The theme of 'The Son of Man as suffering servant' was used very often by Jesus about which he was very particular that his disciples grasp the real significance in order to be his true disciples. This concern of Jesus reveals a great deal about the nature of the Son of Man for whom it was necessary to undergo suffering as a servant of the Lord. After his resurrection on his way to the road to Emmaus he explained to the two dejected disciples how the Messiah was bound to suffer thus before entering into his glory explaining what the prophets had said starting with Moses (Like, 24: 25-27). Even during his public ministry, Jesus had prophesied what would happen to him at the hands of the Jewish authorities and how he would rise again from the dead (Mark, 8: 31; 9: 30-32; 10: 32-34). The question why he had to suffer as a necessity to enter into glory was answered by Jesus by citing the prophecies in the Old Testament. For a Jew there could be no better proof for the necessity of something than a reference to word of God especially as foretold by the prophets. But , the Son of Man being the representative of the whole human race, for people other than the Jews some other reason for suffering has to be given. This need not be a completely new one in the sense that it has nothing to do with the reason given by Jesus referring to the prophets of the Old Testament. There is an underlying reason for the necessity of suffering foretold by the prophets expressed in the word of God announced by them that cannot go unfulfilled. This reason is the inherent quality and power of purification automatically attached to suffering and ultimately to death provided they are undergone in the right spirit. For, there are different kinds of enduring of suffering in this world leading either to life or to death, the former being God's way and the latter the way of the world (2 Corinthians, 7: 10). Although Jesus was Son, he learned obedience in the school of suffering (Hebrews, 5: 8). Since Jesus was Son of God and sinless, there was no need for him to suffer or learn obedience means that he has done it as our representative before the Father entirely for the sake of the human race. No further reason is required to see our sufferings with a positive attitude to enable us to obey the Will of God.
Various types of questions might prop up in our minds if suffering is understood as we have explained above. Purification of minds and hearts is all the more needed by the evil people among us and yet very often we see such people prospering in life as they thrive in their evil way of life.The just and the innocent suffer for no fault of theirs and yet they don't seem to prosper in life. In other words, the mystery of evil is something that baffles our minds and we do not seem to have a satisfactory answer to this problem, partially because our definition of a good life is very often determined by the material comforts of this world. The gift of peace of mind is usually unaccounted for. The more we evolve in the wider dimensions of our consciousness, the better should be our grasp of the purpose of evil in this world. Besides, Jesus himself had to undergo suffering and death although there was no sin in him that seems an unjust dispensation when we think of God as perfectly just. This only shows that God does not think the way we usually think and His ways are completely different from ours. God's way of making the Son of Man to stand for us all was to allow him to suffer the consequences of our sins and taste death making him perfect and our High Priest before God (Hebrews, 2: 9-18). Suffering evil because we ourselves have done evil is only just punishment, whereas suffering evil when we are innocent and trying to do good is meritorious before God. In our case, even when we are innocent in particular instances, we cannot claim to be completely without sin as all of us are sinners one way or the other. In the case of Jesus, suffering took an altogether different meaning as he was himself without any sin and therefore he could stand before God to plead for us sinners. Therefore, the Son of Man is portrayed as the Lamb of God by John both in his Gospel and the Book of Revelation as a perpetual memory to God of our condition as encapsulated in Jesus Christ.
Various types of questions might prop up in our minds if suffering is understood as we have explained above. Purification of minds and hearts is all the more needed by the evil people among us and yet very often we see such people prospering in life as they thrive in their evil way of life.The just and the innocent suffer for no fault of theirs and yet they don't seem to prosper in life. In other words, the mystery of evil is something that baffles our minds and we do not seem to have a satisfactory answer to this problem, partially because our definition of a good life is very often determined by the material comforts of this world. The gift of peace of mind is usually unaccounted for. The more we evolve in the wider dimensions of our consciousness, the better should be our grasp of the purpose of evil in this world. Besides, Jesus himself had to undergo suffering and death although there was no sin in him that seems an unjust dispensation when we think of God as perfectly just. This only shows that God does not think the way we usually think and His ways are completely different from ours. God's way of making the Son of Man to stand for us all was to allow him to suffer the consequences of our sins and taste death making him perfect and our High Priest before God (Hebrews, 2: 9-18). Suffering evil because we ourselves have done evil is only just punishment, whereas suffering evil when we are innocent and trying to do good is meritorious before God. In our case, even when we are innocent in particular instances, we cannot claim to be completely without sin as all of us are sinners one way or the other. In the case of Jesus, suffering took an altogether different meaning as he was himself without any sin and therefore he could stand before God to plead for us sinners. Therefore, the Son of Man is portrayed as the Lamb of God by John both in his Gospel and the Book of Revelation as a perpetual memory to God of our condition as encapsulated in Jesus Christ.
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