The Suffering of Christ
I’ve often wondered about the suffering of Christ. I find it difficult to distinguish between what Jesus endured on His cross and the suffering endured by faithful martyrs. In fact, some of the martyrs seemed to have endured more painful torture than Jesus’ crucifixion. Peter, for example, is said to have been crucified upside down. Wouldn’t that have been more painful than being crucified the “regular” way?
Of course I knew that Jesus was the Son of God. Certainly, it was a big condescension for Him to have takes upon Himself a human nature, let alone dying on the cross. Yet, the doubt lingered: Wouldn’t the fact that He was God have made it easier for Him to suffer? After all, didn’t He know that He would come back to “avenge” His humiliation in power and glory – a luxury denied most human sufferers? I’m totally ashamed of my foolishness when the truth finally hit home. I realize that His suffering was infinitely greater than that caused by mere physical pain. His death was a far greater sacrifice than I had ever imagined!
There are two types of death in Scripture, one called sleep (John 11:11,12), which is the death we commonly speak of; and the other, the second death (Rev 2:11, 20:6, 21:8). According to the Bible, Jesus tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9). He died for all (2Cor 5:15). Since every man tastes the common death (“sleep”) for himself, this cannot be what Jesus tasted. Whatever it was that Jesus went through, it was so that we may not have to go through it ourselves. Therefore, what Jesus experienced on the cross had to be the equivalent of second death that all sinners – that is all of us – were doomed to experience.
Scripture says, “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Iniquity separates the soul from God (Isaiah 59:2). The separation from God leaves the soul desperately alone, with any sense of security all but gone. This separation overwhelms the soul with darkness so deep, guilt so strong, that it finally crushes out life. This is an utterly hopeless death, an eternal separation from God, good bye to light, joy and life forever. This is what Christ tasted, the full bitter cup of despair and ruin of second death, the eventual wages of sin.
Christ did not carry our iniquity as a man might carry a bag of potatoes on his shoulders. He bore “our sins in His own body” (1 Peter 2:24). He bore our iniquity, our burden, our guilt, deep within His own soul. For our sake, He was “made” to be sin (2Cor 5:21). This shut off from Christ the sunshine of His Father’s face and drove Him into the depths of darkness incomprehensible to a finite mind. As He felt the withdrawal of His Father’s presence at Gethsemane, “Christ’s soul was filled with dread of separation from God…The sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ, and the sense of God’s wrath against sin was crushing out His life…In His agony He clings to the cold ground as if to prevent Himself from being drawn farther from God” (Desire of Ages p687). The intense soul suffering evoked from Him a perspiration of blood (Luke 22:44). His humanity shuddered before the terror of the second death. With quivering lips He groaned out a prayer: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt 26:39).
Though bitter as His experience was at Gethsemane, Christ had not yet drained the cup to its bitterest dregs. Throughout His life, Jesus enjoyed a bright confidence in His resurrection and in the Father’s acceptance of Him. Despite the hiding of His Father’s face at this hour, Jesus did not yet completely lose His joyful confidence: He was still able to assure the repentant thief, “you shall be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
But Christ had to pay the full price for our sins. He was to experience in His final suffering, a complete darkness that veiled from His sight the expectation of a resurrection. Had He been buoyed up by any hope of resurrection in His final hour, to that extent He would have come short of “tasting death for every man.” The wages of our sins would not have been paid. But this cannot be, for then, the gospel would be a sham!
The hour finally arrived when the Savior was to drink His cup to its last bitter drop. The Satanic agencies joined forces and pressed the soul of Jesus to the depths of despair no man has ever crossed before. “If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt 27:40). “Let God deliver Him now if He will have Him” (Matt 27:43). The priests confidently taunted the Savior, certain that He was accursed of God, for it is written: “anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deut 21:23). Jesus knew the verse better than anyone else; and the mocking words of the priests wrung His heart as they deepened His sense of separation from the Father. He must have desperately wanted to cover His ears! However, with His hands nailed to the cross, all He could do was pray. But there was no answer! “O My God, I cry in the day time but You do not hear,” He complained (Psalm 22:2). In bitter anguish the Savior cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46).
He now felt the terror of total separation from His Father. “The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt”(Desire of Ages p753). Even nature refused to behold this terrible scene of suffering: Darkness covered all the land and mercifully veiled His tear-strained face, marred with superhuman agony. Only His broken, sobbing groaning from the depths of His tortured soul could be heard in the pitch blackness that enveloped Calvary.
In this fearful time, “hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror.” “The Savior could not see through the portals of the tomb”(Desire of Ages p753). Yet He still decides that “He will save men and ANY COST TO HIMSELF!” (Desire of Ages p.693) His love is stronger than the fires of hell. His love is deeper than the depths of second death. And nothing can stop Him from finding us, except our own stubborn heart. It is my prayer that His love will find us today. He deserves it!
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Amen!
Eric Chung attends Westchester Korean SDA Church with his wife, Jane, and four children. He leads out a weekly small group in Wall Street.