God’s Good Purpose in Our Suffering

text: John 9:1-5, 11:1-16

John 9:1–5 BSB

1 Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, 2 and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. 4 While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

John 11:1–16 BSB

1 At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So on hearing that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two days, 7 and then He said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.” 11 After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.” 13 They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

PRAY

Introduction:

I asked the question last week, If Jesus has all power and authority, why does He not fully exercise it now and put an immediate end to all suffering and evil? What good purpose could He possible have in our suffering?

As your pastor, I would like to take the message time today to deal with the difficult time we’ve been through as a church over the last couple of months. It has been by far the most difficult experience in my ministry, and I know that the recent events have affected many of you as well. I want us to consider how we are to respond to this.

It hurts when people that you care about walk away from you.

For me, these were people that I had personally discipled, those I had faithfully ministered to and helped in many ways for the past two years, and they turned against me suddenly. There were some who spread lies and slander and acted in very sinful and unkind ways. And I know that I was not the only one affected by these things, though it may have hurt me more deeply than it hurt you. It affects us all.

Many of the people who we cared deeply about got up and left. People that we had served alongside, prayed with, prayed for, ministered to walked out on us. And it hurts, deeply.

Sometimes it’s hard for us to know how to respond in situations like this. What are we to do? How are we to think and feel? There are many things to be said, and there are many things God has done in my own life in the last couple of months as I have sought to respond in a godly way.

Forgive

When the suffering we face is caused by other people, one of the things we need to do is forgive. Let go of the debt they owe you. Forgiveness doesn’t mean necessarily that you forget what has happened or deny the reality of the hurt, but that you don’t hold it against them. Like Christ, we are to say, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing,” Or like Stephen, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” That’s a hard thing to say when people have wronged you and sinned against you. We need God’s grace to forgive. But when we remember how God has forgiven us, we have no excuse not to forgive: “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph 4:32). That’s one thing God might want to do in our hearts right now.

Trust God

There are many times where we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives. Many different kinds of suffering that we go through make us want to question God. But what we need to do is trust Him. We need to believe as He says that He has a good purpose in our suffering and then seek to cooperate with His purpose. That will be our focus today.

Keep Moving Forward

As we recently studied in Philippians 3, we also need to remember to keep our focus forward. We must not keep looking back, wishing that things had happened differently or wishing we could go back to the way things were. Like Paul, we need to keep a forward focus and continue to pursue Christ, laying aside what is in the past to wholeheartedly run after Christ.

In the midst of this suffering and every kind of suffering in our lives, we must remember and believe that God has good purposes for us in our suffering. We must trust Him and seek His good purpose in the difficult times we go through.

What suffering are you dealing with right now?

Health problems

Financial difficulties

Relationship problems

While the passages we’re looking at today deal primarily with physical suffering, the principles are true of whatever kind of suffering we face. Whatever difficulties we face, God has a good purpose in our suffering.

For those of you who have been here awhile, you may have heard some of these things before. It was about a year and a half ago that we studied John 9 and 11, so most of these things will not be new for you, but it’s good to be reminded of these truths.

Jesus Sees and Knows Our Suffering

John 9:1 BSB

1 Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth,

Jesus saw.

When we suffer, sometimes we’re tempted to think that we’re all alone or that nobody knows what we’re going through. At a human level, sometimes it feels that way. We may feel like we’re going through our suffering by ourselves or even that no one else has ever experienced the difficulty we’re facing.

But even if no one else knows, even if nobody else notices or sees how hard our situation is, Jesus sees. Jesus knows.

And He Himself suffered in ways that we will never have to suffer. And by His suffering, He has defeated our suffering, so that someday it will be gone forever.

Even if no one else knows or sees your suffering, Jesus does. And He loves you and He Himself has suffered for you.

Jesus Teaches Us How to Respond to Suffering

We don’t always know how to respond to our suffering or the suffering of others. We need God’s help to respond properly.

Our Natural Response: What is the Cause?

John 9:2 BSB

2 and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The Right Response: What is the Purpose?

John 9:3 BSB

3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.

What was God’s purpose in allowing this man to be born blind? God wanted to display His works in him. God wanted this man and those around Him to see the works of God.

