Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
One of the beautiful titles that is given to Jesus is ‘the suffering servant’ inspired by the prophetic writing of Isaiah. In Christian theology, Jesus in embracing our humanity, embraced suffering, not as an end in itself but a means by which he would fulfill his mission, entrusted to him by the Father, bringing about the liberation and transformation of the world.
There is an inherent mystery to all human suffering. We rail against it and often, understandably see in it a roadblock to our belief in a God who is good and loving. We hear it in such comments: How could a good and loving God permit the slaughter of innocent children in Sandy Hook? How could a good and loving God permit the Holocaust? How could a good a loving God permit a pandemic killing hundreds of thousands of people?
Theologians and philosophers have pondered the question of evil and suffering down through the centuries. Frankly, I have found there ‘explanations’ of little use as I sit quietly at the side of grieving parents who have lost their child to cancer.
Yet, it is precisely at moments of suffering that has no logical rationale that the Lord asks us to trust that, from God’s perspective of eternity, all will be well. In the end, the suffering servant beckons us to let his own words on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” be transformed into, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”