To Be Blessed Is To Suffer?

“What did I do to deserve this?” is a sentence commonly heard when someone experiences a particularly bad event in their life. These thoughts stem from some concept of “Godly wrath come upon us” or the incorrect idea of some sort of “karmic” retribution. In pondering suffering and why one must suffer, a consensus seems to emerge from many Church fathers which outlines suffering as an excellent example of experiencing, or learning, the higher ways of God. St. Athanasius of Alexandria writes “Let us then be comforted in our afflictions and rejoice in our sufferings, for the Lord did not come to free us from suffering, but to teach us to bear it with faith, hope, and love, and thus attain eternal life.”[1] Sergius of Radonezh, a medieval Russian Orthodox ascetic, is also commonly quoted as saying: “If you want to serve God, prepare your heart not for food, not for drink, not for rest, not for ease, but for suffering, so that you may endure all temptations, trouble and sorrow. Prepare for severities, fasts, spiritual struggles and many afflictions, for ‘by many afflictions is it appointed to us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’[2]; ‘The Heavenly Kingdom is taken by force, and those who use force seize it.’[3]”

In the Old Testament, suffering was often viewed as evidence of the wrath of God. Job, being the operative example, endured the scrutiny of his friends who wrongly attributed his loss of all things to his unrighteousness, due to a simplistic understanding of chastisement and prosperity. Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, therefore says to Job in one instance: “Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without end?”[4] The tension of struggle and faithfulness in the character of Job profoundly draws out a beautiful perspective on the love of God, who would in the fullness of time take flesh and suffer unto death out of His love for mankind, freely and without compulsion. Just as Job was led into a deeper relation of love with God through suffering, so also does God invite us to a deeper relation with Himself through His own suffering on our behalf. In this, then, it is evident that the fullness of love — the Trinitarian Love — is that which accepts suffering even when it is unjust, transforming the experience of suffering into an expression of perfect love: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”[5]

Through the trial of Job, suffering is understood as a means by which the elect may draw nearer to God and grow in conformity to Him. Another aspect of suffering likewise emerges in the Scriptures: often, the Israelites are permitted to suffer at the hands of the Gentiles as chastisement for their going astray from God’s commandments, “for whom the Lord loves He chastens.”[6] However, the chastisement of the elect, being for the sake of their repentance, ought not be conflated with the idea that God simply ascribes punishment on the ungodly. This was the misunderstanding of Job’s friends, which the Lord Jesus Christ corrects both by His words and living example — He, the sinless Lord, who endures suffering and tastes death on behalf of mankind.

When the Lord and His disciples encounter the man born blind, the disciples ask Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”[7] Christ’s response is, put simply, unexpected: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”[8] This idea, that this man’s suffering — his sickness — did not result from sinful activity, challenged their flawed assumption and ushered in a redeemed apprehension of the mercy and justice of God. In addition to preaching that “the last shall be first”[9] and that the poor shall inherit the Kingdom,[10] this encounter with the born-blind man became one of many instances where Christ confronted the contemporary Jewish misinterpretations of the ways of God and further uncovered the understanding of how the Lord blesses His children with suffering as a means by which they can take up a role in His salvific work, a teaching which He would Himself embody through His journey to the Cross and Resurrection. This conversation with the disciples was therefore a planting of a seed — an assertion that by way of suffering, one may share the Gospel and grow in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The practicality of this message which the Lord exemplified is perhaps most evident in the experience and mission of the Apostle Paul. St. Paul speaks of suffering often and chooses to suffer in order to be counted a minister in the service of God. He describes his many sufferings:

“From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”[11]

Despite these unimaginable sufferings, directly resulting from his preaching of the Gospel, we nevertheless hear his assuring words: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”[12]

