When Death Comes Too Soon

A young man, only 33 years old, grew up middle class. He did not receive an expensive education; rather, he learned a trade and became a blue collar worker. Because he was an easy target, he was accused of a crime he didn't commit, and he was arrested. His family had no influence and could not help him. His friends were too afraid to stand up and testify to his innocence. With no one to defend him, the justice system marked him as a scapegoat and he lost his case. He received the death penalty, suffered, and died an innocent man.

For hundreds of families throughout the United States, this story or ones like it are true. To watch a loved one suffer, be wrongfully accused, or die before their time is to undergo a suffering like no other. Versions of it happen so often: deadly accidents, illness, suicide, gang violence, and in the recent past, natural disasters and senseless murder. In the wake of tragedies like these, it's easy to despair. It may seem almost a better choice to turn away from a God who does not prevent it. Where was He? How could He let this happen?

After what seemed like months of waking up each day to a different disaster, I had these thoughts myself. What was God doing the moment Stephen Paddock decided to bust out a window from the inside of the Mandalay Bay and start shooting innocent people? What was He doing when families were drowning and dying in floods and earthquakes? Where is He when children take their last breath from cancer? When a teenager pulls the trigger against his own temple? When people are taken every day before their time? Where is God then?

The answer? He was there.

Jesus was a young man, only 33 years old at the end of his life. He grew up middle class. He did not receive an expensive education, but became a carpenter with his father. Because he was an easy target, he was accused by the Romans of plotting against the government. His family had no influence and could not help him, and even his apostles deserted him out of fear. With no one to defend him, he was sentenced to be crucified. He suffered terribly and died an innocent man.

As you can see, Jesus preceded us in our suffering through His own anguish and unjust death. He died before His time and His family had to watch. For love of them, for His own life, He could have stopped it but chose not to. What a gift became of it! In this instance is where the truth can be found: goodness comes out of suffering. If it did not, there would be no Resurrection. We do not suffer in order to receive goodness, we suffer because evil exists. Jesus then redeems our suffering and brings goodness forth from darkness. The only caveat is that we must have courage enough to see ourselves through and patience enough to wait for it.

In the face of this darkness, we could argue free will. We could bring in theology and philosophy and all the other -ologies to argue for His existence in the face of a world who denies it. But the truth is, when a person is suffering and their suffering is a tangible ache present in the here and now, that is no immediate comfort. A suffering soul does not want facts and arguments. They want to know that Jesus sees them in their suffering, that He was with their loved one in their time of need. Please hear me: He was.

For Jesus, all times are present and all suffering is in the here and now. Not a single second of anyone's life passes by without His knowledge. Contained within His Sacred Heart is the heart of every one of His children, and our joy is His joy, our pain is His pain. Every trembling gasp we take is wrenched from His own chest. Every wound we receive is a wound in His own side. Jesus is present in our suffering and bears our entire burden on His shoulders. To try and explain suffering away with proofs and causes diminishes the fact that it happened and it is real and people are left changed by it. Suffering cannot be explained and evil cannot be understood, but we can find comfort in knowing that we never, never suffer alone.

So when death comes too soon, as it will, call to mind the image of the crucified Jesus. Rest assured that it is that Jesus that comes to lay beside you in your pain and sorrow. Not a Jesus in a clean white cloak, but a Jesus with a bloodstained cloth. Not a Jesus with a gleaming gold crown, but a Jesus with a circlet of thorns cutting His forehead. Not a Jesus who stands removed, but a Jesus who comes close enough to hear your heartbeat. It is this Jesus who is present with you in your time of need, and it is my hope that you find a bit of peace in knowing that His suffering and our suffering are one.