Our Lord Jesus suffered in various ways while He was on earth. Let us examine some of these
ways of suffering and the Scriptures which describe them.

One of the most obvious sources of suffering was from human beings. This was both physical and
emotional and not all of it was from unbelievers. Surely His disciples caused Him emotional pain
when they forsook Him and fled after His arrest, or when they discussed who should be greatest
in the kingdom immediately after He told them of what He must suffer (Mark 9:31-35; 10:32-45),
or just by their general lack of faith and responsiveness.

We know that the hatred of unbelievers reached its fiercest expression after His arrest and was
displayed in the abuse given Him by the priests and their servants, Herod’s soldiers, the Roman
soldiers, and the crowd. This attitude on the part of unbelievers was evident throughout His life,
however. He received verbal abuse from the Pharisees (Matt. 12:24; John 8:48), from the general
public (Luke 8:53), and even from His own relatives (Mark 3:21). In this kind of suffering we as
His people will have a part if we are faithful to Him. It may be physical or emotional. It will come
from unbelievers and may even come from other believers. Let us ask the Lord Jesus to give us
the strength to undergo this kind of suffering as He did_that is, with composure, with forgiveness
toward our persecutors, committing our reputations and needs to Him, and looking forward to the
joy that is set before us.

The Lord Jesus suffered under attacks from Satan. The most explicit account of such an attack is
given in connection with the temptation in the desert after His baptism. The Lord Jesus, of course,
repulsed every one of Satan’s attacks. Scripture does not state explicitly that the Lord Jesus
suffered at this time, but surely Satan’s evil suggestions would cause suffering to Christ’s holy
mind. The effort of having to deal with Satan when He was in a barren environment and weakened
and tired from forty days of fasting (Satan often attacks when we are at a low point, physically)
would have been a form of suffering. According to J. N. Darby, writing in his article, "The
Sufferings of Christ," in The Collected Writings, Satan caused suffering for Christ in Gethsemane
by bringing vividly to His mind all the horrors of crucifixion and being judged for sin. Mr. Darby
uses John 14:30 as his Scriptural basis for these remarks. We know from the experiences of Job
and Paul (2 Cor. 12:7) that Satan can bring physical pain and mental anguish to the believer when
allowed by God to do so. Satan often puts wicked thoughts in our minds and then condemns us
for having them. He uses doubts, discouragement, and depression. Even if we do not give way
to the suggestions, the suggestions themselves cause pain. In every conflict with Satan we must
rely on the Lord Jesus to give us strength and to enable us to use our spiritual armor correctly.

We all know, I am sure, that we suffer because of sin in the world. Sometimes we suffer directly
because of our personal wrongdoing. Sometimes we suffer because we live in a fallen world.
Disease, death, crime, and natural disasters came into the world because of the sin of Adam and
Eve. Now the Lord Jesus, of course, never suffered because of personal wrongdoing, for He
never sinned. Samuel Ridout in Lectures on the Tabernacle states that the Lord Jesus was not
subject to sickness or those physical problems which we associate with the body’s gradual
deterioration as it grows older. Although the Lord Jesus did not suffer in these ways from sin in

the world, He suffered in another way. The very presence of sin and its consequences grieved
Him (John 11:35,38) and He sorrowed when people brought suffering upon themselves because
of their sin. This is shown vividly in His weeping over Jerusalem because of the judgment the
Jews were bringing upon themselves by their rejection of Him (Luke 19:41-44). We also should
enter into this type of suffering because of sin in the world. We should grieve when people bring
suffering upon themselves because of sin. We should also grieve because of the grief and dishonor
their sin brings to Christ. We should all be able to say with the Psalmist, "Rivers of waters run
down mine eyes, because they keep not Thy law" (Psalm 119:136).

Finally, the Lord Jesus suffered in a way in which none of us ever can. I speak, of course, of His
atoning sufferings on the cross where He was made sin for us, where He bore our sins in His own
body. This suffering was distinct from the physical agony of crucifixion or the suffering of being
despised and rejected by men. He atoned for our sins by being forsaken by God with all the horror
and anguish which such a condition implies and which He alone could fully enter into. We will
never be able to understand completely the depths of that suffering. May we respond with love
and reverence when we contemplate the depth and extent of sufferings of our Lord.