Often, in the midst of our own suffering, we have a tendency to look up at God and say "Why Me?". Why am I suffering? What have I done to deserve this pain? Is God mad at me, or unjust, a terrible God without compassion? Many Christians came to Christ expecting their sufferings to be alleviated, and yet found that, often, their suffering continued unabated. We can better understand suffering, the reason for suffering, when we look into the life of our Lord Jesus. If any had a reason to legitimately ask the Father "Why Me?", it was Jesus. Yet, as you look through the Scriptures, you will find no place where Jesus blamed the Father for the life of suffering that He led. There's a lesson in that. Let's look at the unique sufferings of Jesus.

The fact that Jesus lived a life of suffering while on the earth is well documented. Isaiah chapters 50, 52, and 53 record the pre-Cross, Cross, and post-Cross sufferings of our Savior. The suffering that Jesus endured was unique in that they were a ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY means toward the completion of His mission:

Luke 24:25-27 "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

There is a beautiful song called "Mary Did You Know?". I can't remember who sings it, but every time I hear it it makes me cry. Though I do not believe that Mary understood from the beginning that the precious Child she bore would suffer so, I do believe that she came to understand, in time, that her Son had to bear more suffering than anyone else had ever endured. Though we, as Christians, point to the suffering of Christ on the Cross (and this was a terrible burden He bore for us), we often forget the suffering that He endured prior to that dark day. He endured these suffering stoically, knowing that each splinter, each stripe, each cursing was necessary so He could buy the package of salvation for we who believe.

John 15:18-23  "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.  But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.  He that hateth me hateth my Father also."

Jesus was hated by the world without valid reason, and He warned us to expect the same type of hatred. He was persecuted, derided, cursed, defiled, but not because of anything He did. Jesus, eternal God of eternal God, took on flesh to walk among mankind. For so many years man had hidden his sin under the cloak of religion and overt righteousness. The Pharisees, dressed in finery, made a show of their righteousness, paraded their giving and prayer in the streets. The Saducees, ignoring the Scripture, taught that there was no true resurrection, that once one was dead he was dead. Fatalists all, they jockeyed for power in the halls of the religious power mongers, praying to a God they barely believed. The Scribes, the scholars of Israel, theologically training but without the heart of God promoted ritual without reality, doing without purpose, action without love.

I remember one Christmas we were allowed to open up our presents, but because we got up late we didn't have very long to play with them. You see, we had to go to Grandma's house, so we left our presents behind. These things were mine, but I had to leave them behind. Oh, the sense of loss! I knew they'd be there, but the thought tormented me that these things could not be enjoyed until later. A small example, but imagine this on a greater scale. Jesus, very God of very God, stepped out of His position of power and authority and came to earth as man. On a daily basis He knew that He was God, but refused, of His own will, to exercise that power of deity. He had to live His life like us, you see. He had to live His life through the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Christians are called to do today. This caused suffering.

Mark 10:32-34 "And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,  Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:  And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."

Add to this the knowledge that soon, just a few short years, and you will be nailed to a Cross of shame. Jesus knew this Cross was coming. The vile heathen often point to Scriptures like "take up His Cross" and crow, "See, the Scripture is a man made object. Jesus didn't even know about the Cross yet. How could He be speaking about it?". No, dear fool, He knew about the Cross. It loomed in His thoughts every hour of every day, like a shadow of a vulture passes over a dying man in the desert. He knew that Cross was coming, knew this was part and parcel of His mission, knew that He had to endure even this final vile act to pay for our sins. Knowing this, He also knew that there would be vile heathen that would ridicule the thought of that payment, toss it away as garbage. He knew that foul mouthed atheists would mock, just as He knew that others would spit on His suffering flesh in the midst of His moanings. He knew.

Jesus was never selfish or boasting, never self righteous, yet He was mocked as a fool. The mocking came because so many looked into the light that was His life and saw their own shortcomings, their own failures. The Scribes, the theologians were shown to be empty of God's empowerment when they stood next to the power of the Living God-Man. The Pharisees in all their finery looked dingy in comparison when Jesus, in His simple peasant's clothing, stood next to them. The Saducees were exposed as power mongers when they watched this beautiful man kneel down and, with deference, wash the crud of the day off of His disciple's feet.

Matthew 4:1-2 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."

Jesus' sufferings were not just those that man brought on Him, but were also brought on Him by Satan himself. Our Lord voluntarily lowered Himself from Heaven to walk among us, willingly refused to exercise His rightful power as God. Was spat on and reviled by man. Yet, this was not enough. Satan had to come to Him and test Him directly, tempt Him directly.

Imagine the arrogance of Satan! Here he is, created by God, and tempting God to bow down to him. Jesus, who had been without food for forty days, met this greatest suffering without flinching. With each temptation Jesus responded, "It is written", showing us who follow Him how to respond to Satan in the midst of suffering. Too often we, in our agonies, look about for someone to blame. Shall we blame God? Yes, let's blame God, for He allowed this trial to come. Shall we blame man? Yes, let's blame man, for someone should be able to alleviate my pain. Some doctor should know what to do, some wise person should know what to say. Blame man. Should we blame Satan? Yes, blame Satan, lash out and curse him, that old devil.

