Jesus and Tragedy (John 16:25-33)
Gary McManus, 08/14/2022Part of the Life With Jesus is Better series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
August 14, 2022 John 16:25-33 Jesus and Tragedy
Christian thinkers and Bible scholars have wrestled
with the topic of tragedy and God for 2,000 years and there is still no agreement.
Define a tragedy: a tragedy is an event-- causing suffering, destruction, distress and/or death.
There are tragedies from nature.
There are man made tragedies. This is the topic.
Why today? The tragedies in Delaware and Madison
Counties (and Wayne County).
These events appear all the more tragic because they
are human and seem to have little reason to have
happened at all. We call them senseless tragedies.
They didn’t have to happen.
Today’s words of Jesus can be translated as the word
tragedy but usually as “tribulation.”
The Greek word = ten times in the Bible.
The so called Great Tribulation refers to Jesus word in Matthew 24:21.
The great tribulation will be like nothing before it.
Ask an historian if we are in the Great Tribulation.
The historian will say: “not even close.”
Some say that THE true Christians won’t even be
present for the Great Tribulation.
Still, we CONSIDER the Bible’s responses to tragedy;
God’s part in tragedy.
There are three popular understandings:
--victims of tragedy caused it (sin)
--God willed it
--if we knew what God knew, we would understand
(“Everything happens for a reason.”)
A Christian may accept these viewpoints only because Christians so often have accepted them.
There are three popular understandings and there
area problems with each one:
--victims of tragedy caused it (sin)/ blame the victim?
Jesus did not endorse this view. (see Luke 13:4, John 9:3, and the Book of Job)
--God willed it. [If God wills everything on earth, then are we not already in heaven? There would be no need too pray Jesus’ prayer: ”Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
--if we knew what God knew, we would understand
(“Everything happens for a reason.”)
Is all the pain necessary? Is evil necessary to make good?
Pastor suggests another way.
There is evil in the world. (You don’t have to call
anyone Satan or “tool of Satan”.)
Evil gets into the human heart. (Also Matthew 9:4, Luke 6:45, and more). God allows it to happen. (David and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11) (See John 10:10 and Luke 10:30)
An answer to that evil are Jesus’ words for us today:
In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33)
“tribulation” = many other translations possible. . .
Did Jesus mean that Jesus will prevent evil from
taking place or keep evil out of our hearts?
Pastor points to Romans 8:28
“. . .in everything God works for good with those
who love him. . .”
God will do God’s best to bring something good out
of tragedy. Will be more or better than the tragedy or equal to the tragedy? The Bible doesn’t say that.
Shall we believe that good can only come out of tragedy? [See Matthew 19:26]
God works with what and who is available.
God can work us for good out of the tragedy, ours and others’ tragedies. (See also 1 Corinthians 16:10, John 5:17) You CAN BE the answer to someone’s prayer. Jesus said: “I am victorious.” Amen.
Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
---|---|---|
« The Good Shepherd Cares for You | None | Life With Jesus is Better » |