For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all thins, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
One word in this verse has been the object of my reflection. That word is through. Why is that word so important? The word through means that Jesus did not stop at suffering, but came out the other side. God's work in making him the perfect captain of our salvation did not stop with Jesus' suffering, but His work went through Jesus' suffering.
Lets break this down. Jesus suffered a horrible fate; being a perfect person murdered by those he came to save. It was NOT Jesus' death that made him the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins though. We as Christian do not celebrate Jesus' death as a stand alone event. Jesus's work on earth did not stop with his death. It was Jesus' resurrection, His victory over death, that made Him the perfect sacrifice for us. If Jesus was still in a tomb he would simply be a man who suffered in death. But Jesus did not simply suffer in death, but was perfected through death.
As we know, Jesus returned to earth after his death appearing to many people. Death did not transport Jesus to heaven. Acts 1:9 tells us that Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection. Jesus suffered greatly on this earth, but in the end he was able to literally rise above it. Before rising above it literally though; he rose above it metaphorically.....
For those of us who are Christians, God puts us through a perfecting fire. I Peter 1:6-9 tells us that we are grieved by various trials. For most of us, many of these trials have a face. We often attribute our suffering to a person or a group of people. Unfortunately, the face of our trials are often other people claiming to be saved by Christ. Like Jesus, God sees fit to put us THROUGH the fire. For various reasons however, many of us have problems getting out of the fire. Even after God removes us from the fire, we continue to live as one in the fire. We refuse to let God finish his perfecting work; choosing to focus on the hurt and the burns. We hold on to these burns as reminders to never again find ourselves in the fire (as though we have a say in it).
Let's go back to Jesus. As he suffered on the cross, gasping for air, drenched in blood, dripping with spit, and his skin separated from his body he calls out, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"--Luke 23:34. That is when Jesus metaphorically rose above all the suffering the earth had for him. God's perfecting process in Jesus did not stop at his suffering. In the midst of His suffering, Jesus prepared himself for the next step by praying for those who tortured Him.
As I said earlier, our suffering often has a face. Jesus' tortures had faces too. He wasn't accosted by a faceless mob. Being God, he knew each person who spit on him. He knew each person that hit him. He knew each person that mocked him. He knew each person that bore false witness against him...And he loved the person who betrayed him to set all of these events in motion.
Nothing happens to us outside of God's will. God is never surprised by our circumstances and outcomes. God allows us to be tested. After we have been tested are we able to metaphorically rise above it and allow God to continue his perfecting work? Are we able to forgive the faces of our hurt knowing that forgiveness is an act of/act required by God (Mark 11:25-26)?
Some of us have been stuck in suffering for too long; picking at burns intended to help perfect us; not create gaps for bitterness to grow (Hebrews 12:14-15). I don't know why God sees fit to perfect His people through suffering; but knowing that He does can help us rise above suffering we see in anticipation of the glory we hope for.
