Why Suffering Does Not Cancel God's Purpose
In a previous blog post, we looked at how Psalm 22 and Matthew 27 show us that God is not distant in our suffering.
As we read both of these passages, we may get the sense that suffering seems unjust and chaotic—filled with mockery, violence, abandonment. I suppose, in many ways, we shouldn't be too surprised when we hear the likes of Stephen Fry getting angry about suffering. Because according to their worldview, there is ultimately no higher purpose or reason.
Similarly, it's so tempting to look at the Gospel message as a sign of failure—those during the crucifixion of Jesus certainly did. Yet, what looked like failure was actually God's plan for salvation unfolding.
As we dig deeper into Psalm 22, we find that verses 16–18 find their fulfilment in Matthew 27:35. This is what it says in verses 16-18:
Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[e] my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
This overlaps with verse 35 in Matthew 27, which says:
When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
We can see how this directly references the crucifixion of Jesus, mentioning "they pierce my hands and my feet."
Again, looking at other passages, we can see the mocking in verse 8 of Psalm 22:
He trusts in the Lord," they say, "let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him
which directly mirrors the words of Matthew 27:43:
He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'
As I'm sure you can see now, all these pieces of evidence have a higher purpose, don't they?
Even though these words paint a very detailed picture of the sufferings of Christ, they reveal God's divine plan at work—seeing the Old Testament being fulfilled in the New.
In other words, we can see clearly how even the most painful details were not outside God's control. The suffering of Jesus wasn't a detour from God's plan—it was the plan. What looked like defeat on the cross became the means of salvation for the world.
There are many more passages like this where the Bible is full of prophetic moments in the Old Testament (OT) that are fulfilled in the New Testament (NT)—especially around the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Take, for instance, the "Suffering Servant". In Isaiah 53:3–7 we read: "He was despised and rejected by men… he was pierced for our transgressions…" which was later fulfilled and explicitly mentioned in passages like Matthew 8:17, referring to Jesus' suffering, silence before His accusers, and sacrificial death. It also gets a mention in Acts 8:32–35, where Philip explicitly quotes Isaiah 53 when explaining the gospel to the eunuch.
The reality is, there are many more Messianic prophecies just like this in the Bible (even the ones which don't explicitly mention suffering), but we couldn't fit them all into a single blog post!
And so, equipped with this knowledge, we can start to see the bigger picture. We can see how the resurrection shows that God's purposes are never defeated by suffering.
Applying this to our own lives, our suffering, much like David's and Christ's, can become part of a larger purpose we may not yet see. We should let this become an encouragement for ourselves, as we have a genuine reason for hope. We know that if God brought redemption through Jesus' suffering, He can work through ours too, shifting our mindset from despair to hope, and recalling God's past faithfulness.
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James Ashford
