The Suffering of the Son

No matter who you are, or how great your personal resources might be, there is a difficult truth that comes with living in a fallen world. No one can avoid suffering. For many, this leads them to hate God. How, they wonder, could a good and all-powerful God allow such pain, injustice, and misery in the world? Yet even in the darkest of hours, the Christian can find joy and comfort because he knows that God is using suffering to bring about good, and he knows that no one endured more than His Lord. Jesus suffered many things in His incarnation on earth. He providentially lived in poverty in a nation conquered and occupied by Rome. He was persecuted by the Jewish leaders, mistreated by people, and of course He was beaten, whipped, and crucified though He was innocent of any charge. Christ entrusted Himself through it all to the wisdom and goodness of the Father. Should we not do the same? Why should suffering cause us to abandon Christ, when Christ’s suffering did not cause Him to abandon us?