Part Two: What Can We Learn About Suffering From Jesus?

Pain is to be valued.Jesus left with us an important model when it comes to living with suffering.  We see it in his way of handling leprosy.  Leprosy is a disease in which the body’s nerves become diseased and the leper not longer feels sensation and pain.  This lack of pain receptors causes corruption and decay to his organs, including the skin and bones. He does not feel the small cut so infection sets in.  He does not feel the insignificant boil, so toxins increase.  He does not feel the fire burn his skin, so his extremities become damaged. As he lives with his affliction, a leper begins to fall apart. The root of his affliction is the victim’s inability to experience pain. For the human being, pain is a good thing.  It keeps him healthy.Lepers suffered from more than the physical disease.  Throughout history lepers have been banned from social contact, because leprosy is considered contagious.  The Old Testament law commanded that lepers be put outside the camp. A leper, while he didn’t feel physical pain, did experience the emotional pain of being cast out, isolated, and shunned.Jesus healed the lepers physically, restoring to them the experience of pain. As the Creator, He grew toes and fingers and noses back on to the leper. Jesus did this so that they would be healthy.  Pain is good.More than that, Jesus dealt with their emotional pain.  He did not keep the leper at a distance from the community as people expected and the Law commanded.  Instead, Jesus had the lepers come to him.  And right there, with everybody watching,  He touched them. One leper, then another, and another.   God touched the untouchable!  Jesus reached out and took their suffering.The Greek word for “touch” is “hapto” which means to kindle a spark or light a fire.  As Jesus reached out and kindled a healing spark on the leper, the LORD took that disease into his own body.  This left the victim immediately healed.  Jesus “bore” that disease.In the healing process, Jesus gave “pain” back to the leper.  When the leper was healed, his now healthy body started experiencing pain again, which was what the Creator intended.  Pain was a necessary signal to the person to keep him healthy.Throughout Scripture it is written that we will experience the “bread of affliction and the water of adversity.”  Isaiah 30:20 tells us, in the midst of suffering, we actively will be taught.   “Your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.”  Consider the function of the Holy Spirit.  He is our teacher, the Comforter. (John 14:26)  He is one who comes along beside the believer as the Paraclete.   He carries our loads.  He tells us which way to turn. He lifts back the veil of incomprehension and reveals the secret of the ages. He shows us what pain is all about.  In God’s economy, pain is valuable. It is our classroom.  In it and through it, our relationship with God is cultivated and nourished. In Christ,