The Problem of Suffering

The Book of Job 

‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’. 

‘Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes.’

‘Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not receive the bad?’

Job is a righteous man who is visited with tragedy and suffering: the death of all his children and an illness which sees him infected with painful sores all over his body. His suffering and whether God is just is the subject of the Book of Job in the Old Testament. If we suffer even when we are righteous and follow the law, is God therefore unjust? For the writers of this book, suffering cannot be seen as visited upon Job as punishment for a secret sin he is not aware of – his three friends that come to lament with him, but then accuse him of wrongdoing are shown to be in error. The book therefore refutes the idea that God punishes us for our sin. However, Job is shown to be self-righteous and lacking in humility. God’s ways are revealed as being far above and beyond what we as mere mortals can understand. In contending with and accusing God of injustice, Job has overstepped the mark: he must learn his place and give due reverence and submission to God – even in the face of overwhelming tragedy and ill health. 

The Book of Job left me feeling pretty uncomfortable and somewhat confused about justice, suffering and God. Yes, there is a lesson to be learned about understanding as mortals our proper place in the universe and God’s almighty transcendence and otherness. The hard lesson of the story that God gives and takes away is a true description of the majority of people’s lives on earth – and one that can foster a holy humility and thankfulness. However, I believe that the Incarnation transforms our experience of suffering. Suffering remains a varied and diverse experience, at times painful, inexplicable, unwelcome, sometimes necessary, helpful, disciplining, horrendous, awful and many other things besides – but, in Christ Jesus we have a companion and friend who even though divine, suffers and changes as a mortal human being. He, though God, knows the human lot and therefore humans no longer ever suffer alone, but always with Jesus at their side. 

What difference does this make? Well, for me it makes a lot of difference to learn that God is not only transcendent and other, but also just like me – as the Second Person of the Trinity – as Jesus Christ – a human who loves, learns, suffers, dies and so on. Christ, crucified by the world, knows what it is to be attacked, scorned, betrayed, beaten and murdered. God is with us in all the places that the world can take us. God is with us and does not turn away. That for me makes all the difference. It doesn’t give me an answer to: why do we suffer? It doesn’t make suffering go away – but I hope that it makes it bearable. And it gives us as human beings a model for how we should care for one another – by getting alongside anyone who suffers and being with them. Not explaining away their situations with platitudes and pious morality, but with gentle empathy and compassion teaching us to walk alongside one another. Our best medicine against despair is to remember Jesus by our side and to get alongside others.