In Light of Suffering:
Is God Good? 1

Does God experience our suffering?

Describe the image.

Tell what you think is going on.

What is the background of this painting?

Beginning in the 11th century, churches placed paintings or sculptures behind the altar. The altar is a table displayed at the front of the church’s interior and the painting or sculpture behind the altar is called an altarpiece. People in the church faced the altarpiece and drew inspiration and instruction from the image in front of them.

The Isenheim Altarpiece was painted for the monastery of St. Anthony. The monks of this order served in a hospital for those suffering skin diseases, especially from ergotism, a disease caused by consuming rye that had been infected by a fungus. Known as “St. Anthony’s fire,” this disease affected the skin, caused hallucinations, and provoked disfiguring muscle spasms.

Hospitals were quite different from the places of healing we know them to be today. When someone went to a hospital in the 16th century, it was not to get well but to find comfort in death. Imagine entering the Isenheim hospital in the 16th century with ergotism. What would you think if upon entering you gazed at this painting of Jesus, who was not only suffering crucifixion but also suffering from the same disease you had? Keep in mind that Jesus did not really have ergotism. Grunewald painted Jesus with that disease as a way of saying that Jesus knows and understands our suffering. The Bible says that Jesus “was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3, New Living Translation).

Companionship in Suffering

When you suffer in some way, who do you go to for help and comfort? Perhaps you talk to a person or a small group of people who have suffered in the same way as you have. They understand what you might not even be able to articulate. The monks saw that Jesus was their companion in suffering. He experienced human suffering in a way no one else could when he died on the cross.

Tell about an experience when you suffered but found help from those who understood your experience.

Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because [Jesus Christ] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Those suffering from ergotism in the 16th century found reassurance and help in Jesus Christ who knew what it meant to suffer just as they did.

Is the death of Jesus Christ a comfort to you? Why or why not?