St. Paul furthers this understanding of suffering elsewhere, writing: “[W]e are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building,”[13] and so “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”[14] Evidently, then, this glory that God should reveal in us is realized through the sufferings which the believers endure, as a catalyst.[15] St. John Chrysostom muses in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 4 that the uniqueness of the suffering of the Apostles is that “they are suffering without despair or anger. On the contrary they are full of rejoicing, and they prove it by returning good for the evil they receive.”[16]

The Coptic Orthodox Church is no stranger to the concept of suffering as a means of witnessing to the glory of God. She is heralded as being “the Church of the martyrs” and arranges her days according to the calendrical system anno martyrum (“year of the martyrs”). From the martyrdom of the Church’s first Patriarch, St. Mark the Evangelist, until today, martyrdom has become characteristic of the tradition, spirituality, and identity of the Coptic Orthodox Church, being delivered intergenerationally. Moreover, the powerful witness of the suffering Christians is made abundantly clear in the hagiographical account, in the Coptic Synaxarium, of Arianus the governor of Ansina, who was the likely cause of an innumerable number of the martyrdoms recorded in the Synaxarium, and who was led to conversion through seeing the joyful suffering of God’s people.[17] Martyrdom, in the Orthodox understanding, is understood as a high calling and honor, constituting a powerful conformity to Christ: as the Lord died for our sake, the martyr, in turn, offers his life to Christ and, in like manner, dies for His sake. St. Athanasius the Apostolic therefore speaks highly of martyrdom, considering the martyrs as being among the most powerful testimonies to the truth of the Christian message.[18] The great Abba Antony, likewise, is described as pursuing martyrdom, finding it even sufficient, if he were not called to martyrdom, to “look on the contestants.”[19] It is further described: “. . . he was praying that he, too, might be martyred. Therefore, he also appeared grieved that he did not suffer martyrdom. . . . When the persecution finally ceased and Bishop Peter of blessed memory had suffered martyrdom, [Antony] left and went back to his solitary cell; and there he was a daily martyr to his conscience, even fighting the battles of the Faith.”[20] The consideration of suffering for the sake of Christ as being an honor remains ever-present in the Church and is palpably felt even in the experiences of modern-day saints. One cannot forget the powerful and unwavering testimony of the 21 martyrs of Libya. It was also narrated regarding the saintly Tamav Irene that she, like Antony the Great, longed to suffer for the sake of God, and having not been called to martyrdom by Him, continued steadfastly in the life of daily martyrdom through asceticism.[21] Indeed, a definitive mark of properly internalized spirituality is to approach suffering as an honor and glory to God, offering thanks to God in return for any suffering endured for His sake.[22]

A most profound aspect of suffering is its facilitation of an opportunity to become a fellow sharer in the sufferings of the Lord Christ. In suffering, the believer realizes a profound solidarity with the Lord and is able to incorporate that experience of suffering into their Christian experience. Russian Orthodox theologian Theophan the Recluse captures this perspective well, writing: “Remember that each of us has his own cross. The Golgotha of this cross is our heart: it is being lifted or implanted through a zealous determination to live according to the Spirit of God. Just as salvation of the world is by the Cross of God, so our salvation is by our crucifixion on our own cross.”[23]

While Christ challenged the misunderstanding that a person’s suffering is necessarily due to particular sins, it is nevertheless clear that suffering was introduced into the human condition through the sin and fall of Adam and Eve.[24] On the holy wood of the Cross, through His suffering and ultimate death, the Lord transformed this condition into one of blessing, recapitulating man and offering to him the remission of sin(s) and renewal of nature through baptism, which is the putting on of Christ.[25] The ultimate goal of life on earth, then, becomes growth and perfection in Christ: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”[26] This timeless truth of Christianity is embodied in the ritual theology of the Coptic Orthodox Church. For instance, in the prayers which immediately precede the communion in the Eucharist, the priest proclaims: “the Holies are for the holies!” Truly, it is only through Him who is Holy that the believers can approach the Eucharist worthily. The believers become the people of God through unity with Him and in Him: “And we ask You, O Lord our God . . . that Your Holy Spirit descend upon us and upon these gifts set forth [the Eucharist], and purify them, change them, and manifest them as a sanctification of Your saints.”[27] In the sense that the Eucharist is understood as the fruits of the sufferings of Christ, it follows that to have a share in Him and in His sufferings is to enjoy unity with Him.

