Happy Easter! Jesus’ Cross Is Our Hope!
“For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.“
-Psalm 22:24
Have you ever felt that God has overlooked you? Oftentimes, in our pain, we can come to the conclusion that God does not care. How could He if there is still pain in our lives that He could remove? Psalm 22:24 provides truth to those misbeliefs we may hold. God has not abandoned anyone who is suffering but has listened to our cry for help.
The very gospel is the answer. Jesus’ crucifixion is God’s answer to our suffering. The story told in simple terms: Jesus, who was God, came and died for you and me. In His dying, He set us free from anything that encompasses sin: past mistakes, guilt, shame, sickness and disease. God heard humanity’s cry and sent us a Savior.
This is the heart of Easter — not a distant God ignoring our pain, but a God who entered into it. The cross is proof that He doesn’t just hear our cries; He responds to them. It all points back to this truth: Jesus’ cross gives us hope in the midst of pain. What He did on the cross makes a way for us to know Him more intimately and to experience the freedom He paid for with His life.
Share In Christ’s Sufferings
One of the most mysterious yet powerful invitations we receive through the cross is to share in Christ’s sufferings — not as punishment, but as a pathway to deeper communion with Him. Romans 8:7 says, “if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” There is a beautiful exchange that happens as we walk the same path as Jesus, sharing in a path of suffering just as He did. 1 Peter 2:21 says,
“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”
Sharing in Jesus’ sufferings draws us closer to Jesus, it allows us to understand what Jesus actually did for us on the cross. He paid a great price for our freedom, the greatest price ever paid. To experience suffering in this world, if we allow it, will draw us closer to God because we understand to some small extend what Jesus went through.
“Sharing in Jesus’ sufferings draws us closer to Jesus, it allows us to understand what Jesus actually did for us on the cross.”
His Suffering Sets Us Free
While we are invited to share in Christ’s suffering, we are also promised something on the other side — freedom, healing, and a life made whole by His wounds. 1 Peter 2:24 continues on from the earlier scripture declaring,
“[Jesus] personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.”
Jesus carried our sins on the cross, dying to now give us access to live according to God’s righteousness. Righteousness means a right standard, all that is whole, good and pure that we can now live with. That righteousness available to us includes freedom and healing.
It is the great mystery – that we may share in Christ’s sufferings and may we also be delivered from our sufferings for the price of freedom has already been paid for. But the Bible makes that clear. 2 Corinthians 4:10 says, “Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” There is an end result of freedom that Jesus had paid for on the cross. That freedom is a freedom from our suffering and pain.
There is Hope!
If you find yourself in pain, wondering where God is – have hope that He has designed it so that you can draw closer to Jesus in your pain and that He is able to set you free from that pain. Each step of the journey is to greater freedom and there are opportunities along the way to come to know the lover of our soul. It was Jesus’ great love that drew Him to the cross, God’s great love for the world to send His son to die for our freedom (John 3:16)
God foresaw your cry for help and sent an answer ahead of time. In His good plan, He provided us a Savior, one to carry our sins and invite us into deeper intimacy with Him. There is hope in the middle of your pain and there is hope that Jesus has come to set you free from that pain as well.
