– We can’t run away from him:
Gn 3,16-19 : I will multiply the sufferings of your childbirth; you will give birth in pain.
Job 7,1-3 : So I was also lucky months of suffering and nights of pain fell to me by sharing.
Job 14:1: Man born of woman lives for a short time and is full of miseries.
Wis 2,1 : Short is our life, and full of sorrows; for death there is no remedy.
Wis 9:15 : For the corruptible body makes the soul heavy, and the earthly dwelling oppresses the spirit burdened with care.
Eclo 40,1-9 : A heavy yoke weighs down the children of Adam, from the day they come out of their mother’s womb.
– It can be a divine ordeal:
Ps 31:10 : Many are the sufferings of the wicked. But whoever waits on the Lord, his mercy envelops him.
Eclo 7,1ss : Do not do evil, and evil will not deceive you. Turn away from injustice, and injustice will depart from you.
Ez 23,35 : You will also bear the weight of your criminal prostitution.
Mt 16:24 : If anyone wants to come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
1Th 3,3 : So that, in the midst of present tribulations, no one should be afraid.
2Tm 3,12 : For all who want to live godly, in Jesus Christ, will have to suffer persecution.
Heb 12,5-11 : My son, do not despise the correction of the Lord. Do not be discouraged when rebuked by him.
– Suffering can be a path to God:
Tb 3,13s : I turn to you, O Lord, to you I lift up my eyes.
Acts 14:22 : Saying that we must enter the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.
1Cor 11:32 : But being judged by the Lord, he chastises us so that we are not condemned with the world.
2Tm 2,11s : If we die with him, we will live with him. If we know how to persevere, we will reign with him.
2Tm 3,12 : For all who want to live godly, in Jesus Christ, will have to suffer persecution.
1Pet 4 :1: Therefore, as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also.
Rev 7:14 : The survivors of the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
– Accompanies a man throughout his life:
Job 14:1: Man born of woman lives for a short time and is full of miseries.
Eclo 41,1-2 : O death, how bitter your memory is for the man who lives in peace in the midst of his goods.
– Will disappear at the end of time:
Is 25,8 : And he will make death disappear forever.
Is 35,10 : Joy and joy will possess them; sadness and complaints will flee.
Rev 21 : 4 : He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying.
– In the OT we are aware that God also dominates evils, misfortunes and sufferings:
Job 2:10 : If we accept happiness from God, shouldn’t we also accept unhappiness?
Eclo 11,14 : Goods and evils, life and death, poverty and wealth come from God.
Is 45,7 : I formed the light and created darkness, I seek happiness and create unhappiness.
Am 3,6 : Will calamity come upon a city that the Lord has not prepared?
– Suffering is often linked to sin:
Gen 3:16-17 : Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree I had forbidden you to eat.
Gen 12:17 : But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Gen 42:21 : Verily, we are guilty of the crime committed against our brother, because we saw the anguish of his soul.
Job 4:17 : Can man be righteous before God, can mortals be pure before their Creator?
Job 5,3-4 : I saw the foolish man take root, and suddenly his dwelling place rotted away.
Job 15:34-35 : For the race of the wicked is barren, and a fire will devour the tents of the corrupt.
Wis 2:24 : It is through the envy of the devil that death entered the world, and those who belong to the devil will taste it.
Is 3,11 : Woe to the wicked, for him evil; because he will be treated according to his works.
Jr 7,6-7 : If you do not oppress the foreigner, the orphan, the widow; unless you shed innocent blood in this place.
John 9:3: Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but the works of God must be manifested in him.
– That’s why the prosperity of the wicked scandalizes the biblical authors:
Job 21,7-18 : Why do the wicked survive and grow in power as they age?
Ps 16,9-10 : Far from sinners, who want to do violence to me. My enemies surround me with fury.
Ps 34,19-20 : Do not rejoice over me, my treacherous enemies, nor plot with their eyes those who hate me without cause.
Ps 72,4-10 : There is no suffering for them, their bodies are robust and healthy.
Jr 2,1-6 : I remember your affection when you were young, your betrothal love, when you followed me into the desert.
Hab 1:13 : Your eyes are too pure to see evil, you cannot look on suffering.
