Jesus assures us in John 15:18, “18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” This is not a warning to adapt to the culture for safety. It is an encouragement that when the culture is against us, we are on the right path! Can we react to suffering like the disciples did in Acts 5:41 “41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” or do we conform to the world in an effort to avoid the pain of taking up His cross? In times of tragedy and suffering we can bring it to our Lord, leave it at his feet, and ask for relief, peace and comfort. Do we ever take a moment to try to understand the loneliness of the suffering Jesus took on for each of us? My goal with this study is to do just that. Seek to understand the suffering of our savior that led him to ask relief of Father God in Mark 14:36, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Live in repentance, live in empathy, live in grace. Rise Up!
RESOURCES ON SOLIDARITY IN JESUS’ SUFFERINGS
God Has Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time by Desmond Tutu
A Grace Disguised by Jerry L. Sittser
Invitations from God by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
REFERENCES
Ahlberg Calhoun, Adele, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us,
Revised and expanded. (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2015), 221–223.
Essenpreis, Spencer and Kari, “5 Steps to Encourage Someone Who’s Suffering”
Ice, Thomas D., “The End-Time Apostasy” Liberty University, tdice@liberty.edu
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=pretrib_arch