Dr. Ron Sumners
November 1, 2009
As we reflect upon the story so far, we might be tempted to think that Joseph was almost superhuman.
Joseph’s reaction to incredible trials makes most of us feel we are a long way from being the kind of person that Joseph was.
But this young Hebrew was human, and we get a glimpse of his human frailty as he pleads with the cupbearer of Pharaoh to speak a good word for him and help get him out of prison. It was clear to him that he had done nothing to deserve his imprisonment. (40:14-15).
Joseph was not a fatalist. He was not sitting in his jail cell singing, “Whatever will be, will be.” He recognized that all of his days and his decisions were under God’s providential care. But he also realized that God had given him a mind with which to think, the ability to take initiative and influence many people in Egypt.
Joseph’s request was simple. When the cupbearer was released, Joseph asked him to “remember me … show me kindness … mention me to Pharaoh … get me out of this prison” (v. 14). But Joseph was treated unjustly again. The cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
What a story of injustice, and what potential for bitterness. Joseph was opposed, imprisoned, maligned, misunderstood, slandered, falsely accused, and wrongfully persecuted. (Apart from that, everything was fine!) Once again, in the details of Joseph’s life, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.
Peter reminds his readers of Jesus: “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, he entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Joseph was definitely a foreshadowing of Jesus!
Just like Joseph, we will experience seasons in our lives when we find ourselves on the receiving end of accusations, slander, and other forms of mistreatment. This is hard to take when it is undeserved. It comes like a hard slap in the face that stuns and surprises us.
But, if trouble in the form of unjust suffering is sure to come our way, and Jesus says that it will (John 16:33), and then we need not be taken by surprise. We need to know how to handle it when it comes.
The first thing we need to understand is that suffering is not the unusual exception for the Christian. Therefore, we should not be surprised when we suffer unjustly.
Peter writes to the church, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). Don’t be taken off guard by unjust suffering. That is the way Jesus suffered. No one has ever endured more unjust suffering, than did Jesus! And when we suffer in the same way, we are actually participating in Jesus’ sufferings.
The great temptation for Christians is to regard suffering as a strange misfortune; something totally out of step with what following Jesus is all about. After all, doesn’t Romans 8:28 promise us that God will bring good out of all the events of our lives?
The problem is often the way we define what is good. Most people think of “the good” as health, security, and prosperity. Anybody who has that idea is going to be surprised by suffering.
How did we arrive at the conclusion that following Jesus was a walk in the park? Where did we get the idea that serving Christ is a guarantee against trial and pain and persecution?
We didn’t get it from Jesus. He guarantees just the opposite. “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). And in His life, our Lord was the supreme example of one who suffered unjustly.
During the trial of Jesus, Pilate said repeatedly, “I find no basis for the charge against Him” (John 18:38; 19: 4, 6). The Roman governor knew Jesus’ enemies had delivered Him up out of jealousy, not because He had done anything wrong. Nevertheless, Pilate had Jesus cruelly flogged and then turned Him over to be crucified.
With Jesus’ experience in mind, consider the question Peter asks, “How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).
The punishment Jesus endured was totally unjust, and yet we are told that His suffering is an example for us, so that we might “follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Where did the idea of easy faith come from? It did not come from Jesus. Nor did it come from Joseph. His life story, to this point, is nothing but a saga of unjust suffering and trial.
The contemporary American church is too quick to believe that every experience of unjust suffering has to do with times and places far removed from us.
This is simply not true. Paul says of the Apostles, “We have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:13). That is what the world really thinks of Christians.
Paul is speaking of himself and his colleagues, ministers of the Gospel, and he says that the world treats them the way we treat the stuff we put down the disposal after a meal. It is little wonder that the Romans could throw Christians to the lions and burn them as human torches. You aren’t very concerned about how you treat the garbage!
Someone has said that Christians are going to be the “Jews of the 21st Century.” It has already begun. All over the world Christians are mistreated, persecuted and not tolerated. Can you not see that the attack of September 11th was about Fundamentalist Islam against Christianity? To them, we are the infidels. American relief workers are jailed in Afghanistan, prisoners of the Taliban. What is their crime? They were sharing the Gospel!
