Two Doors

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, 
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that he might bring us to God….” 
​1 Peter 3:18a

   A brother pastor in the LCMS gave an interesting illustration recently, and thought I’d share it with you all, with a few added thoughts of my own. The text was 1st Peter 3, discussing the Christian’s reaction to suffering… why do we suffer, and the danger of that question. 
    “Imagine you’re in a room. That room is the suffering, the pain or heartache we endure. And there’s a door there in that room. On the door is a label: “Why.” And we’re very often tempted to think that the only way out of this room is through that door. So we try the door, but it’s locked. We knock, and no one answers. We start scraping at the door, pounding on it, convinced that that door is the only way out of that room. But the Lord has locked the door because He knows (there are lots of reasons) that there’s no comfort through that door. That’s not the way out. There are some things we are better off not knowing. 
   Yet in the room there is another door. This one is labeled “Who.” There’s this amazing response 1st  Peter 3 gives, when talking about this very topic. It mentions suffering several times (The Christians in those days were persecuted under the Roman empire, which involved no small amount of suffering for those who were scorned, beaten, or imprisoned). Yet when talking about suffering, St. Peter directs our attention back to Christ. His response is “Christ also suffered.” That’s what he says. He knows that the way through ... the comfort comes not through the “why” door but through the “Who” door. (Did we know that door was there?). The “Who” door isn’t a way of escape. That door opens and Jesus comes in. He comes into the room with us: He joins us in our suffering. 
   We always think that if we were more powerful or good we’d never have to suffer. But think about this: the One Who is all powerful and all good… He does something else, not for Himself but for us. He brings Himself into our suffering and suffers along us. One of the names scripture gives for Jesus is “Immanuel,” or “God with us.” (Matt 1:23). He’s even called “the man of sorrows” : “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:2a). 
   The comfort isn’t in the “why” direction, but in the “Who” direction: in Christ, Who suffers with us on the cross. He didn’t have to do this, yet He willingly laid down His life to forgive our sins and guarantee resurrection to the bliss of life eternal. Christ also suffered to bring us from death to life, from unholiness to forgiveness and righteousness. To bring us from discord to peace. From affliction to blessedness. From abandoned to adopted. All of these things. He comes into the midst of our suffering to bless us and carry us through it. God be praised the wisdom of the scriptures shows us that the “Why” door is not the way out, and that Jesus is the one Who comes in to be with us.” He created the heavens and the earth, He overcame death and the grave by rising on the third day; the room will not stay the same forever if Jesus is with us. This idea shows up in many places in scripture, though Psalm 23:4 expresses it very memorably: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
   What matters is that He is near to us. Didn’t He go about proclaiming: “repent, for the kingdom of God is near to you” ? (Matt 4:17) Where Christ Jesus is, there is His kingdom. There is His comfort, and His assurance that suffering and sorrow are not the end. Where He is, there also is the certain promise of joy in eternity. There’s some practical wisdom for those who suffer in abiding in the Word of scripture, in His teaching and in His sacraments. That’s why we Christians stick together, since Jesus said: “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.” (Matt 18:20)