Suffering (aphiēmi) (260)

Suffering

“But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3:14-15‬

The Greek verb “aphiēmi” is translated as “to permit, allow, let go, give up or leave”.  It is the verb that is used in the Greek text for the word “suffer”.

When we think of suffering, the last thing we think of is permitting someone to do something for us, or to us, as is the case in the verses above.  The last thing I think of when I think of suffering or permitting something, is the baptism of Jesus Christ.  Who would have to permit such a thing?

We think of suffering as pain, harm or hurt.  We think of emotional toil. Mental anguish. We don’t think of permitting or permission.  It is such a unique translation.

In the above verses, John the Baptist meets Jesus.  John was expecting that Jesus would baptize him.  Matthew writes that John “forbade” Him. How dare John forbid to baptize Jesus. John believed that Jesus ought to baptize him. However, Jesus wanted John to baptize Him. It almost appears that John questions why he would need to baptize Jesus, who is sinless and never in need of repentance.  But of course, Jesus, being the Messiah, had a perfectly good reason, or two.

When I read the translation of the Greek word “aphiēmi”, I find it odd that it translates into “suffer”, which in this case, means “to permit”.  Jesus tells John to “suffer it” or permit it to be so; so that they can fulfill all righteousness. It’s unique that the word suffer would be used to permit the baptism of Jesus. To fulfill what would become great suffering on the part of Jesus, for the entire world.  In a sense, suffer was the best possible use of the word - to permit Jesus to be baptized, in order to fill the role he was sent for, to suffer for, for righteousness sake.

Jesus was asking John to permit His baptism.

When we permit something, we are allowing something to happen. And in the case above it was the beginning of the righteousness that Jesus would fulfill and a righteousness He would suffer for.

Imagine if Jesus baptized John, instead of the other way around?  The baptism of Jesus was a foreshadowing of what would come. It symbolized His death, burial and resurrection.  Something that would not, and could not achieve righteousness, through John’s baptism.  It was necessary that Jesus be baptized. This was the parallel into the gospel.

Baptism is not necessary for our salvation. It is an outward expression of our faith in Jesus Christ because He died for our sins.  Although you don’t need to be baptized for your salvation to be secured, you should be baptized because your salvation was secured.

Interestingly, on a second note, is that Jesus would ask John to permit Him to be baptized. When in fact, it was John who wanted to be baptized by the Messiah.  Jesus came humbly to John and asked Him to permit His baptism. It showed His meekness and humility and it showed how great an impact His baptism would have towards righteousness in all humanity.

This now gives me a completely different outlook on suffering, or at least the use of the word. I mean, how many of us really suffer, for the righteousness of the world?  Suffering is objective. It is independent and self-assigned - we suffer the way we want to.  As we turn to Jesus who suffered the most for us, where does our suffering fall?

Each of us should suffer for the sake of Christianity. Not in the sense of being tortured or maimed. In the sense of permitting the work of Christ to be done in us and for us. The less we worry about our comfort the better our suffering will be.

Pray and ask God to suffer you for His sake. Let God use you to bring people to the Kingdom of God.

The next time you think of suffering, don’t think of what it gives up, think of what it allows as we grow closer to our creator.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:12-14‬