A few thoughts on suffering - warning: you probably won't like it

In AD 66 a rebellion started in Jerusalem against Rome, it was finally put to and end in AD 70, involving terrible suffering for the Jewish people. In Luke 19:41-44 we read of Jesus weeping over the city, knowing what lay ahead for them.

When Jesus saw the city He wept over Jerusalem. In the very near future Jesus was going to endure acute physical, emotional and spiritual agony, but His weeping was over what is going to happen to Jerusalem. We see here some important aspects of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Jesus knew what was going to happen in AD66-70, when Rome would besiege and then destroy the city with terrible suffering. Yet the responsibility lies with Jerusalem. They had the chance to avoid it. This is the real tragedy. If only they had recognised Jesus for who He is, if only they had recognised their own sin and need of forgiveness all this could have been avoided. So an onslaught on Jerusalem would happen, and it would happen because they “did not recognise the time of God’s coming”.

This, of course, raises many questions in us, perhaps most of all “how could God will such a thing?” There is no easy answer, but the question itself actually points to our problem. We look to God and say “how could God”, or “why doesn’t God ...” What we need to do is to look at ourselves and ask “what should I do”, “what could I do”. You see God created us in His own image, He gave us responsibility, responsibility we were meant to exercise under His lordship. But we chose to rebel, and as with most rebels, we then start denying all responsibility, seeking to blame someone else. We do not realise what a wonderful creation God made, and what a wonderful part we would have had in it, as creatures made in His image. Some may argue about how can we be free if we are under His Lordship? Well, look at Jesus. He is the freest man whoever walked on planet earth, and He lived his life under perfect lordship to His Father. The suffering is the consequence of our rebellion. One might ask “could God not have created a world where we had free will but without such a cost being involved for rebellion?” Well I suspect not, but the truth is none of us is equipped to answer such a question, none of us being experienced in universe creation. But we can do something about the situation as it is. We can stop blaming God and we can look at ourselves, we can choose to admit our guilt, our need of Christ.

Israel’s rebellion against God was a tragedy, our rebellion against God is a tragedy, but it is a tragedy we can choose to end by repenting and believing.