Jesus blamed none. He answered, "It is written", and showed us that unless we have God's Word stored in our hearts, we shall never be able to survive the bad times that come. "It is written" placed the answer to Satan in God's court. "It is written" made it impossible for Jesus to rely on His own power in defeating Satan. Yes, "It is written".

John 8:41  "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."

Mark 6:3  "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him."

Jesus was born of a Virgin, His flesh created in the womb by God Almighty. Yet everywhere He went the Jewish community treated Him as if He were illegitimate, a mongrel, a bastard. The Jews told Him "We have one Father", implying that He was the son of many fathers. They referred to Him as "the son of Mary". In Jewish society you never referred to someone as the son of a woman, it was always "the Son of Joseph, the son of Zebediah". In Jewish custom the line or genealogy always was reckoned through the male parent, not the mother. When they called Him "the son of Mary" the insult was understood by all. "Here is Jesus, son of a prostitute, son of a whore, without known Father". These slights and slanderings are also recorded in ancient Jewish literature, calling Him the "bastard son of Mary":

"I found a genealogical roll in Jerusalem wherein was recorded, Such-an-one is a bastard of an adulteress." - R. Shimeon ben Azzai (100 AD)

"Current editions of the Mishnah [the 'oral' traditions of the rabbis in the Talmud] add: 'To support the words of R. Yehoshua' (who in the same Mishnah, says: What is a bastard? Everyone whose parents are liable to death by the Beth Din).' That Jesus is here referred to seems to be beyond doubt..."  (Joseph Klausner, "Jesus of Nazareth)

Jesus walked with disciples who often followed Him, usually for less than noble reasons. Some followed because He was a curiosity to them, some for political gain (they thought He was going to lead a revolt against Rome), and some because of the miracles He worked in their lives. These same disciples walked with Him, but never sought to help Him in His sufferings.

Matthew 16:21-23 "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

Often when I'm sad or in tribulation it is a great relief to be able to share my troubles with someone, anyone. A burden shared is a burden lightened. When Jesus began to share His coming trials and sufferings, Peter REBUKED Him rather than listen. Jesus suffered, and suffered alone. When He went the Gethsemane and asked these pitiful men to pray with Him in His hour of greatest agony they WENT TO SLEEP (Matthew 46.36-46). While they were sleeping and He was praying for the strength to endure, Judas was working on a betrayal that would go down in history as the most heinous crime anyone ever saw.  Jesus was alone, truly alone, as no others have ever been.

From eternity our Lord had always known the presence of God. He had never known sin, never experienced death. For over 5000 years man had slapped God in the face with his sin, and now Jesus prepared to pay that penalty of sin. In all man-made religions man has to do something to make his life right with God. But only in Christianity, the true Faith, did God do something to make man right with Himself.

Luke 22:53  "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

What a terrible burden to be tried for something you're accused of, and know within yourself that you're guiltless but BE UNABLE to defend yourself. Jesus went through six illegal trials, all brought on Him by pompous theologians and politicians. These trials were illegal because of many reasons. First, no one in Israel was supposed to be tried the day before a Sabbath or a holy day, and Jesus was tried then. Second, trials were to be committed in the day, not at night, and in the presence of witnesses. Third, it was illegal to bring false witnesses to bear on a trial, and yet they hired witnesses to lie about Him. By the Laws of Israel those who judged Jesus should have been taken out in the streets and stoned for their injustices. Jesus had no defense council, though Mosaic Law commanded one. Jesus was brought before Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, then to Caiaphas the High Priest, then to Pontius Pilate the governor, then to Herod Antipas the puppet king, who sent Him back to Pilate. Jesus went through SIX trials, and in all of them they could find no reason sufficient to legally execute Him. Finally, Pilate "washed his hands" of the situation and ordered Jesus murdered, not executed, then went to eat his supper.

Prior to His execution Jesus was abused (all in good fun) by the same type of heathen that abuse Him today. He was mocked by the guards, beaten, His beard torn out, stripped naked, and a crown of thorns were pushed down on His head. Though these thorns were just a neat form of cruelty devised by the sadists who tormented Him, they also symbolized the fact that Jesus was paying for Adam's Fall:

Genesis 3:18  "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field"

Adam brought thorns on the earth, Jesus paid for even those thorns. He was stripped naked to shame Him, but even this action looked back to the Garden. When Adam and Eve sinned they looked at themselves and discovered "Hey, we're naked". Sin brings with it nakedness and shame, and Jesus went to the Cross naked to pay that terrible price. He suffered, died, and paid our penalty.

Christ was buried in a new tomb. This was significant, too. His suffering was ending, His glory beginning. Jesus suffered through His life, His ministry in order to be a blessing and a Savior for us. He rose again on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of God in glory. You see, Jesus knew from eternity past that He would have to bear this burden.

When you suffer, do not assume that God has abandoned you. Your sufferings, much like Christ's, are often the hand of God in your life leading you to something more glorious. Your sufferings, no matter how terrible, have never approached the suffering that He did for you and I. Look for the hand of God in the midst of your pain. God's hand was in Christ's life, and He was in God. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, and suffered for us. He endured that suffering - not just the Cross, but the pre-Cross sufferings, both physical and spiritual, for us. Rest in Him, in God, in Christ in the midst of your suffering. Rely on Him, who suffered uniquely for us all.