A little talk with Jesus
Disciples on the road to Emmaus
One of my favourite stories in the New Testament is the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35). Jesus, who the disciples thought was the expected Messiah, had died a gruesome death, his body was missing (or so they thought since the women’s story of Jesus being raised was unthinkable and could not possibly be true) and these two disciples were going home discouraged.
As they are walking a stranger comes up beside them and starts a conversation. After listening to their story, the stranger says to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26). Then the stranger proceeds to explain to them what Scripture says about the Messiah. Only later do these disciples recognize the stranger is Jesus himself!
I have often been a bit jealous of these disciples. What did Jesus say that day? Which texts did he talk about? What were the important things the disciples needed help to see? Since I cannot go back to that day in person, I have to trust that the disciples passed on what Jesus said to others and that those things were eventually put into writing and are included in what we now call the New Testament.
Scriptural examples of suffering
We will never know exactly what Jesus said to the disciples that day on the road to Emmaus, but with hindsight from the New Testament writings and Christian tradition I can begin to imagine. Perhaps he spent time talking about the many heroes of faith who experienced suffering:
Abel (Genesis 4) was a shepherd; he looked after animals. His older brother Cain was a farmer; he worked the soil and produced crops. One day both men brought an offering to God from the fruits of their labour. Abel brought an offering out of the first and best of his flock. Cain brought some fruits of the soil. For whatever reason (the Bible is not clear why), God was pleased with Abel’s offering and not with Cain’s. Cain became angry and took it out on Abel, killing his brother in cold blood. Abel suffered injustice because of his faithfulness to God.
Though not the oldest, Joseph (Genesis 37–50), the firstborn of his father’s favourite wife, was the favoured son of 12 brothers. He knew it. So did everyone else. His brothers were jealous and, when the opportunity arose, they got rid of him, selling him to slave traders heading to Egypt.
In Egypt, Joseph continued to experience God’s blessing and got noticed. His slave owner noticed his hard-work ethic and success in whatever he did and elevated him to one of the top positions in the household. Then Joseph got noticed by his master’s wife for entirely different reasons. Rather than give in to the temptation of adultery, Joseph flees the scene. But it’s his word against the wife’s and, though he did no wrong, Joseph is thrown in prison. He suffered injustice because of his integrity.
As a young boy, David (1 Samuel 16–31) was anointed as the next king of Israel. The current king, King Saul, however, was still very much alive and as David matured into his role of warrior and leader becoming more successful in his campaigns than Saul had ever been, Saul became more and more jealous. Numerous times he tried to kill David, sending David running and hiding and fearing for his life. David suffered injustice because of his success.
“Have you considered my servant Job?” Job, we are told, was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Job had many riches, a large family, and was known as the greatest man in the region.
Unknown to Job, a divine challenge was issued: would Job still praise God if all his blessings were stripped away? Would he fear God even when his own health was taken away and he was left with next to nothing? This challenge set in motion what, for Job, could only be called a ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day’ (to quote author Judith Viorst). All his livestock was stolen or caught in a fire, his servants were killed, and his sons and daughters died when a house collapsed on them. When it looked like things could not possibly get worse, Job began to itch all over and he sat down in a heap of ashes in painful agony. All this because he feared God.
Jeremiah was a prophet, calling Judah to repent of their sins and turn back to the Lord. Instead of listening to Jeremiah, Judah plotted against him. He was repeatedly threatened with death. He was thrown into a cistern. The scroll containing his prophecy was torn up and burned by the king. He was dragged off to Egypt as Judah fled the invading armies of Babylon. Jeremiah faced all this injustice because he dared to speak for God.
And then there’s more
We could go on. Abraham left his home and his family to wander about in the desert. Moses was regularly the recipient of the Israelite’s grumblings. Elijah was hunted by an angry queen. Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a blazing furnace. Prophets faced ridicule, torture, death. Hosea was left multiple times by his wayward wife. These characters show there was already a precedent for the righteous suffering.
After these examples, I suspect Jesus also brought up Isaiah 53 and the theme of the suffering servant found there. Much of the prophets’ message was related to injustice. Either the recipients of the message were treating others unjustly and needed to repent, or they were facing injustice at the hands of others and needed hope that one day there would be judgment against their oppressors.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 offers hope in the midst of this injustice. The Lord’s servant is unduly treated, suffering beyond what he deserves. He “was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (53:3). He was pierced, crushed, punished, and wounded. He was “oppressed and afflicted” and “cut off from the land of the living” (53:7–8).
But suffering does not have the last word. The servant “will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” (52:13) and “after he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied” (53:11). He will be given “a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong” (53:12). The suffering servant would suffer in this world for his faith and trust in God, but, ultimately, the servant will be exalted.
An upside-down concept
For the disciples not to have caught on earlier, the things Jesus explained to them must have been quite upside-down. The disciples did not have a category for a Messiah that would suffer. He was supposed to be a mighty warrior who would defeat the Romans and re-establish the nation of Israel. Prior to his death, Jesus tried to warn the disciples of what was to come, telling them that he must be handed over to the authorities and killed (Matthew 16:21-28). This was such an upside-down idea to Peter that he takes Jesus aside and rebukes him for saying such things. There is no way, in Peter’s mind, that the Messiah would suffer and die. The category did not even exist.
Oftentimes, we as Christians do not have a category for suffering Christians either. Yet why should we be surprised? Suffering has been the norm for faithful followers of God throughout history. Jesus warned us that this suffering would continue on earth but he promises that suffering is not the end. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). One day, those who remain faithful to God, will also be raised with him in glory!
Suffering doesn’t have the last word
Like the disciples, we hope and long for the time when suffering will be no more but unlike the disciples who had no category for a messiah who suffered, we have the example of Jesus who did not come for the purpose of being exalted as the Jews hoped. Instead, he came to participate in our sufferings with us, going as far as giving up his very life. Early Christians described it this way:
Paul urges the church to live with the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Following Jesus’ example will mean facing suffering in this world but in Jesus, there is also hope.
Jesus’ submission to suffering and death was victory over sin. God raised him up and exalted him. Now Jesus extends the invitation to us to join him his victory. While we still live in a world full of suffering, because of his great victory, we have hope that we too will someday be raised with him in glory. Our present sufferings will not have the last word! Hallelujah!
