Lately, I seem stuck on the issue of evil in the world. The issue has plagued my consciousness at different times over my years of knowing Jesus. But as I get older and the world seems to get worse, I find myself there a lot. And wouldn’t ya know it, just like God. I open to this in my daily reading just in time for Easter, and it’s not even an Easter devotional.
“The Cross is God’s answer to the question, ‘Why don’t you do something about evil?’ God did do something…and what he did was so great and unprecedented that it shook the angelic realm’s foundation. It ripped in half, from top to bottom, not only the temple curtain but the fabric of the universe itself.
What is good about Good Friday? Why isn’t it called Bad Friday? Because out of the appallingly bad came what was inexpressibly good. And the good trumps the bad, because though the bad was temporary, the good is eternal.
Evil and suffering formed the crucible in which God demonstrated his love to humankind. His love comes to us soaked in divine blood. One look at Jesus—at his incarnation and the redemption he accomplished for us—should silence the argument that God has withdrawn to some far corner of the universe where he keeps his hands clean and maintains his distance from human suffering.
God does not merely empathize with our sufferings; he actually suffers. Jesus is God. What Jesus suffered, God suffered.
A powerful moment in the movie The Passion of the Christ occurs when Jesus, overwhelmed with pain and exhaustion, lies on the ground as guards kick, mock, and spit on him. A horrified woman, her hand outstretched, pleads, “Someone, stop this!”
The great irony is that “Someone,” God’s Son was doing something unspeakably great that requires it not be stopped. Had someone delivered Jesus from his suffering that day, he could not have delivered us from ours.
God ordained and allowed all this-Jesus’ temporary suffering—so he could prevent our eternal suffering.” Randy Alcorn, 90 Days of God’s Goodness.
Powerful words to contemplate as we head into Easter, don’t you think?’