Revelation 1:9

“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus.”

The older brother, John, introduces himself to the readers.  “Your brother and companion in suffering.”  He was suffering on Patmos as they were in Turkey.

The mysteries of suffering baffle us at times.  For some reason I would like to think that Christ suffered so that I would not have to.  Behold, as I think about it, the followers of God’s Lamb do not only experience the normal sufferings that afflict all humans like sickness, loss, disappointment and so forth, but they experience the additional suffering which results from being out of step with the cultures and social norms in which they live. They suffer doubly.

So believers are not immune from suffering, in fact, as we noted, they suffer doubly.

John deflates any apostolic privilege for himself, he is in fact a companion and brother to all those who are suffering.  John, too, refused to offer sacrifice to the Emperor, a fact that brought on even more suffering.  That is why is separated from them – banished on to the little island called Patmos.

That followers of the Lamb experience exuberant joy is true but it is the joy of being ministered to by the Spirit of God in suffering.

The prayer Jesus prayed asked for deliverance from temptation, not deliverance from suffering. Remove suffering and the result is spine-less discipleship.

I am like everyone else in that I would rather not suffer but as a follower of the Lamb I walk into the future fully aware of the fact that will suffer; but more gloriously, I know that my suffering Savior is walking with me as I meet the head-winds of suffering – be it physical, spiritual, social or whatever.

Incidentally, C. S. Lewis admits that we are “cross-fodder.”  As we sit with believers through the ages this becomes abundantly clear. That prospect is to be welcomed, not feared.