Moreover, it is common for believers, when they are faced with trials and hardships, to feel as though they are undeserving of such misfortunes. In his Letters to Olympias, St. John Chrysostom offers a new outlook: “Nothing, Olympias, redounds so much to the credit of any one as patient endurance in suffering. For this is indeed the queen of virtues, and the perfection of crowns; and as it excels all other forms of righteousness, so this particular species of it is more glorious than the rest.”[28] Through suffering, we have the opportunity to cultivate many virtues, and the despair that may be engendered in us through hardship can rather become a means for glorification. This paradoxical perspective — of the opportunities and growth which suffering may occasion — may seem, at first glance, to be illogical. Rather, we are assured by the Apostle Paul that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men,”[29] and that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”[30]

Such a perspective regarding suffering warrants deep reflection. While humanity is not sinless, spotless, or a perfect Lamb to be offered as a sacrifice, can it nevertheless approximate God through suffering? Despite being marred by sin, can humanity, through suffering unjustly, return to the Image of God — He who was falsely accused for our sake, who prayed for the cup to be taken from Him,[31] and who did not lose all, but chose to come down from His throne as King of Kings and had no place to lay His head?[32] Can suffering in this world, no matter how minute, amount to a share in His suffering? Can one’s suffering be likened to Simone of Cyrene carrying the Lord’s Cross with Him[33] — an unimaginable blessing? Can one not think of each of our hardships as likewise carrying the cross of the Lord one step closer to Golgotha, knowing that ultimately, it is still He who suffers death on our behalf? Can one not know joy in His resurrection? For this reason, let us bear in mind — to be blessed is to suffer.

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[1] St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms (4th Century).

[2] Acts 14:22 NKJV (Hereinafter, all Scriptural references are taken from the New King James Version).

[3] Matthew 11:12.

[4] Job 22:5.

[5] John 15:13.

[6] Hebrews 12:6-11; see also Revelation 3:19.

[7] John 9:1-2.

[8] John 9:3.

[9] Matthew 20:16.

[10] Matthew 5:3, Luke 6:20.

[11]  2 Corinthians 11:24-28.

[12] 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

[13] 1 Corinthians 3:9.

[14] Romans 8:18.

[15] See e.g., Romans 8:18-31.

[16] St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4 .

[17] I hope the pun of Arianus and seeing was not lost on you.

[18] See St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, para. 28.

[19] St. Athanasius of Alexandria, The Life of Antony, para. 46.

[20] Ibid., 46-47.

[21] See Saint Mary & Anba Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church, Tamav Ireni (November 17, 2012).

[22] “If you bear your sufferings with thankfulness, this is greater than performing miracles” (St. Isaac the Syrian, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, Homily 5).

[23] Theophan the Recluse, Thoughts for Each Day of the Year According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God.

[24] See Genesis 3.

[25] See e.g., Romans 13:14.

[26] Colossians 1:28.

[27] The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil of Caesarea: The Epiclesis.

[28] St. John Chrysostom, Letters to Olympias, Letter II.

[29] 1 Corinthians 1:25.

[30] 1 Corinthians 1:18.

[31] Matthew 26:39.

[32] Revelation 17:14; Matthew 8:20.

[33] Luke 23:26.

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Hilana Said is a Coptic Orthodox Christian and a licensed attorney. She graduated from Albany Law School in 2023. Hilana developed a love for academic reading and writing during her time on the Executive Board of the Albany Law Review. Her deep faith and Coptic Orthodox heritage play an integral role in her personal and professional life and serve as constant inspiration for her academic pursuits.

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