What did Jesus say about suffering?

This suffering character of the path of His disciples was often the theme of our Lord's instruction. So far from concealing from them the afflictions and persecutions which they would encounter, He warned them on every possible occasion of what they would have to endure for His name's sake. Thus, for example, He says, in the sermon on the mount, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake"; at another time, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake"; and yet again, "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you"; "The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." So it came to pass; for Paul wrote (citing from the Psalms), "For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." But if our blessed Lord has forewarned us of what may be entailed upon us through the confession of His name, He has also ministered the needed sustainment and consolation. Of Himself, in His pathway through this world, it is written that for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame; and for our encouragement He has left on record these words, "Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

That the Christian must make up his mind to endure tribulation in this world is unquestionable. Our Lord prepares His disciples for no other portion. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation," said He: "but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." The question, therefore, is not at all whether the Christian is to expect tribulation as he passes through this world: there is no doubt of it. But an important inquiry arises as to that specially defined trouble at the end of this age, of which the prophets speak in the Old Testament, and on which, in two of the Gospels, our Lord instructs us. More than once is this, as a connected fact, alluded to in the last prophetic book of the New Testament.

John 9:2-3. The disciples, with their Jewish prejudices, thought that the blindness might have been inflicted anticipatively for some sin foreseen by God or as the result of the sin of his parents. In His reply the Lord shows that God can use affliction to make manifest the works of God. A life-long sickness is not necessarily the outcome of a specific sin, but may be allowed for the display of the grace of God.

The question which the disciples raised may seem curious to us, but it expressed thoughts which were common among the Jews, finding their basis in Exodus 20:5, which speaks of the iniquity of the fathers being visited upon the children. The Lord's reply shows that affliction may come without there being any element of retribution in it, but simply in order that God's work may be manifested. It was manifested here in working a complete deliverance from the affliction. It may just as strikingly be manifested by complete deliverance from the depression and weight of the affliction, while the affliction itself still persists; and so it is often seen today. It was then the "day," marked by the presence on earth of "the Light of the world." Jesus knew that the "night" of His rejection and death was approaching, but until that time He was here to do the Father's works, and this blind man was a fit subject for the work of God, though he had made no appeal for it, as far as the record goes.

This suffering of the Son of man at once defines the path for the disciple. "He said to [them] all, If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."229 It was in no way enjoyment of earthly things. That would be all suited and seasonable in the Kingdom when He reigns as the Christ, as well as Son of man, according to the hopes furnished by the prophets. There we find every kind of proof of God's beneficence, and men's hearts will be filled with gladness. But such is not the character of Christianity. The Cross shows us our true path. If Christ suffered, the Christian cannot expect to be above his Master. Christ was going to the cross; therefore if any man would come after Him, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever shall desire to save his life230 shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, he shall save it. For what shall a man profit if he shall have gained the whole world, and have destroyed or come under the penalty of the loss of himself?" "Daily": so Edd., following ℵABKL, and later uncials, 1, 33, 69, Syrrpesch cu, Amiat. Goth. Memph. Arm., CDEXΔ, etc., many cursives, Syrsin and most Old Latin omit.

Circumstances are not what make peace for us. Our Lord said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation;" it is enough that He can add, "In Me ye shall have peace." Tribulation does not take from us this peace. His peace is known in the very midst of tribulation, and thus God glorifies Himself.

THE WINTER SEASON is the time when the vine grower gives special attention to the cleaning of the branches, and it is in what we may call our winter seasons that the Father comes very near to us to purge and to prune us. When trials come, perhaps of sickness and suffering, or stress of circumstances, or bereavement, we may be sure that the Father has something to say to us, and that He will make these things which we could not endure were He not near to us, turn out to our bearing of more and sweeter fruit, if we are exercised by them. Let us not allow the thought to enter our minds that God must have something against us when trials beset us, or say as some have said to me: “I do not know why God should punish me like this.” To feel and talk in that way reveals an utterly false view of the vicissitudes of life, and must surely rob those who have it of the great blessing that the Father has for them. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,” and if He left us alone and we were free from all trial, we then might grow alarmed and fear that we were not fruit-bearing branches at all. If we are near Him we shall welcome His gracious work with us, and even if the process is not joyous but grievous there will be great compensation. It has been said, and truly said, that the vine grower is never nearer to the vine than when he is pruning it, and we may be sure that the Father is never nearer to us than when we are passing through trial according to His Will, and we may eagerly look for the peaceable fruits of righteousness as a result of it.

Here we need that word, “remember.” If we tend to feel resentful or discouraged because of the world's attitude, how imperative that we keep in mind the history of our Lord among men, as He had emphasized to them in His words. The servant cannot expect better treatment than his Lord, for his Lord is greater then he. Those who have persecuted Christ will do the same to His followers: those favorable to Him will be favorable to them.

A Common Mistake. — In connection with this line of instruction we next learn of two events which had taken place in Jerusalem, neither of which has found a place, it seems, in profane history. Pilate, the Roman governor, had killed some Galileans, engaged in the act, apparently, of sacrificing. God, whom they were outwardly worshipping in the appointed way, had not protected them. God's altar was no refuge for them (Ex. 21:14). Their blood had been mingled with their sacrifices. Then, too, the tower in Siloam had fallen upon eighteen men, and had crushed them to death. Were these special marks of Divine displeasure? Some, perhaps, thought so. But they were wrong. Those Galileans, and those inhabitants of Jerusalem, who met with an untimely death, were not worse than others. Sinners they were, but not worse than others in the metropolis of Judaism. Men might draw their conclusions, and often, as in these cases, erroneous ones. The Lord would impress on all the true lesson, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5). Those events had a voice for the living, and concerned not only the dead.

But there is yet a word which remains. This government is not such now as that the righteous should not suffer (compare 1 Peter 3:14-17), still more for the name of Christ. But Jehovah watches over him. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father. It seems strange to us to hear, "Some of you shall they cause to be put to death … but there shall not a hair of your head perish."