Who Jesus is
Jesus and Suffering
Jesus never handed suffering a tidy explanation. When asked whose sin caused a man's blindness, he refused the question. He warned his followers they would have tribulation, and told them to take up a cross. Then he did it himself. In Gethsemane his soul was exceeding sorrowful; on the cross he cried out. He did not explain pain. He entered it.
Jesus and Suffering
Jesus refused to reduce suffering to a formula. When his disciples assumed a man's blindness must trace to someone's sin, he answered, 'Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents' (John 9:3). He would not let them treat a suffering person as a puzzle to solve. He was honest too: 'In the world ye shall have tribulation' (John 16:33).
He called his followers to a hard road, not an easy one: 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me' (Matthew 16:24). And in the beatitudes he pronounced blessing on the very people the world pities: 'Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted' (Matthew 5:4).
Then he walked into suffering himself. In Gethsemane he said, 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death' (Matthew 26:38), and prayed until his sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). On the cross he cried, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' (Matthew 27:46). He did not hand down an explanation of pain. He took it up.
What Jesus said and did
Where this points
The answer to suffering that Jesus gives is finally himself. He did not stay at a safe distance and theorize; he was despised, beaten, and crucified. Because God in Christ suffered with us and for us, no one can say he does not understand. He entered the dark, and rose from it.
People also ask
Did Jesus explain why people suffer?
Not with a tidy theory. When asked whose sin caused a man's blindness, he rejected the premise (John 9:3). He acknowledged that trouble is part of life (John 16:33) and pointed instead to God's presence and purpose, then entered suffering himself rather than merely accounting for it.
How did Jesus respond to his own suffering?
With honest anguish and trust. In Gethsemane he asked that the cup pass, yet prayed, 'Not as I will, but as thou wilt' (Matthew 26:39). He wept, sweat as it were blood, and cried out on the cross, showing that faith and deep pain can coexist.