What Jesus Teaches About Suffering | Good Friday | Trinity Sermons

Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into

the praetorium and gathered the whole company

of soldiers around him. They stripped him and

put a scarlet robe on him and then twisted together

a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They

put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt

in front of him and mocked him. Hail, King of

the Jews, they said. They spit on him and took

the staff and struck him on the head again and

again. After they had mocked him, they took off

the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then

they led him away to crucify him. As they were

going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon,

and they forced him to carry the cross. They

came to a place called Golgotha, which means

the place of the skull. There they offered Jesus

wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting

it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified

him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots,

and sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

Above his head, they placed the written charge

against him, This is Jesus, King of the Jews.

Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his

right and one on his left. Those who passed by

hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and

saying, you who are going to destroy the temple

and build it in three days, save yourself. Come

down from the cross if you are the son of God.

In the same way, the chief priests and the elders

and the teachers of the law mocked him. He saved

others, they said, but he can't save himself.

He's the king of Israel. Let him come down now

from the cross and we will believe in him. He

trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants

him. For he said, I am the son of God. In the

same way, the rebels who were crucified with

him also heaped insults on him. From noon until

three in the afternoon, darkness came over all

the land. About three in the afternoon, Jesus

cried out in a loud voice. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,

which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken

me? When some of those standing there heard this,

they said, he's calling Elijah. Immediately,

one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it

with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered

it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, now leave

him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save

him. And when Jesus had cried out again in a

loud voice, He gave up his spirit. At that moment,

the curtain of the temple was torn in two from

top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split,

and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many

holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection

and went into the holy city and appeared to many

people. When the centurion and those with him

who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and

all that had happened, they were terrified and

exclaimed, Surely he was the Son of God. Many

women were there, watching from a distance. They

had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his

needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the

mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of

Zebedee's sons. As evening approached, There

came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph,

who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going

to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate

ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took

the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

and placed it in his own new tomb that he had

cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in

front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting

there opposite the tomb. The next day, the one

after preparation day, the chief priests and

the Pharisees went to Pilate. Sir, they said,

we remember that while he was still alive, that

deceiver said, after three days I will rise again.

So give the order for the tomb to be made secure

until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples

may come and steal the body and tell the people

that he has been raised from the dead. This last

deception will be worse than the first. Take

a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as

secure as you know how. So they went and made

the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone

and posting the guard. The passion of our Lord

Jesus Christ. So you're out hiking with friends

and everything is going along just wonderfully

until you see this. Ahead of you is this dangerous

piece of pathway along a mountainside. So what

do you do at this moment? You're frightened,

you're nervous, you're unsure. What's around

that corner? And so some of your group say, let's

go and look for a way around it. Others in your

group, they say, let's just turn back. I'm done.

Some in your group say, you know what? I think

we can do it. Let's just go for it. Let's just

run through there. And still, there are others

who just freeze out of fear. What's the right

way forward? Now, you might say, well, I'll never

find myself in a situation like this. I'm not

kind of a hiker. But actually, eventually, we

all do. Because you see, life is a hike. And

you can be going along and everything can just

be going so smoothly. And then it happens, a

tragedy, some kind of pain, suffering hits you.

Jesus once said, in this life, you will have

trouble. Suffering comes for all of us at some

point. Could be the loss of a loved one, could

be a sudden illness, loss of a job, financial

problems, the breakdown of a relationship. And

suddenly that path that seems so clear and so

easy to you is now dark and dangerous and uncertain.

This Lent, we have been asking ourselves the

question, what does it mean to follow Jesus?

But today we ask that question in a different

way. What does it mean to follow Jesus when following

Jesus is following the way of suffering? How

do we follow Jesus then? Well, again, some might

try to go around their suffering. You know, a

hiker sees danger. Their first thought is, let's

find another way, anything to avoid going into

what's ahead of us. And so we do the same. We

often try to go around our pain to avoid suffering,

even though it usually ends up costing us more

in the long run than if we had just stayed and

faced the pain. But we often go around. Or rather

than go around, we might choose to head back.

