THE INESCAPABLE HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF PAIN AND SUFFERING

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE

THE INESCAPABLE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
OF PAIN AND SUFFERING.

“My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke
in the name of the Lord, AS AN EXAMPLE OF
SUFFERING AND PATIENCE” (James 5:10).

It is not possible to traverse through our earthly life and to avoid either pain or suffering. The faithful Prophets, Saints, Martyrs, and the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church attest to this very fact. These Holy people of God are truly the models and examples for us in how to practice “suffering and patience.” Consequently Christians, from the New Testament era even till today, have honored or venerated these faithful and righteous servants of God.

Orthodox Christian Holy Fathers and Mothers view pain and suffering not as punitive, but as divine medicine (therapeutic) that purifies one’s soul, breaks down pride, ego, arrogance, and fosters humility and meekness. It is likened to a “crucible” or spiritual surgery that burns away sinful passions and fosters dependence on God. Suffering IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR SALVATION and is considered a manifestation of God’s agape, allowing believers to participate in Christ’s Passion and grown in virtue. Like gold in a furnace, suffering burns away spiritual impurities, pride, and self-indulgence. Trials and tribulations strip away illusions of self-sufficiency, forcing reliance on the Almighty God. Furthermore, pain acts as a wake-up call to spiritual sickness, leading to repentance and in many cases, protecting the soul from greater, eternal harm. Enduring, “with thanksgiving, with hope in God and without muttering” allows, “the soul, the landlord. [to] rejoice eternally in the heavenly palace.”

Saint John of Kronstadt described the Lord as an, “artful physician” using “sorrows, illnesses, and misfortunes, in order to purify us.” Our holy Father among the Saints Saint John Chrysostomos noted that because of the Fall, pain is necessary because, “not hurting usually corrupts you” and keeps us from “doing evil.” And Saint Macarius of Optina taught that “without sorrows we cannot be humbled nor come to spiritual wisdom.” Also Saint Paisios the Athonite emphasized that, “when the body is tested, then the soul is sanctified.” As we can see, suffering is considered inevitable for those following our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, a path through which, “we must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.”

Orthodox Christian theology teaches that Our Lord and Savior, being PERFECT GOD, is at the same time also PERFECT MAN. As Man, our Lord Christ was born when for Mary, His mother, “the days were accomplished that she should be delivered” (Luke 2:6). He gradually “grew and waxed in spirit” (Luke 2:40). Living the physical life natural to a man, the Lord also lived the life of the soul as a man. He strengthened His spiritual powers with fasting and prayer. He experienced human feelings: JOY, ANGER, SORROW. He expressed them outwardly: “He was troubled in spirit” (John 13:21), showed dissatisfaction, shed tears–for example, at the death of Lazarus. The Gospels reveal to us a powerful spiritual battle in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He was taken under guard: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38)–thus did the Lord describe the state of His soul to His Holy Disciples.

The rational, conscious human will of Jesus Christ unfailingly placed all humans striving in submission to the Divine will in Himself. A strikingly evident image of this is given in the Passion of the Lord, which began in the Garden of Gethsemane: “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). “Not My will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42),

Concerning the truth of our Savior’s fully human nature, the Holy Fathers of the Church speak thus: Saint Cyril of Alexandria: “If the nature which He received had not had a human mind, then the one who entered into battle with the devil was God Himself; and it was therefore God Who gained the victory. But if God was victorious, then I, who did not participate in this victory at all, do not receive any benefit from it. Therefore I cannot rejoice over it, for I would then be boasting of someone else’s trophies.”

The Church has always strictly guarded the correct teaching of the TWO NATURES OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, seeing in this an indispensable condition of faith, without which salvation is impossible.

Orthodox theology teaches that Jesus Christ is one Person (the Logos/Word) in two distinct Natures–DIVINE and HUMAN–UNITED WITHOUT CONFUSION OR CHANGE. Because Christ assumed a “PERFECT AND COMPLETE HUMAN NATURE” (body, soul, will, and emotion), He truly experienced ALL NATURAL HUMAN LIMITATIONS, INCLUDING HUNGER, THIRST, PAIN, GRIEF, EXHAUSTION, AND DEATH. However, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ assumed human nature that was NOT sinful in itself, but subject to the physical consequences of the Fall (hunger, thirst, death). These are called “blameless passions” or “natural human weaknesses” that He took upon Himself for our salvation.

When our Lord Christ was speared, crucified, or whipped, the pain was experienced fully by His human body. He did not merely “appear” to suffer (as heresy known as Docetism), but truly felt the agony of the crucifixion. The Holy Gospels record our Lord sleeping (Mark 4:38), being hungry (Matthew 4:2), and thirsty (John 19:28), all of which confirm the reality of His HUMAN NATURE. Orthodox theology insists the Jesus was truly one of us–like us in all things, except WITHOUT SIN–so that He could REDEEM OUR ENTIRE BROKEN HUMAN NATURE.

While going through life here on earth all human beings, without exception, experience both pain and suffering and eventually death. As followers of Jesus Christ, Christians, are strengthened by the Divine example of Him Who sacrificed His life on the Cross to save us. When we encounter trials and tribulations in life we must confront them with faith and courage. No Christian must cower before the many challenges in life but instead to endure whatever we face with the hope that the All-Merciful God is with us ready to come to our aid when asked.

The true and genuine Christian believer has the image of Christ on the Cross suffering and in agony while he or she may be going through something similar but not as intense. Jesus’s suffering and pain went beyond the physical because as a PERFECT MAN He was unjustly made to suffer by the hands of “lawless” and sinful men. One of the hymns chanted on Holy and Great Thursday states: “Thou wast crucified, for my sake, that Thou mightiest pour forth salvation for me. And Thy side was pierced with a spear, that it might cause rivers of life to flow for me. Thou wast fastened with the nails; and so realizing the depth of Thy Passion and the height of Thy might, I will cry unto Thee, Glory to Thy passion and to Thy Crucifixion, O Life-Giving Savior” (Beatitudes, Tone 4).

No human being seeks willingly to feel pain or to suffer. As a matter of fact mankind has invented a variety of ways to either reduce physical pain or suffering or to eliminate them all together by using drugs or anesthesia. However, there are human conditions which cannot be seen that cause unbearable pain and suffering such as emotional or psychological illness or trauma and of course spiritual injury of the soul brought about sin. Disappointments, betrayals by friends or relatives, lack of love, infidelity, adultery, physical, mental and emotional abuse, abandonment, selfishness, estrangement from God, and unkindness can also inflict pain and suffering to an innocent person. Needless to say, the Christian’s only treatment is to turn to the healing power of God. It is by the grace of God that we, as Christians, are able to endure all that life throws at us. Our faith in Him and in His unconditional love will give us the hope and strength to overcome all our suffering and pain.

Orthodox Christianity offers comfort in suffering through unceasing and heartfelt prayer–specifically the JESUS PRAYERS (LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME A SINNER”)-which transforms pain into a means of union with Christ’s Passion and a source of divine strength. Rather that just asking for relief, prayer is used to find INNER PEACE, surrender to God’s will, and cultivate gratitude, ultimately acting as “spiritual medicine: that anchors the soul. We must understand and view it as an opportunity to share in the sufferings of Christ our Lord, turning pain into a “a beautiful” experience of His agape. Elder Paisios advised focusing on praying for others during one’s own suffering to find comfort. (Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology and Holy Bible)

_______________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George