Jn 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
When we talk about the things that Christ did, we like to focus on the things that are the miraculous – like the changing of water to good wine, the raising of the dead, the feeding of the 5 thousand – rarely do we talk about, the more unglamorous and unpleasant things that Jesus did, for instance, His suffering – in such references as:
Mt 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Mt 17:12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.
Mk 9:12 To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
Lk 9:22 The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Lk 17:25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Lk 22:15 I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Lk 24:26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?
LK 24:46 This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.
Mention suffering and many preachers will go the other way. For surely suffering is not part of the deal and not part of our prosperity in Christ. However, Jesus’ first promise to Paul was, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16) In fact in Rev 2:10, Jesus Himself said, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer… and you will suffer persecution for ten days…”
When Paul was faced with sure a promise as Acts 9:16, he embraced it and indeed he lived it.
Ro 5:3 (Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance) - He rejoiced in it.
Ro 8:17-18 (Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.) He said his suffering was his guarantee that he was coheir with Christ. As such, our suffering is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us.
2 Cor 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Indeed to Paul, the knowledge of Christ is incomplete with the fellowship of his sufferings.
Phil 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death
To become like Christ in His death is to become a sin offering, for that was what Christ did for us – our sin offering to God, who made Him who was without sin to be sin, that we might be the righteousness of God through faith in Him. There is no shying from the suffering, for as John said in Rev 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus…
The kingdom of God, which according to Jesus, does not come visibly but is within us.
Lk 17:20-21 The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.
And that is the kingdom that Jesus has conferred unto us, for all things that belong to God belongs to Jesus.
Lk 22:29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me
And in Luke 12:32 (Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.), the Lord said, the Father was pleased to give you the kingdom.
Since the kingdom of God is part and parcel of suffering and patient endurance – suffering and patient endurance are like the nail scarred hands of Christ that takes hold of the kingdom of God and makes it ours and His.
So if we are to look for the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of Jesus, to prepare the kingdom of the King’s return, where will we find it? It is in the suffering members of the Little Flocks, and that’s where we are going to go.
Furthermore, suffering sorts out the cowardly, for few would willingly suffer and it is in the midst of suffering that cowardice is revealed. So that, is us, it may be repented of and forgiven and in the world, it may be revealed and retained, which is which in:
Mk 13:19 those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now--and never to be equaled again.
Repentance now is our cowardice and fear and our forgiveness of each other is designed to reduce the suffering though we share it. So that though we are crucified in Christ, few of us are physically crucified. The loss of our cowardice means there is less to hinder our courage, and courage without cowardice is good courage, that God told Joshua to have in Jos 1:8. And good courage is God’s courage, as the suffering we face reveals us to be the cowardly that we might repent.
Those who will not repent, will be revealed for their cowardice in the midst of suffering and unto them will be added more fear and cowardice, and more suffering that they may repent. There may be those who do not believe but by suffering are shown to be of good courage, those will not be condemned as cowardly.
Peter writes in 1 Pet 2:20-21 …if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
And His footsteps leads to life everlasting in the fullness of the Power of God.
Amen.
