HOW MUCH DID JESUS ACTUALLY SUFFER?
"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isa 53:3)
Recently the owner of this site received the following e-mail from a dear sister-in-Christ: This is how I answered her:
"I went to Bible study last night with this lady and her
friend. We were talking about people suffering with cancer and different
monumental abuses. She mentioned that she didn't think that Jesus went
through as much suffering as other people do. I said that not only did Jesus
go though physical abuse but he had the mental stress of everyone's sins laid
upon Him from the beginning through to the end when we're dead and gone
(billions of people). I said that's why Jesus sweat drops of blood in
Gethsemane because of all the stress.
When I got home, I thought this over, and even though Jesus didn't go through
as much physical pain as other people -- the mental stress being enough -- is
the amount of pain and abuse significant?"
In consideration of the suffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we must carefully examine what the Bible has to say not only in the gospels but also in the Old Testament prophecies and the rest of the New Testament as well. The most obvious references for His suffering in the Old Testament are Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, both of which should be read with much care, paying attention to what is said there. For example, in Isa. 53:4 we read,
In Matthew 8:17 this passage is quoted thusly:
Isa. 53:5 reads,
Dear sister, this refers to the sins of the WHOLE WORLD'S ENTIRE HISTORY BOTH BEFORE THE CROSS AND AFTER IT. John 3:16 states "For God so loved the WORLD..." Salvation came through the Jews, but it extends throughout the world to EVERYONE. What does this mean in terms of the physical suffering that our Lord Jesus - God in the flesh - endured for us? The "stripes" above in Isa. 53 referred to the SCOURGING He received before the crucifixion - an extremely severe punishment, very cruel and painful, which many did not survive. Then of course there was the CRUCIFIXION itself - and it was said there was never a more barbarous, horrible death devised by man. Extremely PAINFUL - books by physicians have been written detailing what the person who was crucified suffered through. It is very hard to read such a book - it inevitably causes agony in the compassionate reader. It is true that multitudes of people suffered crucifixion at the hands of the Romans - a person could, it seems, travel a road in those times and see hundreds crucified along side it. But what does all this mean concerning the physical suffering of our Lord?
Simply this: ALL THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND YES OF COURSE SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE SIN OF ALL MANKIND THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAS PLACED ON JESUS CHRIST WHEN HE WAS SCOURGED AND NAILED TO THE CROSS! THAT INCLUDES ALL SICKNESS, DISABILITY OF ANY KIND ETC! He literally "became sin" on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21)- rejected both by His Father God (which is the basic reason He went through the struggle He did in the garden of Gethsemane - He not did want to be separated from His Father even momentarily - being the Author of Life He would have to experience Death, which was anathema to Him) and by men. Because of the fact that all the consequences of sin - death, physical & mental disorders, sicknesses & diseases of any kind - were placed on Jesus at the cross, God can give us healing of any kind. Ultimately of course the most important healing is spiritual: eternal life (John 3:16 and 17:3). But since Jesus suffered at the cross the spiritual, physical & mental infirmities of EVERY PERSON in all of human history - past, present & future - God can give healing for those who would receive it!
And do you think that Jesus' suffering is now at an end? The Bible states that we as the church are "one body" and that Christ is the head of that body: "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it." (1 Cor.12:26-27) Are the members of His body still suffering? They have been for the last two thousand years, suffering in all sorts of ways, even being martyred for the cause of the gospel. And do you not think that our Lord is experiencing this suffering also? Remember what Jesus asked Saul (Paul) when He stopped him on the road to Damascus?
And this will continue until God calls a halt, Jesus returns again and the world is judged. Note Revelation 6:9-11:
"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."Also note what Paul wrote in Colossians 1:24 -
For a more comprehensive, detailed study of the suffering our Lord endured for our sakes I recommend reading the following:
The Agony of Love
The Suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ
Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion
The Crucifixion of Christ - Fact or Fiction?
Christ's Unique Suffering
Shockwave Animation of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Meditations:Agony at Golgotha/and/The Walk to Calvary
There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save, Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.
Like a Rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
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He is not here, for
He is risen, as He said.
(Matthew 28:6)
