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Faith That Suffers Mark 8:31-33

So, why does God have to suffer? If God is all-powerful, why come down to earth, take the human form, and then die in one of the worst ways imaginable?

There are a lot of answers to this question — why? — but the one that strikes me the hardest is, simply, because we suffer. We have to endure pain, sometimes undeserved, and we die, sometimes in pretty horrible ways. Imagine if Jesus hadn’t suffered. Imagine that Jesus came, had an awesome time, and then just went back up to heaven. Prayer might go like this: “God I’m having a hard time, but you understand… oh wait, you don’t.”

Jesus does understand, because he was totally human. He has been through it all, life and death. I have a saying that I never ask anyone to do something I would be unwilling to do myself. Christians are often asked to keep faith through unimaginable suffering. I believe they are able to do it because they know they are not alone.

By Stephen Mazingo from D365

UMC

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