John 11:4 BSB

4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Why did Jesus allow Lazarus to get sick and die? Jesus says, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. That’s the purpose for this suffering - and for every suffering.

God’s purpose in our suffering is to display His glory.

Through our suffering, God wants to reveal His glory to us (and to others around us).

That’s what God wanted to do for the blind man, for Lazarus and his sisters, and it’s what He wants to do for us through our church situation.

It’s what He wants to do for you in your physical suffering.

It’s what He wants to do for you in your broken relationships or your loneliness.

It’s what He wants to do for you in your financial hard times.

God wants you to see His glory. And He wants others to see His glory through you.

And when God gives us eyes to see His glory, we come to

know Him more deeply,

trust Him more fully,

love Him more passionately,

and obey Him more perfectly.

God wants us to know Him more deeply, trust Him more fully, love Him more passionately, and obey Him more perfectly

God wants us to see His glory and respond properly to His glory - and that proper response is to know, trust, love, and obey Him.

That is God’s purpose for us in our suffering.

Another way to say it is that God wants to use our suffering to make us more like Christ.

Romans 8:28–29 BSB

28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Let’s go through these stories and see how God accomplished His good purpose in these two stories of suffering.

The Blind Man (John 9)

Following the initial interchange between Jesus and the disciples, in v. 6-7, Jesus makes mud and puts it on the blind man’s eyes, tells him to go and wash it off, and v. 7 says he went and washed and came back seeing. A miracle happened!

John 9:7 BSB

7 Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

Then notice the progression of what this man says about Jesus in his interactions with others.

His neighbors start asking questions (v. 8-9). Is this really the guy who used to sit and beg? He insists that he is, and they ask him in v. 10, if that’s true, how come you can see now? John 9:10-11

John 9:10–11 BSB

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”

- “The man they call Jesus” did it. At this point the man knows the name of his healer, but not much else.

2. Since this healing happened on the Sabbath, they brought the man to the religious experts for questioning. So in v. 15 they question him, and he tells them what happened.

John 9:15 BSB

15 So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

The religious experts are divided over Jesus, some blaspheming Him, others wondering how someone can break their Sabbath laws and yet have so much power to heal. So then they call the formerly blind man back and ask his opinion in v. 17.

John 9:17 BSB

17 So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied.

“He is a prophet.” He got that right. Jesus is much more than a prophet, but He is a prophet, the greatest prophet. So his understanding is growing.

3. Then they start questioning his parents, but they’re afraid to answer because of the threat of excommunication. John 9:22

John 9:22 BSB

22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

The Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus, and they would expel anyone who accepted Him from religious fellowship. Anyone who confesses Him to be the Messiah will be treated like an outsider, a Gentile.

So then they call the formerly blind man back and try to win him to their side against Jesus.

John 9:24–25 BSB

24 So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”

They want him to join in their blasphemy against Jesus, but he doesn’t play along. He shares his simple testimony, “I was blind, but now I see!”

4. This prompts them to continue questioning him, so they ask again,

John 9:26 BSB

26 “What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”

By this time the man must be getting a little frustrated. But he reveals something interesting in v. 27.

John 9:27 BSB

27 He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Do you see that word “also”? That indicates that this man has already decided to follow Jesus. He has committed himself to becoming a disciple of Jesus.

5. When the Religious leaders mock him and continue to blaspheme Jesus, the response of the formerly blind man is incredible.

John 9:30–33 BSB

30 “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. 32 Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

His conclusion: “This man Jesus who healed me has a kind of power that has never been witnessed before. The only logical explanation is that He has come from God.” In essence, this man was confessing Jesus to be the Messiah. And do you remember what was going to happen to those who confess Jesus as the Messiah?

V. 34 tells us that they threw him out, expelled him from participating in the Jewish religion. He’s being treated like an outsider now.

But consider how much he has already grown closer to Jesus, and he hasn’t even seen Jesus yet.

6. Well when Jesus learns what happened, He seeks out this man.

John 9:35 BSB

35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man ?”

Do you believe? (that’s an important question, and it will come up in ch. 11 as well!) What’s his response?

John 9:36 BSB

36 “Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

I want to believe - I need to know Him.

