Suffered

Passage: Lord's Day 15

For the past two months I’ve suffered with tennis elbow (no, I don’t play tennis, I just have the elbow). It’s surprisingly painful, and affects almost every movement of my arm – from opening doors to brushing teeth to pouring milk. It’s no fun having persistent physical pain. Not that I can complain. To this point I’ve lived a relatively pain-free life. I’ve enjoyed the ability to engage in a lot of physical activity. I’ve been spared any serious illness. I’ve had it pretty good.
But I’m getting older (why didn’t anyone tell me this was going to happen?). My body doesn’t bounce back the way it did when I was 21. Repetitive activities like shoveling snow and lifting small children take their toll. My body hurts.

In Lord’s Day 15 the Heidelberg Catechism deals with Jesus’ suffering. Lord’s Day 15 argues that Jesus suffered not only on the cross (which we take as a given) but throughout his life on earth. This may seem like hyperbole. Did Jesus really suffer “during his whole life”? Well, let’s think about it. Life begins with the pain of being thrust into light and noise and cold after enjoying the safe haven of the womb. This is followed by the pain of being handled by much bigger people who aren’t always as gentle as they could be. The pain of emerging teeth; skinned knees and bitten lips. Growing pains. Physical and emotional bruises from playmates and peers. Being born into human flesh and growing up in human space, God subjected himself to pain. Jesus suffered in ways that, prior to the incarnation, God had known only vicariously. Jesus’ suffering began at birth and reached its climax on the cross. Jesus suffered with us by partaking of our full humanity before he suffered for us as the sacrifice for our sin.