Many hikers would decide to head back, and so

do we. In times of pain, we are tempted just

to run away from our pain, to deny our suffering.

And actually, as a coping strategy, that works

pretty well. But it's a short -term strategy.

Sometimes that pain is something you actually

needed to deal with, and if we don't deal with

it, well then, Sigmund Freud was right. the things

that we run away from that have the most power

over us. Or others, when they're faced with pain,

they try to rush past it, put it behind you as

quickly as possible. And we're pretty good at

this too. Whatever we're struggling with, we

want a quick fix. We want an instant solution.

Take a pill or two. Take a drink or two. Get

the relief that you want without the waiting.

Because we think if we move fast enough, we can

somehow outrun our pain. But that pain is rarely

healed. And our hurts that we tried to leave

behind us will eventually catch up with us again.

And so finally, there's always the option of

just giving up. When faced with suffering, we

just stop, we freeze. And we collapse in despair.

You know, hikers, you know, faced with a situation

like this on a mountainside. Their legs are tired

and the fear is too much. And you're tempted

just to sit down and say, I'm done. That is it.

I'm not taking another step. And sometimes we

feel exactly like that. You feel like giving

up. The path is too steep. The distance is still

way too far. But listen, stopping in the middle

of a dangerous trail rarely makes things any

better for us. You know, sitting on a narrow

ledge like that doesn't get you off the mountain.

It just leaves you stuck. No, we can't go around

our pain. We can't run away from it. We can't

rush past it and we can't give up on it either.

So what do we do? Well, Jesus today shows us.

how to walk the way of suffering and get through

it. And the reason Jesus knows how to get through

pain is because, as you just heard, Jesus walked

this trail long before we ever did. Jesus has

seen the cliff edge. He has felt the ground,

the danger beneath his feet. On Good Friday,

Jesus looks ahead on a situation like this. And

he knew what was coming. He knew Judas was going

to betray him. He knew Peter was going to deny

him. He knew his friends were all going to abandon

him. He knew that down that road, there lay nothing

but rejection and humiliation and torture and

death. But does Jesus go around it? Does he run

away from it? Does he rush past it? Does he just

give up on it in despair? No. Instead, Jesus

shows us something else. And I want to just share

with you five or six things that Jesus teaches

us about walking in the way of suffering. The

first is this. Jesus shows us suffering is a

journey, actually. When we experience pain, we

often want an explanation now. We want it to

be over now. We want our problems solved quickly.

But suffering rarely works that way. You know,

pain and problems don't usually lend themselves

to kind of quick fixes and easy solutions. Instead,

it's something you've got to work through gradually.

It's something that we have to walk through,

not rush through. Psalm 23 says that even though

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil. Do you notice the language?

The psalmist does not rush through the valley.

He does not escape the valley. He does not jump

over the valley. He walks through it step by

step because suffering is often a very long road.

You probably thought that that reading we read

was a very long reading. It is. It's the longest

reading we ever read all year long, and Al did

an amazing job at it. But why do we read such

a long reading? Because Jesus' road of suffering

was the longest road. Jesus' suffering isn't

just a single event that happens on a cross.

It is a journey, begins in the Garden of Gethsemane,

then the arrest, and the trials, and the humiliation,

and then, well, you heard it all. Right. Finally,

the long walk up to the cross on the Mount Golgotha.

Early Christians actually gave a name to that

walk. They called it the Via Dolorosa, the way

of suffering. Suffering is a journey. And Jesus

walked that road step by step. I don't know where

you are on that road. You may not even think

you're on that road. We may all be on a different

part of that road. Some of you are still enjoying

a pleasant hike in life. That's great. But for

others, the path just became steep. Something

happened. For others of you, you feel like you

have been walking this road for a long, long

time. Wherever you are in your journey of suffering,

it's rarely a single moment. We move through

it over time. So Jesus shows us suffering is

a journey. But the second thing Jesus shows us

is that all we can do is just take the next step.

