Good News of Great Joy: Hope for Newtown

26 Dead. 20 Children. Eight little boys. Twelve little girls. All between the ages of 6 and 7. Unbelievable suffering, pain, and evil, without warning, had come to the small town of Newtown, Connecticut. So many questions and no answers. Only memories, tears, and a long road ahead.

This is evil way beyond the evil we are used to. This causes hearts to hurt, tears to run dry, bodies to quake, and anger to indwell. Evil has never felt more real. So what are we to do amidst all of us this suffering, pain, and hardship? Where are we supposed to go?


The Bible never shies away from the reality that we find ourselves in: evil is real and suffering will occur. At the time of Jesus's birth, there was much suffering and hardship. At the news of the Messiah's birth, King Herod, hungry with power, set out to kill all the male children under the ages of two years old (Matthew 2:16-18). Real pain and real suffering much like we see today.

My goal of this post is not to try to put on a happy face or even speed up the grieving process. I would never claim to know or understand what the people of Newtown are going through. Their pain and suffering is unimaginable and my heart breaks at the very thought. My prayer is that in this we will see that our only hope in this horrific tragedy is to fall, weeping into the arms of our Savior who will hold us into the everlasting. May God have mercy on us and grant us the same joy now, as he did the people that endured the suffering at the time of Jesus's birth. May we all, through the deepest possible pain, hear the good news of great joy:

"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'" (Luke 2:10)

                                                                                                                                                           
(The following 3 thoughts on joy in suffering are from Pastor Terry Lester from First Baptist Church of London from his sermon on Sunday, December 16)

Where is the joy and hope in the midst of unbelievable suffering? We have to fight to remember God: who He is and what He has done. What has he done? In Zephaniah 3, despite the severe suffering of the people of God, through many desolate years of war and famine, the prophet calls them back to joy: Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart (Zephaniah 3:14). Zephaniah doesn't just tell them what to do, but he tells them why they should by joyful. The verse that follows is an ever present light when the dark nights of the soul overcome us:

"The Lord has taken away the judgements against you; he has cleared away your enemies, The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil." (Zephaniah 3:15)

3 Unshakeable Joys we have in Christ: 

1.) The Gift of Grace: "The Lord has taken away the judgements against you"
We are sinners, who deserve judgement and condemnation. But, in Christ we have the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). Oh the joy in not getting what we deserve. This gift isn't just for our good days, or when everything is going well. This gift is once and for all (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10). The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only anchor we have to hold, as the waves of this troubling world continue to toss us to and fro. 

2.) The Gift of Victory: "he has cleared away your enemies"
Our ultimate enemies in this world are not people, or circumstances, or ideologies. The ultimate enemy will always be sin that has brought us death. The devil loves death, but Christ loves life because he is life (John 10:10, 14:6). Christ has defeated both sin and the grave through his life, death, and resurrection: "the sting of death is sin, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"(1 Cor. 15:56-57). Whatever possible suffering and defeat this world brings, Christians will have victory in Jesus Christ. It was sealed 2,000 years ago on the hill of Calvary. 
  
3.) The Gift of Him: "The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst" 
The Lord is not like us. He is in a another league from us. He is perfect, holy, spotless in every imaginable way. And yet, He chooses to come to us, to be with His people, by becoming flesh. Jesus is Immanuel: God with us. God took our suffering so seriously that he took it upon Himself, on the cross. No matter what may happen this side of heaven, in Jesus, we have God and He promises to always be enough (2 Cor. 12:9). In a world where anything and everything can happen, and your entire life can be taken away from you in a matter of seconds, Jesus never can. He has conquered the world and is above it in every way (John 16:33). 

The "good news of great joy" that the shepherds heard in Bethlehem, can be heard today. God has come to his people and for his people in Jesus Christ. He has and will continue to come to Newtown as well. Evil is real, but its day are numbered. Everything sad will one day come untrue (Romans 16:20). Come Lord Jesus.