Lk 9:22-24 Mission and Suffering

Luke 9:22-24 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. (NLT)
Jesus suffered at times throughout his life; as a young boy he was taken to Egypt to escape death, he faced direct opposition from Satan from the start of his ministry to the end, his own family misunderstood him. He faced constant, fierce opposition from the religious leaders and attempts were made to intimidate, silence and kill him well before he was arrested, flogged and crucified. Jesus knew he would need to lay down his life and purposefully called his disciples to follow his example. Our mission –to make disciples is a call to suffering, not that we should inflict pain on ourselves but that when difficulties come we should embrace them as God sent them to help us be better disciples. Lord, help me to embrace suffering in the right way.