unimaginable brutality and the glorious beauty of the cross. 00:24:57.040 --> 00:25:01.800 We thank you for this paradox at the heart of our faith. 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:07.500 And we thank you for the otherworldly hope that it offers. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:14.379 And ask that you would take what is in our minds and press it into our hearts. 00:25:14.639 --> 00:25:20.619 Press this truth into the deepest places of pain and hopelessness. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.619 We pray this for your glory and for our good. 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:28.059 And ask it in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:28.579 Amen. 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:28.680 Amen.