The Three Questions Always Asked in Suffering (Part 1)
Corrie Ten Boom along with her sister Betsie and her father Casper, godly Christians all, at extreme risk to their own lives, hid and protected Jews in their home during the Holocaust. It is estimated they saved some 800 Jews. Eventually they were discovered and arrested. Just ten days after his arrest, Casper fell ill and died in prison. Corrie and Betsie were transferred to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Betsie died there in December 1944. But, even through unimaginable horror, they kept the faith. Betsie said to Corrie right before she died, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” Such suffering for God’s people is very hard to understand.
Mark 1:12-13 does not answer the question of suffering, but it does give us some measure of perspective on the issue through the example of our Savior. Some have claimed this pericope is about the temptation of Jesus itself or about His kingly dominion over Satan. It’s not. Mark’s account is a mere 30 Greek words in length and the word temptation only appears once with no details as to what the temptation was exactly nor any explicit indication that Jesus ultimately prevailed. Mark gives no details regarding any dialogue between Christ and Satan, no quotation of Scripture, no reference even to His title as the Son of God.
It is true that Mark is confirming Jesus as the Spirit-empowered Messiah who will ultimately defeat Satan and he takes time in his prologue to set the stage and prepare his readers for the supernatural conflict that is about to unfold when Jesus begins His public ministry in earnest in Mark 1:15. But, this is not the primary purpose of the text. Mark 1:12-13 is not here as a mere rhetorical device. This actually happened to Jesus. He was driven by God the Holy Spirit into a God forsaken place, surrounded by dangerous wild beasts, starved for 40 days, subjected to a direct assault from Satan himself, all of this on the heels of God’s declaration in Mark 1:11, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I well pleased.”
D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo, in An Introduction to the New Testament, write, “Mark wants his readers to understand that Jesus is the Son of God, but especially the suffering Son of God. Moreover, believers are to be followers of Jesus. Mark also shows that Christians must walk the same road as Jesus – the way of humility, of suffering, and even, should it be necessary, of death.” Mark 1:12-13 tells us how to walk that road well by answering three questions that commonly arise from those who suffer.
Question #1: Why am I suffering?
When we enter into a time of testing our immediate reaction is to ask why. Why me? I am His beloved Son, His beloved daughter. I love the Lord and I have committed no sins that directly correlate to what I am now enduring. So then why am I going through this? We find two answers to this question in our text.
First, because God wills it. Please look at Mark 1:12-13 again with me, “And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan.” There are two noteworthy words here in our text. (1) “Driveth” in verse 12. The Greek word here in Mark is ekballo. Matthew and Luke in their parallel accounts use entirely different Greek words. Matthew uses anago (Matthew 4:1) and Luke uses ago (Luke 4:1) both of which can be translated as “led” to indicate that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Mark uses ekballo a much more vivid Greek verb and he utilizes the historical present which adds to the immediacy of the impact. Mark uses ekballo some 18 times in his gospel – 12 of those instances the verb is used to describe the casting out of demons. Ekballo means to “force to leave, drive out, expel.” (2) “Tempted” in verse 13. The Greek word is peiradzo and it appears as an adverbial participle in the present tense and it follows the controlling verb and whenever peiradzo is used in this way grammatically in the New Testament it almost always suggests purpose. Because we know that the Spirit drove (ekballo) Jesus into the wilderness, the text can be translated as follows, “The Spirit drove him into the wilderness. And Jesus was there in the wilderness for forty days for the purpose of being tested.”
What happened in Mark 1:12-13 was not happenstance. This was not something outside of the control of God. Jesus went through what He did because God willed it. And please notice that Jesus was passive in all of this. The only active verbs in Mark 1:12-13 are not in reference to Jesus, rather the subjects are the Holy Spirit (who drove Jesus into the wilderness) and the angels (who ministered to Jesus while He was there). Jesus did not seek this difficulty out. He did nothing to “deserve” this suffering. He committed no sin that would justify it.
The same can be said of Job. Job suffered because God willed it. God openly acknowledged responsibility for all of Job's suffering. Job 2:3, “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Moreover, God was the One who invited the challenge from Satan in the first place. He initiated the suffering of Job and singled him out when Satan had no intention of doing so (Job 1:8). Job knew God was the one responsible for his suffering. Job 1:21, “And Job said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Satan knew God was responsible for Job’s suffering. Job 2:4-5, “And Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face.’” The divinely inspired author of the book of Job reiterated that it was God who was responsible for the suffering of Job. Job 42:11, “Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and everyone an earring of gold.”
