But he [Jesus Christ] was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
The recent earthquake in Japan has caused panic and terror all across the globe. Especially here in Peru, where news of the devastating events have brought back to memory that horrific day in 2007, when (according to what my Peruvian friends tell me) the earth seemed to split in two, threatening to swallow anything and anyone in it’s path.
The earthquake in Japan has not only reminded my friends here of the pain they felt after losing every last possession. It has also brought back to the surface the questions and doubts that naturally arise from disasters of this magnitude. I’m talking about questions we can’t help but ask. Why me? Why my family? What did I do to God to make Him take away everything I hold so dear? Is God punishing me?
Is God punishing Japan?
Let’s see what the Word of God has to say about it. Are there situations in which suffering comes as a result of our sin? Of course!
My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Hebrews 12:5b-6
In the Gospel of Luke we read a story in which a group of Galileans have suffered and died an embarrassing death. A crowd approaches Jesus curious whether or not the men had suffered because of their especially sinful lifestyles. Jesus responds,
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:3
And just in case that wasn’t clear enough for the crowd there, Jesus tells another story in which a tower falls on a group of men and kills them all. Jesus says,
Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:4-5
Here Jesus teaches us that it does no good to speculate over that which God has not revealed in His Word. What He has made explicitly clear to us is that we are all guilty of turning our back on our father in heaven and deserve death because of it.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Psalms 14:3
Jesus tells the crowd not to speculate about why the others had suffered, but to instead examine their own lives and relationship with God. In the same way our Heavenly Father allowed tragic events in first century Palestine to remind His people of their futility, He reminds His people today of our utter hopelessness without Him.
Thanks be to our loving God that 2,000 years ago on a little hill outside of Jerusalem, our Savior took all of our sins and received the punishment that we deserved.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
When it’s all said and done, it’s not up to me to say why our brothers and sisters in Japan our suffering so much, because not all of God’s purposes have been revealed to us in His word. But what has most certainly been revealed there, and I can tell you with absolute certainty is that those of us who are in Christ Jesus have nothing to fear. Now that our sins have been removed, we are free to join the Psalmist when he says,
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalms 46:2-3
References
Burnham, Joe. ¿Dónde está Dios cuando sufrimos? Brochure published by Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones.
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