Jesus Took on All Human Suffering – Part 2

Last updated on: November 22, 2021 at 10:29 pm by Fr. Charles Erlandson

Jesus Took on All Human Suffering – Part 2 2021-11-22T22:29:35-05:00 Fr. Charles Erlandson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Everything Jesus did was an act of self-giving and humility. Jesus took on all human suffering.

Jesus Learned Obedience by What He Suffered

One of the most marvelously mysterious verses in the Holy Scriptures is this: “He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8). The terrible obedience of the Cross could only have been performed by a life perfectly devoted to the habit of obedience (perhaps in the same way that by a life devoted to fasting and denying self, Jesus prepared Himself for the 40 days and nights of fasting). Jesus’ obedience to His heavenly Father was coordinate with His obedience to His earthly father and mother. Although when Jesus was twelve, He was mature enough to discuss with the teachers of the Law in the Temple, when He returned home, He was subject to His parents (Luke 2:51).

Jesus came to obey the will of the Father, for He said not only “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38) but also “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He was without sin, for He perfectly obeyed the will of the Father and perfectly kept the Law.

Jesus obeyed the most difficult commandment of all: to Take the Cup. Although in His humanity, part of Him did not desire the Cup, His response to the will of the Father was “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

This obedience was a form of suffering, for it was a giving up of self and its desires and will. All of us who have ever obeyed another, in a matter which we do not desire to, know that obedience involves suffering.

Jesus Experienced Our Common Sufferings

Often, we focus too exclusively on the extraordinary suffering of Christ: His Passion and Crucifixion. But these are only the perfection of a life filled with suffering, most of which was “ordinary.” Whatever category of suffering we are capable of experiencing, Jesus suffered it for us.

Is any of you weak or tired? Jesus was weak and tired for you. As Gregory Nazianzen said: “And perhaps He goes to sleep, so that He may bless sleep also; perhaps He is tired that He may hallow weariness also; perhaps He weeps that He may make tears blessed” (Oration 37).

Perhaps nothing summarizes the postmodernism condition better than homelessness. For while more people live in homes that they own than ever before (and larger ones at that), we are lost in the cosmos, without a place or identity, and far from our true Home. Is any of you homeless or hungry? Jesus fasted and went without meals for you. The Maker of Homes, the Home of Homes, our Eternal Home, went homeless for you.

Is any of you poor? Jesus emptied Himself for you. He gave up the certainty and security of His trade and relied on the gifts of others for three years. Having created everything, He owned nothing.

Has any of you endured mocking, spitting, hitting, and scourging? In spite of the fact that we have each done these things to Christ, He has borne them all for us.

Has any of you been betrayed or abandoned? The postmodern condition of homelessness is caused, in large part, by our betraying and abandoning one another. We live in a culture of divorce, for we divide that which God has joined. We do this not only in the holy bonds of matrimony but also in every possible human relationship. We break up, withdraw, move away from home, and distance ourselves from one another. Although we betrayed and abandoned Jesus, He took betrayal and abandonment from us and made them His own.

We might expect this from our enemies or opponents, but it always hurts most when we are betrayed or abandoned by those we love and who have loved us. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and friends, pastors and parishioners: our own familiar friends betray us, and it hurts like Hell because it is truly a taste of that abandoned and divorced and homeless place.

Has any of you been tried or condemned unjustly? Here, we find ourselves standing in awe at the epicenter of God’s catastrophic deliverance. For throughout His life, and especially at His trial and on the Cross, Jesus was tried and condemned – for you. At the Cross, the only perfect and just man to live was condemned by sinful men. This condemnation was catholic in scope, for who was to blame for putting Jesus to death? Both Jew and Gentile, both you and me, and us and them.

Not only did the Just die for the unjust (1 Pet 3:18): the Judge died for the guilty. It isn’t only that a just man died for another just man, and it’s even more than the Just Man dying for unjust men. On the Cross, the sentence of the divine Judge was taken up by the Judge Himself. This is the Good News: that God put Himself in our place that He might put us in His place.

Previous Post

November 1, 2021

Jesus Took on All Human Suffering - Part 1

Next Post

February 7, 2022 The Best Thing God Ever Did was the Worst Thing Man Ever Did

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Featured Give Us This Day Give Us This Day Devotional love me love my wife Love My Wife Reformed Catholicism Blog Spirit-Reality Take This Cup Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 September 2018 July 2018 March 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the Christian principle about judging by appearances?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Judge quickly See clothes first Do not judge by outward appearance Copy others' opinions