The redemptive value of Christ's suffering

Abstract

Many ask: Why suffering? What is its meaning? Has it any value? Suffering in the world is a reality inherent to human Iife. Man seeks to comprehend its meaning, its paradoxes, its ambiguities, and tries to understand what insights, what Iight, the God-man Jesus radiates on its meaning and purpose. Life is challenged at times by the suffering that comes from being broken; whoIeness is disturbed, iIIness creeps in and indeed death. Man has always tried to avoid it, or at least to minimise it. Although he has succeeded to some extent, suffering is stiII there. Only too naturally one gives vent to the question: "What hope and comfort does the gospel offer to suffering?" A closer look at Scripture and the person of Christ will lead to some life-giving insights. Christ has redeemed man, therefore also suffering: first by passing through it himself, and secondly by showing us how to suffer, nameIy with love and for a purpose. This dissertation attempts to show how Christ lived this through His passion, death, and resurrection, and how we too can do Iikewise, turning suffering into something precious and beneficial to others. Such, in fact, is the Christian's vocation in this Iife: to pass over to Life with the Risen Lord through Christ's hidden wound, which is His abandonment on the cross.