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| Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Entrance |
As explained in my book A Spirituality for Sunday People* this passage highlights the struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. In fact, Satan is cited thirty-four times in the New Testament. He is called “the tempter,” “the evil one,” “the enemy,” “the adversary,” “the prince of devils.” Jesus is forever driving these “devils” or “demons” out of people.
Yes, God ultimately will triumph. Good will conquer evil. But how can we understand evil in the form of suffering?
Our Christian faith proclaims that hidden in every Good Friday is an Easter hope or joy. Think about it. Someone loses a job, or is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or sees a relationship unravel, or has to care for a seriously ill relative. And then this family draws together, supports one another and gradually brings faith, hope and love to their life together.
Sometimes our problems seem to overwhelm us. Our faith challenges us to remember that good ultimately will conquer evil, that love transforms hate, that light shatters darkness. The life of Jesus did not end in the tragedy of the cross, but in the triumph of the Resurrection.
As I reflect on this, I think of a story told by Elie Wiesel in his book The Night. He describes how the SS marched all the concentration camp inmates to view a youngster hanging there dying. Wiesel, a youngster himself, heard a voice behind him say: where is God now?
This is an eternal question: highlighted in the biblical Book of Job, in the Confessions of St. Augustine, in the literature of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and in Rabbi Harold Kushner’s When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
At times, suffering results from immoral behavior, from the misuse of freedom. At other times, suffering results from natural disasters, from an unfinished universe, a universe in process.
So how respond to this mystery of suffering? Remember that God is always near us and forever seeks to bring us to a fuller life. Chisel in your memories the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Can a mother forget her child and, even if she does, I will never forget you.”
We should avoid negative judgments about ourselves. To say “I deserve it” is a form of self-hate.
And finally, remember, the mystery of suffering has healing and redemptive power. There is a darkness about death that even Jesus cried out against. And yet, in the Christian vision, the Spirit who continually amazes us, will surprise us. Hidden in the sufferings of Jesus was the glory of his resurrection. And hidden in our own inescapable suffering is the glory of eternal life.
*See my newest book Integrity: Living God’s Word for more explorations of scripture and life.
