Why?

Introduction

I suppose one of the more difficult questions that followers of Jesus have been asked to answer is this—if God loves me and if he is all powerful, then why does he allow suffering? That question has plagued the minds of men from Job to David to those listening to Jesus as he walked this earth to modern culture. In fact this question has so challenged people that some have decided that God cannot be trusted and must not be followed because he is too out of touch with suffering. There are those here today who want the same question answered.

Sometimes the question is academic. The question is asked and then scholars take the time to look at possible answers and use as many objective means as possible to answer the question. But when the question is personal, then objective, scholarly answers rarely help. It is my pain; my anguish; my suffering which demands an answer. Like Job we sit with our most trusted friends and beg, plead, and demand that God say something which will help us understand. We even say “if I just knew why I was going through this it would help.” Maybe it would.

Here is the reality. The lesson today is not about trying to answer that question. In fact, I’m not sure there is an adequate answer. Today’s assembly is to center on the expression of faith which is required when suffering comes. It is through the tears, the emotional drain, and the heartache to still say “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Gethsemane

Jesus is heading to the cross but on the night of his betrayal Gethsemane becomes the place where we are allowed to see Jesus in the fullness of anguish. You have had those experiences in which the closer you get to the day when the event will transpire the more anxiety there is. And depending upon the event, more than anxiety; real sense of dread wishing that something else could take its place. I am not comparing our trials to the depth of the trial of Jesus in Gethsemane but surely we can begin to feel the pressure, the rising tension, the sense of dread; the desire for the event to go away.

Jesus is in such distress that Mark tells us that his grief almost killed him. Authors and writers have tried to help us understand the depth of anguish in the garden. Jesus is going to become sin for all. God is going to pour out his full wrath on Jesus at the cross. The one who has lived a life without sin and who demonstrated the fullness of what it means to trust God comes to a garden to plead for God to alter the event. He begs for release and relief. After all, God delivered Israel from Egypt, surely he can deliver his son from sin and death. It’s the Passover.

Jesus is on his face in the garden. He is faced with a decision that is more than life or death. He is faced with a decision that will express his faith in God or deny his loyalty to God. Can you see the scene in your mind? Troubled Jesus walks a short distance from Peter, James, and John. It is his decision to make but he wants his closest friends to share his anguish. He prays for deliverance. He expresses his trust that God is able to do all things including delivering him from what is going to happen. Can God change things? Jesus believed that he could. The real question is will Jesus listen and follow God’s direction at great personal cost? And in great intimacy Jesus prays—Abba, Father not what I want but what you want. And with those words Jesus chose. He chose to follow God into suffering, into wrath, into sin, and into obedience.

Lessons

The point of this section of Mark is to show us that Jesus had to decide even at the last hour about who he was in relationship with God. Jesus had to take his turn seeking answers to one of life’s most difficult questions—why doesn’t God stop the pain? And what we see is that Jesus asked for changes but expressed his deepest desire—to follow the will of God no matter where it led. There are two things to notice in this section.

First, even as Jesus was faced with making his decision about following God, he called on his disciples to share with him in that decision. He wanted his friends to pray too. He wanted his friends to share in some way with his anguish. We need this kind of fellowship when we go through suffering. We need friends who will share in our anguish and who will pray with us. We need the strength of friends who will love us and accept us and listen to us and who will walk with us through the suffering. Jesus’ friends failed. They did not see and understand the depth of Jesus’ anguish. This often happens until we are faced with our own suffering and then we learn how deep the hurt and uncertainty can be. We need people to share with us in times of suffering.

Second, we choose our response to suffering. Do not misunderstand—I am not suggesting to choose to feel good during suffering. Look at Jesus. Even as he prayed for God’s will to be done he is also praying for God to change things. He never denied God’s ability to change things. He believed that all things are possible with God. What he learned is that this hour was God’s will. I cannot say that every moment of suffering is God’s will. I am not saying that all suffering can be explained in this way. There are times when our suffering is a result of our own sin; other times because of the sin of others; and still other times when it seems to have no connection at all with our circumstances. But Jesus chose his response to suffering. Verse 42—Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer! Not hiding. Not running. With conviction he moves to follow his Father. That is what he chose.

Everyone has different responses to suffering. There is not a one size fits all response to suffering. Some weep; some do not. Some withdraw; others get busy. Some are depressed; others are not so. But suffering is part of the human condition and when it comes, we choose how the suffering will affect our relationship with God. Even Jesus had to choose.

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