The lens of the Resurrection and suffering

How can one still believe in the Resurrection in the face of all the bloodshed and evil that surrounds us? This is a very difficult question, which is part of an ongoing debate. The key question is how we understand suffering, not how we understand the resurrection.

For many, a worldview which suggest life is one integrated whole, informs the idea that suffering is an abberation from life. Yet when one looks at the life of Jesus Christ, it seems that he lived in the midst of suffering. One could say that for him, suffering was part of life. Of course this doesn't mean that suffering is the aim, or the over-aching theme of life, or that one should be on the lookout for suffering. What it does mean is that one should rather remain conscious of the dynamic tension between the coming reign of God and the allready present reign of God. Within this tension there will remain fragments, moments, periods of pain, suffering and loss, yet these seasons are to be viewed within the reality also of Gods presence in the midst of pain.

Yet there is more. We are also responsible for many a choice and habit which leads to suffering and pain. Whilst the ressurection mean, for Christians, that death has ended and that Evil is conquered, one need to remember that the personal and corporate life of faith is a critical dimension to make this new creation a reality. Adrio Konig, would state that evil and suffering is indeed conquered by Jesus Christ, but we must remember that it is only in Jesus Christ, that we can overcome evil.

Indeed, do we see suffering and the bloodshed and evil through the lens of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, do we see it through the lens of faith? That's the question.