Just keep taking the next step. On good days,

it's true. Life feels like a well -marked trail.

You can see everything. But then the fog rolls

in and all of a sudden you can't see more than

a few inches in front of you. You can't see what's

around the bend. You can't even see five steps

in front of you. All you see. is what's right

in front of you and that is what suffering is

like there's no map that tells us how we're going

to get all through this sometimes and what's

going to happen just like on a dangerous trail

you need enough courage just to take the next

step in fact tradition tells us that jesus carried

this cross through the streets of jerusalem and

as he did he fell along the road. And that's

understandable. Two or even three times he fell.

The weight was just too much. But each time he

got back up again and he kept walking, not running,

mind you, not escaping, not giving up, just taking

the next step, the next. And that is exactly

how we walk through suffering. We walk by faith,

not by sight. Because you can't see what is around

that bend or down that road or where it is all

going. And we may stumble and we may fall. But

when we fall, faith means we get up again and

we take the next step. And even if that next

step is just a small step, that... is okay because

small steps are how we walk the way of Jesus

on the road of suffering. The third thing Jesus

shows us is on the road of suffering, God walks

with us. You know, a hiker might be willing to

tackle a dangerous trail if they knew that somebody

else was with them, someone to kind of hold on

to. The hardest part of suffering is actually

not the pain itself, but it's the idea that you

feel like you're alone. And many people feel

like in the midst of their suffering that God

has abandoned them too. Because if God were here,

then why would I be going through this in the

first place? But that's not how Jesus walks the

road of suffering. Because you see, before Jesus

went to the cross, he went to the garden. And

he went there to pray. And he fell with his face

to the ground and he prayed, my father. And he

poured everything out to God. But what he was

really doing in that moment was not just giving

his stuff to God, but inviting God into his suffering.

Reassuring himself that God, yes, was walking

this road with him. It's like the psalmist says,

even though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I fear no evil. We heard that

part. For you are with me. God is with Jesus

in his suffering. And that means that when we

walk the road of suffering, God, he's not watching

from a distance. He's not way ahead of us. He's

not way behind us. He's right beside us. So as

it turns out, we do actually have someone we

can hold on to. God is with us in our suffering.

But the fourth thing we learn from Jesus as we

follow him on this road is that suffering can

actually shape us. You know, if you're a hiker,

it's the steep trails, right? It's the really

rugged terrain that develops a hiker's muscles

and their endurance. And the same is true in

our suffering. It can make us stronger. Now,

I want to say this very carefully because, you

know, pain is real and loss is real. And Good

Friday reminds us, you know, suffering is never

something to celebrate or pretend is good. The

cross was brutal. And whatever pain you're going

through, it is not beautiful either. And yet,

the mystery of the Christian faith is that God

can take our suffering. And use it to shape us,

to teach us, to grow something in us. We even

see this in the life of Jesus. Believe it or

not, the book of Hebrews says this most surprising

thing. It says that although he was a son, Jesus

learned obedience through what he suffered. Now,

just think about that for a moment. Jesus, the

son of God, who was perfect, they say, and yet

even he learned. Through suffering. With every

step toward the cross. With every fall under

the weight of the cross. Every moment that he

could have turned back and he did not turn back.

He was growing in his obedience. His suffering

was not pointless. Of course it wasn't pointless.

It changed the world. But his suffering also

changed him somehow. And if that was true for

Jesus, then it should not surprise us that God

uses suffering to shape us as well. God has the

power to take the very pain that threatens to

break us and use that pain to transform us. The

apostle Paul said it this way. He says, suffering

produces perseverance. Perseverance, character,

and character, hope. Psychologists, they point

out that those who walk through suffering often

become more resilient. Their relationships grow

deeper. Their priorities become clear, and many

of them discover a deeper spiritual life than

they had before. In other words, when we keep

walking with God through suffering, something

changes in us. Our faith deepens, our hope becomes

stronger, and our lives are slowly being shaped

by the grace of God. It's funny, but the road

we most wanted to avoid can be the road. where

God forms us the most. But how about the fifth

thing we learn about this road of suffering?

