What does it mean to share Christ’s suffering? This
is the question I’ve been thinking on all year. Ingoing through anything that is difficult or painful, I
hesitate to say that I am doing as Paul said and
sharing in Christ’s suffering. Obviously, there is a
lot of emotional and physical pain that doesn’t fit
that description at all. So, what does fit that
description? How do we share Christ’s suffering and
thus also His resurrection, as well as His redeeming
work in the world?
I’ve been meditating on the meaning of the text of “O
Vos Omnes” all year, as it has been presented to me in
various musical and devotional forms-- not by
accident, I think, but by God’s leading.
The first type of suffering indicated by the plain
historical interpretation of Lamentations is suffering
because of one’s own sin. The people of Israel had
sinned, God sent them punishment because of it, and
they lament because of how painful it is for them.
Secondarily, they cry out to God to save them, and
eventually show a sort of repentance. This, I think,
is the kind of suffering that is the farthest from
Christ’s: self-pity for something that is actually
one’s own fault, not to mention putting self-pity
ahead of the repentance that God was trying to bring
about by the chastisement. “Is it nothing to you, all
you who pass by? Pay attention and see if there is
any sorrow like my sorrow.”
Secondly, this verse is the voice of the prophet
speaking for all Israel. There is no evidence that
Jeremiah was included in the sins which brought about
the suffering; in fact, the contrary is true.
However, as a part of the chosen people of God, he
also carries the pain of God’s chastisement. This
could be likened to Christ’s suffering to a certain
extent. When we are in emotional or physical pain
because we see sin all around us but long for
holiness, we are like Jeremiah. When we suffer
because someone else’s sins have caused us pain, we
can be like the prophet and call people’s attention to
our sorrow at the unholiness of their life or that of
the world in general. “Is it nothing to you, all you
who pass by? Pay attention and see if there is any
sorrow like my sorrow.” Pay attention, and come over
to the side that mourns over unholiness in your own
life and in others’ lives! Is this Christlike
suffering?
Then there is the tradition which puts these verses
into the mouth of the suffering Messiah. The One who
does not deserve punishment for sin exchanges his
deserving of no pain for our deserved punishment. “I
came that they might have life... My joy I give to
you... My peace I give to you.” This is redemptive
suffering; it causes a real change in creation. When
Christ calls to us “Is it nothing to you, all you who
pass by? Pay attention and see if there is any sorrow
like my sorrow,” I believe He is inviting us to see
the depths of our sin by what it cost Him but He is
also calling us to stop sinning and share in His
redemptive task.
We aren’t able to suffer blamelessly because all of us
are, like the prophet Isaiah, “of unclean lips and of
a people of unclean lips”; like Jeremiah, even when we
suffer because of the sins of others, we always know
that we are not entirely innocent. How can we share
Christ’s suffering in a way that is redemptive?
There is another tradition surrounding “O Vos Omnes”
that puts these words into the mouth of Mary the
mother of Jesus as she stands by the cross of her Son.
The “Stabat Mater” (At the cross, her station
keeping/Stood the mournful mother weeping/As He hung,
the dying Lord...”) is combined in devotional settings
with “O Vos Omnes” and invites people to come to
Christ as they see the sorrow of His mother standing
beside the cross. (“Jesus, may her deep devotion/Stir
in me the same emotion,/ Fount of love, redeemer kind.
That my heart, fresh ardor gaining/And a purer love
obtaining/May with Thee acceptance find.”) Her
suffering was prophesied by Simeon: “and a sword shall
pierce your own soul too”. Mary’s willingness to obey
God brought her sorrow as she saw God’s plan unfolding
for Jesus’ life. In saying “Yes” to God when she was
young, she agreed that God’s will was best, even
though she didn’t know what it would bring her later
on. Mary, like Jeremiah, suffered as she brought God
incarnate to the world, and the longer she knew Him
the more she was involved in His passion for the rest
of mankind.
Most of us said “Yes” to God with a minimum of
information about what that would mean later on in our
lives. As we seek to follow God daily, as we get to
know His heart better, sometimes we end up in
situations we never expected which cause us suffering.
Is this sharing Christ’s suffering? As we learn to
share Christ’s heart for holiness, and try to bring
Him to the world, we will experience pain. I think
that is what is meant by “sharing in Christ’s
suffering”. When we sing “O Vos Omnes”, we are
alternately representatives of the sinful world under
chastisement and of Christ’s holiness meeting the
sinfulness in the world. While we live in the world,
there will always be both sides of suffering. The
better we know Christ, the more we can share in His
suffering, and also the more He will allow us to share
in His work of redeeming and restoring all creation,
and to share in His victory.