John 9:37 BSB

37 “You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

And the last we hear about this man is in v. 38, his response to Jesus:

John 9:38 BSB

38 “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

If this man had not experienced the suffering that he did, he may have been as hard-hearted as the Pharisees and rejected Jesus or ignored Him. But God had a good purpose in his suffering, and as a result this man came to know, trust, love, and worship Jesus as His Lord and Messiah. Through this man’s suffering, God accomplished His good purpose in this man’s life, and it was written down for our benefit as well.

God displayed His glory through this man’s suffering, and this man responded in the proper way to God’s glory, knowing, trusting, loving, and obeying Jesus.

The Dead Man (John 11-12)

Death is a great enemy, in fact, it is the last enemy to be destroyed according to Paul in 1 Cor 15.

1. After the initial message arrives to Jesus in v. 3

John 11:3 BSB

3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

Jesus’s response is regarding the purpose of this - it is for the glory of God.

John 11:4 BSB

4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

2. Unlike other times where Jesus went immediately to heal or even just spoke a word to heal, he chose to delay. And v. 5 indicates that His choice to delay was motivated by love.

John 11:5–6 BSB

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So on hearing that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two days,

Because He loved them, He stayed. Because He loved them, He chose to let them suffer.

That’s not the way we usually think about His love, but that’s what it says here.

Jesus could have spoken the word and healed Him right away (He did in John 4!). Why didn’t He? The Jews ask the same question in v. 37

John 11:37 BSB

37 But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?”

What’s the answer to their question? YES! YES, Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying. He has that power! So why did He not exercise that power?

Because He loved them (v. 5-6). Because Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, He allowed Lazarus to die (and then raised him from the dead). He allowed Lazarus to suffer and die, He allowed these sisters to grieve and experience the hurt of losing their brother, because Jesus loved them.

That’s a hard thing for us to believe when we’re suffering, isn’t it? In our suffering, we’re often tempted to doubt the power or love of God. Either we question whether He’s able to stop the suffering, or we question whether He cares enough about us to stop it.

John affirms for us that both are true. Jesus is all-powerful, and Jesus is perfectly loving. Neither His power nor His love is limited.

And through this suffering, Jesus demonstrated both His power and His love.

3. Martha’s interaction with Jesus demonstrates her growing knowledge and trust of Jesus:

John 11:21–27 BSB

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask of Him.” 23 “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

When Martha’s faith falters a little later on, in v. 40, Jesus reminds Martha of His good purpose in this suffering:

John 11:40 BSB

40 Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

Martha, what you need right now is to see the glory of God. And to see it, you need to believe! Trust Me! says Jesus.

4. And then, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead simply by speaking the word. And notice the response of many of the people:

John 11:45 BSB

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him.

Jesus’s purpose in this suffering was to awaken faith in many people - not only in Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but dozens if not hundreds of others. He had told His disciples in v. John 11:14-15

John 11:14–15 BSB

14 So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

His purpose was to display His glory - His power, His goodness, His love - and to have people respond properly to His glory, knowing, trusting, loving, and obeying Him.

5. And there’s a follow-up in the next chapter: a few days later, this family honored Jesus by hosting a dinner for Him.

John 12:2 BSB

2 So they hosted a dinner for Jesus there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.

Martha was serving Him, Lazarus was fellowshipping with Him at the table. And where’s Mary?

On the floor at Jesus’s feet, worshipping Him.

John 12:3 BSB

3 Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

God accomplished His good purpose in their lives through this suffering. They came to know, trust, love, and worship Jesus more because of the suffering they went through. And that was His goal for them.

That’s what glorifies God, and that’s what is best for us.

So how should we think about our suffering, both individually and as a church? What is God’s purpose?

God’s purpose in our suffering is to display His glory.

And the response that God wants from us in our suffering

God wants us to know Him more deeply, trust Him more fully, love Him more passionately, and obey Him more perfectly

Both individually and as a church, we need to keep our focus on Him and trust His good purpose in our suffering. He is all powerful, He is perfectly good and loving, and He is up to something good, even in our suffering.

Let’s commit ourselves to cooperating with His purpose

To know Him

Love Him

Trust Him,

and Obey Him

And if you’re not a believer, the suffering in your life may be God’s way of getting your attention and turning you to Him. Let the suffering you experience lead you toward Christ, not away from Him.

PRAY