My friends keep me worried.  There’s a lot of bad news out there and some of it happens to them.  I am amazed what they can go through.  I have now lived long enough to get some idea of what life can do to people.  I gave up my rose colored glasses a long time ago.  The “happy ever after” that ends every fairy tale evaporated.  The Apostle Paul’s words in  1 Corinthian 11:29 ring so true to me.  “When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones.”

I care.  I really do.  You can tell me a story of your loss, go home and get a good night’s sleep – and I will be the one who stays awake.  It’s not so much because I am a good guy.  It’s because I am a sufferer, too.  And my heart resonates with your loss and pain.  It’s natural and understandable.

But I wonder about this.  I ask how spiritual this really is.  Do I have the kind of reaction to suffering the disciples had when Jesus told them that the hour of darkness had come, that the ruler of the world was going to do his worst to Jesus?  Their response was to rescue Jesus, to refuse the suffering.  Understandable.  Good friends.  Loyal.  Sacrificial. And wrong.

Jesus said to the disciples that they had to understand something they had missed.  The suffering will come but it has no power.  I can hear them saying “huh?”  They could have responded, “No kidding around, Jesus.  That’s going to be real blood you’ll be shedding.  And that pain will be no Christian Science illusion. Very few men will know the kind of hurt to which you’ll be introduced.  Your humiliation will become legendary.”

Jesus’ response?  “The world must know that I love the Father.”  Take away the test and you take away the proof, the kind of proof that wins the world and reconciles it to God.

Jesus’ response to His disciples was “don’t try to rescue me – just be with me. I have work to do.”  And, of course, soon, very soon, the disciples would carry their own crosses, too.  All but one died a martyr’s death.  And Jesus didn’t do for them what He asked them not to do for Him –  keep Him from suffering.

Every one of us as Christ’s followers has this mission, to prove to the world the worth of our faith and the love for our Father.  But don’t worry.  The ruler of this world has no real power over your friends.  At times they may think he does.  But he doesn’t.  They are simply on a mission of which you cannot relieve them, to suffer for the Name. 

So be with them.  Understand the nobility of their mission.  Pray for their courage and endurance.  Support them in their noble perseverance.  Minister to their need.  Wash their feet, anoint their heads, break bread together and remember Christ.  But let them get on with their mission!