We don't walk alone. I mean, if you've ever hiked

a difficult trail, you know something important.

The hardest trails are actually meant to be hiked

together, right? When the path is narrow and

the climb is steep, you need people beside you

who are going to encourage you, say, you can

do this. Keep on going. I'm here for you. Now,

I know that in the reading we just heard, yes,

Jesus' friends, they seem to eventually abandon

him, but they were there for him. In his difficult

times too, in the Garden of Gethsemane, just

before he hits the, as he hits the road of suffering,

Jesus turns to his closest friends and he says,

hey, listen, just stay here with me. Keep watch

with me. He knows what's happening and he doesn't

want people around him to try to fix it. He doesn't

want people to try to explain it. He just wants

people to be present. And sometimes the greatest

gift we can give to someone who is suffering

is simply just to walk beside them. Or, you know,

what about this moment? You heard this in the

reading. Jesus is walking toward his crucifixion,

and they end up yanking this man named Simon

out of the crowd, and they get him to carry the

cross for him. Jesus was exhausted, so what?

God provides another person to carry his burden.

It's just amazing to think that even Jesus didn't

carry the cross alone. And we need to remember

that when suffering comes, we're not meant to

carry it by ourselves either. God meets us through

the presence of other people. Maybe that is just,

you know, you've got a friend who listens. Maybe

you've got a parent who prays for you. Maybe

you're part of a church community who can help

bear the weight of all that you're going through

when we cannot do it on our own because the road

of suffering is too heavy. For one person to

walk alone. But together, together we can keep

on walking. And now the final thing that we learn

from Jesus about the way of suffering is this.

The road, believe it or not, leads somewhere

good and beautiful. You know, on a hike, I suppose

it's easy to be discouraged when all you see

is dark skies and rain clouds and dangerous cliffs.

But you see, hikers know something important.

They know. that trails turn corners. And what

looks like an endless struggle may actually suddenly

open up into a clearing. What looks like a steep

climb may level out. What looks like rough road

may actually smooth out. And the most amazing

view might appear, will appear, when you least

expect it. And the same is true on the road of

suffering. When Jesus walked that Via Dolorosa,

the way of sorrows, It must have looked like

the end of everything. The crowds watching must

have said, this is a failure. The disciples assumed

that all their hope had died. But you see, they

couldn't see around the corner. The road was

not the end of the story. The writer of Hebrews

tells us that for the joy set before him. Jesus

endured the cross. He kept walking because he

knew the road led somewhere beautiful and good.

Through that cross was going to come forgiveness.

Through the cross was going to come redemption.

Through that cross was going to come healing

and resurrection. At the end of his journey,

we would have a whole world made brand new. And

so Good Friday reminds us that yes, while the

road is long and it is not endless, And though

suffering, it has its limits. And that eventually

we too are going to round a bend and we will

see our heart's desire. So I want to tell you

guys, no matter what your road looks like today,

God is taking you to a beautiful destination.

So let's return to where we started. The dangerous

path. The winds are blowing. Steep. drops beside

you. You're afraid to keep on going. What do

you do? Well, today Jesus tells us what to do.

When suffering comes, you don't try to go around

it. You don't run away from it. You don't rush

past it and you don't give up on it. We follow

Jesus down the road of suffering. He shows us

that suffering is a journey. He inspires us to

take the next step. He reminds us that God walks

with us. He reveals that suffering can shape

us. And he encourages us to walk together. And

finally, he assures us this road leads somewhere

good. So today, yeah, today we stand at the darkest

part of the trail. We stand staring at the cross.

And the road seems to end here, but we know it's

not the end. So if you're finding yourself walking

a hard road today, if the path feels steep, if

the future seems unclear, just take heart. Jesus

has walked this road before us, and Jesus is

walking this road with us, and he will bring

us safely home. Thanks be to God. Amen.