Gospel of Luke, Chapter :42

Why is there so much suffering in the world, and why does God allow it? Why did Jesus have to suffer: He did no wrong? These are questions that have plagued people for centuries. Rabbi Gellman offers the following explanation:

“The reason God allows suffering in the world is that the alternative is worse. Let’s suppose God decided to suddenly end all suffering on earth right now. On first look, this seems terrific. No agony. No death. No failure. No struggle for justice or freedom. Nothing but elevator music and sunny days! And all of it accomplished by God alone with no help from us.

However, that’s the problem with what you think you want God to do for us. I call it The Superman Problem. It’s the problem of what happens to our free will and our moral fiber when God decides to fix everything. What happens is that we turn into moral couch potatoes.

We’d quickly learn that doing nothing is just fine with God because God, like Superman, would always swoop down in the nick of time, should anything go wrong, and set everything right. This would be possible for God, but it would be horrible for us. Moral indolence would make us weak, passive creatures. This is what children want, but God wants us to grow up and worship Him out of love, not need.

We can’t wait for Superman. We must learn to fly ourselves. We must find cures for diseases. We must stop aggressors. We must feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and lift up those who sleep in the dust. This is why God has given us the free will and intelligence to end suffering, as well as the knowledge of God’s presence and love to give us the courage and hope to fix our broken world.

In the 58th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the people have the arrogance to believe that their ritual acts ought to compel God to reward them with an easy life. This is a foolish conceit. God mocks them by asking what they’ve done to end suffering on earth besides their fasting.

God’s response to suffering must follow our response to suffering. God’s presence awaits us on the far side of moral indifference.”

Rabbi Marc Gellman

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