– God, however, can allow suffering in his providence as a test of faith:
Tb 12,12-13 : But because you were pleasing to the Lord, temptation had to prove you.
Job 1–2 : In all this, Job committed no sin, nor did he utter any blasphemy against God.
Job 42 : Job replied to the Lord in these terms: “I know that you can do anything and that nothing is impossible for you”.
– Conversion:
2Mc 6,12-13 : Let them consider that these punishments were aimed not at the ruin, but at the correction of our race.
2Mc 7,32-33.36-37 : The living God and our Lord was angry with us for a little while, he will be reconciled again.
– Consequential love:
Wis 4,7-14 : He pleased God and was loved by him, so (God) transferred him from the midst of sinners where he lived.
– To prepare something better:
Wis 3,1-8.13-14 : But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them.
Is 53,10-11 : But it pleased the Lord to crush him by suffering; if he offers his life as an atoning sacrifice.
– Jesus knows suffering and showed compassion towards the sufferers:
Mt 9,36 : Seeing the crowd, he was moved with compassion, because they were weakened and downcast.
Mt 14:14 : When he went ashore, seeing the large crowd, he had compassion for them.
Mt 15:32 : I have pity on this crowd: behold, they have been near me for three days and have nothing to eat.
Lc 7,13 : Seeing her the Lord, moved with compassion towards her, said to her: “Do not cry!”.
Jn 11,33-34 : Seeing her cry like that […] Jesus was deeply moved.
– Who proclaim blessed not as such, but because they are loved by God:
Mt 5,3-12 : Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!
Lc 6,21.23 : Rejoice in that day and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
Jn 9:3: Jesus replied: “Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but the works of God must be manifested in him”.
Jn 11:4 : This disease will not cause death, but it has the glory of God as its purpose.
– Burdened with suffering:
Mt 8,17 : He took our infirmities and burdened himself with our bad bones.
Is 53,4 : Truly, he took upon himself our infirmities, and carried our sufferings.
– relieved him:
Mt 8,3.13.15 : Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said: “I want to, be healed”. Instantly, the leprosy disappeared.
Mt 9,6.22 : “Get up”, he said to the paralytic, “take your mat and go back to your house”.
Mt 11,18-19 : John came; he wouldn’t drink and he wouldn’t eat, and they said, “He’s got a devil.”
Mt 12:13 : He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand”. He stretched it out, and it became whole as the other.
Lc 4,40-41 : All those who had sick people with different diseases brought them to them. Laying his hand on them, he healed them.
Lk 14,3-4 : Jesus addressed the doctors of the Law and the Pharisees: “Is it lawful or not to heal on the Sabbath day?”.
Lc 17,14-15 : Jesus saw them and said to them: “Go, show yourselves to the priest”. And as they walked along, they were healed.
Jn 5,6-7 : Seeing him lying down […] Jesus asked him: “Do you want to be cured?”.
Jo 9,5-6 : Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and with the mud he anointed the eyes of the blind man.
-Foretold suffering for himself:
Mark 8:31 : And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things.
Mk 9:31 : And he taught his disciples: “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him”.
Mark 10:33 : Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests.
Mk 14:33 : He took with him Peter, James and John; and he began to be terrified and troubled.
Lc 22,22 : The Son of Man goes according to what is determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!
Jn 15:27 : You too will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
– Was consummated by him in passion:
Mt 27,27-50 : The governor’s soldiers took Jesus to the praetorium and surrounded him with the whole platoon.
Jn 19:30 : When Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said: “It is finished”. He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
– And so he can understand and help those who are in trial:
Heb 2:18 : Because he himself endured tribulation, he is in a position to come to the aid of those who are afflicted.
– Jesus foreshadowed the suffering of his disciples:
Mt 10,24 : The disciple is not more than the master, the server is not more than the boss.
Mt 16:24 : If anyone wants to come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
Lk 9:23 : If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Jo 15,20 : The servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
Acts 14:22 : They confirmed the souls of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith.
Rom 5 :3: Not only that, but we boast even of tribulations. For we know that tribulation produces patience.
2Cor 4,8 : In everything we are oppressed, but we do not succumb. We live in complete penury, but we do not despair.
