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CHRIST, OUR EXAMPLE OF SUFFERING (GOOD FRIDAY)

SCRIPTURE READINGS
ISAIAH 52:13-53:12
HEBREWS 10:16-25
JOHN 19:17-30

An example is someone or something used as a model. Suffering can be understood as a state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship. Our theme, Christ our example of suffering can therefore be rephrased as Christ is the model to look up to when we are going through suffering.

The first and Second Scripture readings Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and John 19:17-30, give us a vivid description of how Jesus was tortured and crucified unjustly by wicked men. We must know why Jesus suffered. Jesus suffered because of

1. Bad religious and political leadership and influence.
2. He stood for the truth and was determined to do God’s will.
3. Betrayal and denial from people he loved and trusted.

Jesus suffered because of injustice in a government led by bad religious and political leadership. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?” (Isaiah 53:7-8). We see oppression and unjust judgement in the conduct of the High Priest and Pontius Pilate, the governor. The High Priest who was the religious leader of the Jews and the conscience of the people had Jesus arrested in the night, had him tried in his courtyard, had him tortured on the account of blasphemy before arraigning him before the court of Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate also succumbed to the pressure of the High Priest and his people. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent yet because he did not want to incur the displeasure of the Jews and their leadership, he sacrificed justice on the altar of political expediency. When religious, political and judicial leadership breaks down, the conscience of the ignorant masses is misled and the innocent suffer. Christ represents the many innocent and poor people who are in our prisons without proper trial for political reasons. Our brothers and sisters in the diaspora are being arrested and tortured simply because they are black and one would ask, where are the religious and political leaders in those countries where this kind of injustice is being perpetuated? Christ represents the less privileged who suffer injustice in our judicial system because they do not have money to employ competent lawyers for which the rich use their wealth and influence to rob them of their properties. The common phrase we hear which is an indictment on the integrity of our leaders is “whom you know.” it means you will suffer even if you are innocent just because you are not connected to leadership and influential people. Jesus came from a poor home and had no political affiliation to the High Priest and the Roman Government so the “who you know” did not apply in his case hence his suffering and crucifixion.

Jesus again suffered because he stood for the truth and the will of God for his life. The truth was uncomfortable to the religious leadership of His time. His teaching was revolutionary and indeed he won many followers. Jesus’ teaching and what he stood for was a threat to the religious leadership. When He was arrested, the best way to have Him freed was to compromise the truth but that will be forgoing the will of the one who has sent him. In other words, most people are suffering today because they won’t compromise their Christian values, beliefs and the truth they stand for. Our identity as believers and zero tolerance for corruption and evil in our presence has caused some of us our jobs and very lives. Journalists have been murdered for exposing corruption, and some people’s promotions have been unduly delayed because they have vowed to fight mischief and corruption at their establishments. Many are those who have been reposted and demoted because they spoke about the evils in the government and the system. Pilate could not find any tangible evidence advanced against Jesus when he was brought before him. Indeed, those who stand for the truth and nothing but the truth become the victims of conspiracy, hate and injustice orchestrated by the wicked. “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them.” (John 19:16-18)

When bad leadership and our representation of the truth have caused us untold suffering, the only people left to lean on for support are the people we trust and love but our suffering is worsened when these people betray us and deny us when we need them most. Jesus’ suffering might have been very painful especially when his own disciple Judas betrayed him for money. Again when he was going through suffering, those who promised to die with Him denied ever knowing Him nor having any acquaintance with Him and absconded. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3). Many believers are going through suffering caused by injustice and the mischief of men and women yet their brothers and sister in Christ who they trust to help them in perilous moment have turn their back on them and have even blacklisted their contact numbers. There is a common adage that “the poor have no friends.” I dare say that a suffering Christian has no friends. When you are suffering on account of your Christian values, you will surely not compromise those values on the bad advice of your friends and that is why most of them will walk away from you. For instance, a young lady is being maltreated by her boss just because she will not give in to his demand for sex but you will sometimes hear her friends who have given in and enjoying the fruits of their sinful labour telling this young lady who is trying her best to live by her Christian teachings to allow her boss to have his way and that is the only way she can be free and get her promotion.

Having considered the forgoing reasons for which Christ suffered and for that matter, we His ardent disciples are likely to suffer the same fate, the question that comes to mind is, is there hope for faithful believers of Christ? How can we endure these sufferings in a broken and unjust world? Beloved in the Lord, our consolation is in the second Scripture reading, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23). In other words, Jesus is our perfect example of suffering, there is no suffering that will befall a believer that Jesus has never experienced before. We are all encouraged to cast our burdens unto Him for cares for us and will never betray or deny us. Prayer and faith in times of suffering are key in granting us endurance and receiving power from the Holy Spirit to triumph over our adversaries. May the Lord continue to strengthen you in your moment of suffering and grant you eternal life for remaining faithful till the end. Amen.

REV JEAN-PAUL AGIDI