Lesson 13, September 17-23
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:7, 22-24; Matthew 2:1-18; John 8:58, 59; Luke 22:41-44; Matthew 27:51, 52; Romans 6:23; Titus 1:2.
Memory Text: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
Whenever we look at the issue of suffering, the question comes: How did sin and suffering first arise? Through divine revelation we have good answers: They arose because free beings abused the freedom God had given them. This leads to another question: Did God know beforehand that these beings would fall? Yes, but obviously He thought it was, as C. S. Lewis wrote, “worth the risk.”
Worth the risk? For whom? For us, while God sits in heaven on His throne? Not exactly. The freedom of all His intelligent creatures was so sacred that, rather than deny us freedom, God chose to bear in Himself the brunt of the suffering caused by our abuse of that freedom. And we see this suffering in the life and death of Jesus, who, through suffering in our flesh, has created bonds between heaven and earth that will last throughout eternity.
The Week at a Glance: What did Christ suffer in our behalf? What can we learn from His suffering?
Sunday, September 18
The Early Days
Scripture gives us little information about the early years of Jesus. A few verses, however, tell us something about those conditions and the kind of world the Savior entered.
Read Luke 2:7, 22-24 (see also Leviticus 12:6-8) and Matthew 2:1-18. What do we see in these verses that gives us an indication of the kind of life Jesus faced from the start?
Of course, Jesus was not the first person to live in poverty or to face those who wanted to kill Him, even from an early age. There is, however, another element that helps us understand the uniqueness of what Christ suffered from the earliest times.
Read John 1:46. What element does this add to help us understand what sufferings the young Jesus had faced?
With the exception of Adam and Eve before the Fall, Jesus was the only sinless person who ever lived on the earth. In His purity, in His sinlessness, He was immersed in a world of sin. What a torture it must have been, even as a child, for His pure soul constantly to be in contact with sin. Even in our hardness because of sin, we ourselves often shrink away from exposure to sins and evil that we find repulsive. Imagine what it must have been like for Christ, whose soul was pure, who wasn’t the least bit tainted by sin. Think of the sharp contrast between Himself and others around Him in that regard. It must have been exceedingly painful for Him.
Ask yourself, “How sensitive am I to the sins that exist all around us? Do they bother me, or am I hardened to them?” If you are hardened to them, could it be because of the things you read, watch, or even do? Think about it.
Monday, September 19
Despised and Rejected of Men
Read the following verses, all the while keeping in mind the fact that Jesus was divine, the Creator of heaven and earth, and that He came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (Matthew 12:22-24; Luke 4:21-30; John 8:58, 59). How do these verses help us understand the sufferings that Jesus faced here on earth?
Whether by leaders, or even by the common people, Jesus’ life, acts, and teachings were constantly misunderstood, leading to rejection and hatred by people He came to save. In a certain sense it must be like a parent who sees a wayward child in need of help, and though the parent is willing to give everything for that child, the child spurns the parent, heaping scorn and rejection upon perhaps the only person who can spare that child from utter ruin. That’s what Jesus faced while here on earth. How painful it must have been for Him.
Read Matthew 23:37. What does it tell us about how Christ felt about the rejection? As you read, ask yourself, too, “Was He feeling bad for Himself (as we often do when facing rejection), or was it for another reason?” If for another reason, what was it?
We’ve all felt the sting of rejection, and maybe our pain was similar to Christ’s in that it was unselfish: We were pained, not because we were rejected, but because of what the rejection would mean for the one who was rejecting us (perhaps someone we care about who refuses to accept salvation in Christ). Imagine, though, how it must have felt to Jesus, who was fully aware of what He was to face in order to save them, and at the same time fully aware of what the consequences of their rejection would be. “It was because of His innocence that He [Christ] felt so keenly the assaults of Satan.” — Selected Messages, book 3, p. 129.
What can you learn from Christ that can help you better cope with the pain of rejection? What does His example show you? How can you apply it to your own life?
Tuesday, September 20
Jesus in Gethsemane
“And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch” (Mark 14:34).
Whatever Jesus suffered throughout His 33 years here on earth, nothing compared to what He started to face in the last hours before the cross. From the eternal ages (Ephesians 1:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:8, 9; Titus 1:1, 2) the sacrifice of Jesus as the offering for the world’s sin was planned, and now it was all coming to pass.
What do the following verses tell us about Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane? Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:33-36, Luke 22:41-44.
“He went a little distance from them — not so far but that they could both see and hear Him — and fell prostrate upon the ground. He felt that by sin He was being separated from His Father. The gulf was so broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. This agony He must not exert His divine power to escape. As man He must suffer the consequences of man’s sin. As man He must endure the wrath of God against transgression.
Christ was now standing in a different attitude from that in which He had ever stood before. His suffering can best be described in the words of the prophet, ’Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.’ Zechariah 13:7. As the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was suffering under divine justice. He saw what justice meant. Hitherto He had been as an intercessor for others; now He longed to have an intercessor for Himself.” The Desire of Ages, p. 686
Dwell upon what was happening to Jesus in Gethsemane. Already the sins of the world were starting to fall upon Him. Try to imagine what that must have been like. No human being has ever been called to go through anything like this before or since. What does this tell us about God’s love for us? What hope can you draw from this for yourself?