2Cor 7,5 : There were afflictions on every side, fighting outside, fears within.
2Co r 8,2: In the midst of so many tribulations with which they were tried, they spread generously and with overflowing joy.
2Cor 11,23-33 : I have often seen death up close. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
2Cor 12,7-8 : I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me and deliver me from the danger of vanity.
1Th 2:14 : You had to suffer from your countrymen the same as they suffered from the Jews.
1Th 3,3 : So that, in the midst of present tribulations, no one should be afraid.
2Tm 3,12 : For all who want to live godly, in Jesus Christ, will have to suffer persecution.
Heb 10,32-33 : Remember the days of old, when you were enlightened. How long and painful struggles have you sustained.
Jas 1,2-3 : Consider that it is the greatest joy, my brothers, when you go through various trials.
– It is a characteristic of the present times:
Rom 8:18 : I consider that the sufferings of this life have no proportion to the glory to come.
1Th 1,6 : And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the Word.
1Th 3,3 : So that, in the midst of present tribulations, no one should be afraid.
1Pt 1,6 : This is what constitutes your joy, despite the temporary afflictions to be caused to you.
1Pt 3:14 : And you will even be happy if you suffer anything for righteousness’ sake!
Rev 1,9 : I, John, your brother and companion in tribulations, in royalty and in patience in union with Jesus.
– For the Christian, suffering must be a stimulus to perseverance:
Rom 5 :3: Not only that, but we boast even of tribulations. For we know that tribulation produces patience.
2Th 1,4-5 : We boast of you in the churches of God, for your constancy […] in the midst of all persecutions.
Heb 10:33-39 : Perseverance is necessary for you to do the will of God and obtain the promised blessings.
Jas 1,2-3 : Consider that it is the greatest joy, my brothers, when you go through various trials.
– By faith:
1Th 3,2-3 : Timothy, our brother […]. He has a mission to strengthen and encourage you in your faith.
Heb 12,4-5 : You have not yet resisted to the point of blood in the fight against sin.
– The fortress:
2Cor 12,10 : Because when I feel weak, then I am strong.
Phil 4:13 : I can do all things through him who comforts me.
Col 1,29 : The purpose of my work, the reason why I fight aided by his strength that works powerfully in me.
2Th 1:11 : In this hope, we implore you unceasingly, that our God may make you worthy.
– To union and conformity with Christ:
Jo 16,33 : In the world you will have afflictions. Courage! I have conquered the world.
Rom 8,35-36 : Who will separate us from the love of Christ? The tribulation? The anguish? The chase? The hunger? The nudity? The danger?
Col 1,24 : What is lacking in the tribulations of Christ, I complete in my flesh.
2Th 1,5 : They constitute an indication of the righteous judgment of God and that you will be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God.
2Tm 3,11-12 : What persecutions I had to suffer! And the Lord delivered me from them all.
1Pt 2,18-25 : Indeed, it is pleasing to God to suffer setbacks and to suffer unjustly.
1Jn 2,14-15 : Children, I am writing to you because you know the Father. Fathers, I wrote to you because you know the one who exists.
– And we should be joyful also in suffering:
Mt 5,10ss : Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets.
Acts 5:41 : They left the hall of the Great Council, full of joy, for having been found worthy to suffer reproaches.
Rom 8:18 : I consider that the sufferings of this life have no proportion to the glory to come.
1Cor 1,3-7 : I never cease to thank God for you, for the divine grace given to you in Jesus Christ.
1Cor 4,17 : He will remind you of my rules of conduct, as I teach them everywhere, in every church.
1Cor 7,4s : Do not deny each other, unless by common agreement, for a while, to apply yourselves to prayer.
1Cor 8,2 : If anyone thinks he knows something, he still doesn’t know anything as he ought to know.
Col 1:24 : Now I rejoice in your sufferings.
Heb 10:34 : Not only did you have compassion on those in prison, but you joyfully accepted the confiscation of your goods.
Jas 1,2s : Consider that it is the greatest joy, my brothers, when you pass through various trials.
1Pt 2,20-25 : What merit would anyone have if he patiently endured the lashes for having done evil?
1Pt 4 :12-14 : On the contrary, rejoice in sharing in Christ’s sufferings.