The Roman Empire, in which Paul lived, was a pluralistic culture. Pluralism says that truth cannot be found in any “one” dogma or person. Syncretism advances that notion and says it is in the blending of all those entities that we arrive at the truth.
So, the Romans practiced polytheism, the worship of many gods. If someone showed up with a new god, the Romans simply moved the others over a bit and made a place for the new god.
How was it, that in such a religiously diverse and tolerant culture, they persecuted Christians in such a relentless way? It was because Christians were not prepared to merely add Christ to the list of gods. They worshipped Him as the only God!
Christians refused to say that Jesus was just another god or another expression of religious reality. They declared with Peter, “There is no other name given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We must do the same. And when we do, we must not be surprised when suffering comes. If we have “the” truth, then it is worth suffering for.
People will say, that this is an arrogant, intolerant position. Do we think we are the only avenue of truth? No, we believe that Jesus Christ is!
If a position is true, to hold firmly to it is not arrogance. And if it isn’t true, to hold to it is just stupidity.
The world, in which we live, is pluralistic and increasingly hostile to Christianity. There is real persecution of believers around the world. In such a world, if you are going to stand for Christ, don’t be surprised when suffering comes.
I believe that the church is in for a real testing in the 21st Century. We have never had to suffer real persecution for our faith in the United States. Our day of immunity to that reality may soon be over.
Pluralists can only tolerate other pluralists! They are mercilessly intolerant to those who do not subscribe to their views. Also, those who claim “the only” reality, that includes Christianity and Islam, can never co-exist peacefully because both claim ultimate truth and Allah of Islam is a merciless, hateful god. Allah is not the god of the Bible, no matter what pluralists say!
When we declare that Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and when people know where we firmly stand, we will become a thorn in the side of a pluralistic world. Don’t be surprised when you suffer for being a Christian!
One problem with unjust suffering is the tremendous temptation it brings to throw in the towel and to quit trying to maintain one’s integrity and standards of righteousness.
Joseph is a classic example of one who had every reason to say, “What’s the use of trying to be righteous?”
As he sat in that Egyptian dungeon, Joseph could have said, “That’s it. I might as well do what everyone else does. I don’t see where trying to obey God and maintain my integrity is working to my benefit. I am in prison because of an immoral woman. I don’t deserve this.”
We have no record that Joseph thought these things, but the temptation was there because he was a human being. You may be tempted to reach the same conclusions in your life. It does seem, at times, that the rascals who are cheating on their spouses and their taxes are having a great time, while the righteous often wind up in the pit for doing right.
F.B. Meyer said, “Do right because it is right to do right. And when you determine to do right because it is right, then when you are misunderstood, ill-treated, and the victim of unjust suffering, you won’t swerve, you won’t sit down, you won’t whine, and you won’t despair.”
That’s the wonderful thing about Joseph. He wasn’t in the dungeon whining that he had been so ill-treated. He had determined to do right because it was right. He understood that a consequence of that might be suffering!
Are you having a hard time? Think of Jesus. Is someone lying about you? Think of Jesus. Are you feeling like throwing in the towel and giving up? Consider what Jesus endured. After all, “in your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:4) the way Jesus did. You aren’t dead yet, the writer of Hebrews says, so don’t give up!
Ours is the most litigious society in the world. There are more lawsuits here than any other place on earth.
One of the reasons is that people are so vengeful. When they suffer wrong at the hands of someone, or even perceive that they have suffered wrong, their response to the other person is, “I’ll get you in the end!”
Refusing to seek revenge for wrongs suffered can prevent this attitude. When Jesus was reviled, He didn’t revile in return. When he suffered, He didn’t curse or threaten His tormenters.
Paul says that when we refuse to take our revenge, instead returning evil with good, God becomes our defender (Romans 12:19).
It is a great mistake to spend our lives trying to justify ourselves, explain our motives, or get scrambled eggs back into their shells. Many people will say and think what they want to, regardless of what we do, so let’s get on with serving God and leave our vindication with Him.
Are you in a dungeon at the moment? Are circumstances closing in on you? Are you being treated unfairly? Don’t quit. Jesus didn’t!
When we look at Jesus our mouths are closed. We see Jesus on the cross and hear Him say, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
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