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The Cruciform God
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In the overview of this lesson, Dr. Blehm mentions that the problem of evil and suffering is both a logical and an existential problem. Thus far, we have looked at the logical problem.
But the existential problem is the one that really hits us where we live. What happens when we experience injustice? What happens when we witness evil prevailing over good? What happens when someone we love undergoes great evil, pain, or suffering? That’s when the problem of evil and suffering can shake us to our core.
Habakkuk puts the feeling well: “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?” Whether in Job or the Psalms, Scripture shows us that it is ok to ask God why.
We may not have all the answers, but one thing is sure. God is not in heaven laughing at our suffering. God is not telling jokes to Gabriel about how much my family member suffered with cancer or how many people died in that tsunami. Quite the opposite. Whatever the reason that God allows evil and suffering, he came to earth and participated in human suffering.
Isaiah 53:4-5 puts it well:
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5
“We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin” (Heb. 4:15). As Dr. Blehm so well put it, “We have a God who has and will walk through it with us.” He walks with us through our pain and suffering.