Please make no mistake about this: God is holy and He does no evil. Satan conceived of and executed the evil that came upon Job, but never once does God ever hide from responsibility. And yet, so many Christians try so desperately to get God off the hook. They tell people God isn’t responsible for suffering. Sin has broken this world and Satan is sovereign over all of it. This diminishes God and it does nothing to alleviate suffering. It just makes it much much worse. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God is the King, absolutely sovereign over everything. Ephesians 1:11, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Exodus 4:11, “And the Lord said unto him [Moses], Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?” Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” Lamentations 3:37-38, “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” Daniel 4:35, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, ‘What doest thou?’” The psalmist declares in Psalm 135:6, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” Even the most seemingly random of events are controlled and governed by God. Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole decision thereof is of the Lord.”
There is nothing that falls outside of His purview. There is nothing that occurs independent of His sovereign plan and purpose. And if we tell people that their suffering is outside the will of God – that He has nothing to do with it – we not only tell them something that is wholly unbiblical, we take away the one thing that can bring any measure of comfort in the midst of unimaginable pain. We construct a false reality where their lives are held captive to the whims of the devil, and perpetually at the mercy of a world full of sin and we turn God into the housemaid who comes along in their wake desperately trying to pick up the broken pieces. We make suffering random and meaningless. None of which is true. We need to tell our brothers and sisters in Christ the truth, that no matter how painful, their suffering is within the providence of a God who is sovereign. And His purposes are good and His love endures forever.
Second, not only does God will it, but the greatest servants of God are always the ones who suffer the most. When God sets a person or a people apart for His service, for His glory, difficulties and trials are just a part of the deal – suffering is part and parcel with the call.
In Mark 1:12-13, Jesus, after His baptism, is immediately driven away into trials and temptations. He is starved for 40 days in the middle of nowhere all alone, subjected to temptations from Satan and surrounded by dangerous wild animals. James Edwards in his commentary on the Gospel of Mark sees in the mention of “wild beasts” in verse 13 a specific point of contact with Mark’s Roman audience. Mark is the only synoptic gospel writer to include this detail. Tacitus said of Nero’s persecution of Christians at the time Mark wrote his gospel, “they were covered with the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs.” This, Edwards posits, is a reminder to Mark’s readers that Christ too was thrown to “wild beasts.” He is the prime example as the greatest of Yahweh’s servants and He suffered the most. In Acts 2:22-23, Peter declared, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” And Christ is described in Revelation 13:8 as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Jesus is the best example, but He is certainly not the only one.
In Genesis 15:1, the Bible declares, “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.” This is a peculiar way to begin a relationship with your chosen, covenant people – a promise of 400 years of slavery and affliction in a foreign land, ruled by a pagan people.
In Acts 9:1, the Bible says, “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the goads. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.”
Paul suffered immensely. He writes in 2 Corinthians 11:24-33, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.”
Our Jesus was perfect and yet He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief and He was ordained by God to suffer and to die. And He ultimately changed the world. The nation of Israel suffered exceedingly as the chosen people of God long before they even “deserved” it. But, it was through Israel that the Messiah came. Paul suffered intensely. And he was the greatest apostle who ever lived. God does not minor in suffering, He majors in it.
And this is where so many get things so wrong. So many preach that the ensign of God’s favor is quantified in material blessings – that God gives comfort and ease, health, wealth and prosperity to those He values most. Wrong. They have it exactly backwards. The sign and symbol of Christianity is the cross. And God grants the opportunity to suffer to those He knows will handle that privilege with grace. Suffering is reserved for the best of us. For those who can be used by God to the greatest degree and bring Him glory in the midst of inexplicable pain.
A.W. Tozer said this “‘It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.’…. This is graduate-level grace. Are you willing to enter this school? Are you willing to take the test? If you pass, you can expect to be elevated to a new level in the Kingdom. For He brings us through these tests as preparation for greater use in the Kingdom. You must pass the test first.” The finest soldiers are always the ones up front and casualties are to be expected. War wounds are a badge of honor. The ones who never fall in battle are usually the ones who are the furthest from it. The ones who are the last to experience pain are also the last to experience God’s glory. When we go through suffering as Christians, we often ask why am I suffering? Perhaps the better question would be why am I not suffering more?
(To Be Continued...)