Why We Must Understand Christ’s Suffering
We live in a culture that tends to hurry past suffering. Whether it’s uncomfortable stories on the news, loved ones walking through difficulty, or our own seasons of adversity, it’s easy to wish we could fast-forward. Yet suffering is unavoidable, even in the Christian life.
As we draw near to Good Friday, it’s not lost on me that we can inadvertently hurry past the suffering of our Savior. We know the resurrection is coming—praise God!—and as we look toward the joy and celebration, Christ’s suffering and death can begin to feel like a footnote in the story. But Friday comes before Sunday, and death comes before resurrection. If we neglect to rightly see Christ’s suffering, we fail to understand Him, lose sight of the depth of joy of Resurrection Sunday, and miss the solace offered by our suffering Savior.
A Suffering Messiah
It may sound a bit extreme to say that you can’t rightly understand Christ apart from His suffering, but take a closer look at Mark 8. The disciples had seen Jesus perform miracles by feeding four thousand people and healing a blind man. Then Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). By the grace of God, Peter got it right: “You are the Messiah.”
Just four verses later, Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” What could account for such a dramatic shift?
After Peter’s profession, Jesus began to teach His disciples what the Messiah must do. Four things were “necessary”: He must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again.
Peter presumably didn’t like that. In verse 32, he took Jesus aside and rebuked Him. As my husband recently explained to our youth group, “The Greek word for rebuke here is the same word that has been used throughout Mark when Jesus is rebuking demons. It is not merely that Peter would prefer Jesus not suffer and die—he rejects the idea completely.”1 Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, but suffering, rejection, and death didn’t fit his expectations of who the Messiah should be or what the Messiah had come to do.
Yet the Messiah had to be a suffering King in order to be the propitiation for our sin—the sacrifice that bore the punishment we deserved. This was part of God’s plan from before the foundation of the world. Consider these verses from Isaiah 53:
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely.
When you make him a guilt offering,
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished. (vv. 3–4, 7, 10)
It was God’s plan that the Messiah would be a suffering Savior and for Peter “to stand in the way of Jesus’ suffering and death [which would] take the side of Satan, the one who is always, unsuccessfully, at work to thwart God’s plan.”2 This is why Jesus rebuked Peter so sharply—because to reject Christ’s suffering is to stand against God’s plan.
If we fail to understand Christ in light of His suffering, we risk doing the same.
What We Miss When We Overlook Christ’s Suffering
If understanding Christ as the suffering Messiah is essential to the Christian faith, then rushing past His suffering means missing rich, biblical truths that comfort and ground our hearts. Here are three to consider:
1. The Great Cost of Our Sin and the Magnitude of Christ’s Sacrifice
Sin is costly. As believers, we’re familiar with this phrase. But when was the last time you paused to truly consider the cost of your sin?
The eternal Son of God—the One who had never known sin, suffering, sickness, or pain—took on human flesh. He walked the earth He created. Fully God and fully man, He suffered and was killed by those He created in His own image—those He had declared “very good.”
He willingly laid down His life and shed His blood so that undeserving sinners like you and me could have peace with God.
Hebrews 2:10 says, “For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—for whom and through whom all things exist—should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
When we pause to remember that Christ not only suffered, but did so in our place and for our sake, how can our hearts not be humbled and grateful?
2. The Deep Sorrow and Joy of Resurrection Weekend
Just as a diamond’s true beauty shines most brightly against a dark background, the joy of Jesus’ resurrection is seen most clearly when juxtaposed with the sorrow and suffering of Good Friday.
We’ve read the Good Friday accounts, so we know what happens. But those who witnessed the crucifixion firsthand, didn’t know with certainty how things would play out.
To them, Good Friday must have looked bleak. Jesus was dead. The sun had gone dark. The earth quaked. Mary had lost her son. The disciples were scattered. Though Jesus had told them He would rise again on the third day, their hearts were still human.
How heavy those hours must have felt. How deeply grief must have settled in their bones.
And then—imagine their joy when they saw the risen Savior. How much sweeter the reunion after the sting of separation and the searing pain of loss?
The same is true for us. We can—and should—celebrate the resurrection at all times. But when we pause to understand Christ’s suffering and death—when we sit in the solemnness of loss and recognize the profoundness of His sacrifice—the joy of His resurrection becomes even more precious.
3. The Comfort of a Suffering Christ
When you are in a season of suffering, where do you turn for comfort? I turn to people who understand—those who have walked a similar path themselves and can respond with compassion. What a great comfort it is, then, that Christ, our great High Priest, knows suffering intimately.
He is not distant or indifferent to our sorrows. He is present with us in our trials. He strengthens us and intercedes for us—not as one untouched by grief, but as the Man of Sorrows, more acquainted with suffering than you or I will ever be.
He was mocked, tested, and scrutinized by the religious leaders. He was betrayed by one of His own disciples while most of the others abandoned Him. On the cross, Jesus endured not only the full wrath of God but the agony of His Father turning away from Him.
This is the Savior that comforts us in our affliction. This is the Christ who offers us strength and compassion when suffering feels suffocating—when we wonder if we can take another step.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14–16)
Gaze at the Suffering Savior
This Good Friday, don’t turn your face from Christ’s suffering or hurry past it on your way to the resurrection. Take time to gaze at our suffering Savior. As you do, may your heart be comforted and anchored by the rich truths revealed through His sacrifice.
1 Collin Gibson, “Mark 8:27–9:1” Sermon Notes, JIBC, Johnstown, OH, January 29, 2025.
2 Gibson, “Mark 8:27–9:1.”
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