Did Jesus Suffer More Than Any Other Person?

Mike Hosey, Elder

All my Christian life I have heard it said that Jesus suffered more than any other person in history.

That claim is a staple of much armchair theology, but it has always stricken me as being rather overblown. I mean think about it, a guy being nailed to a wooden cross is supposed to have suffered more than a guy thrown feet first into a shredder by Saddam Hussein, or to have suffered more than an innocent boy or girl raped daily by an evil man for whom there is no hope of overpowering? 

On the surface, that claim just doesn't hold water. But like so many claims about Jesus, there's more to it than just what we see on the surface.

The suffering of Jesus can be organized into two main categories. 

First, there is the suffering of Jesus on the cross. This particular suffering has two facets as well. Obviously, there is the suffering from a real physical pain caused by the spilling of blood and the tearing of flesh. We all have the ability to relate at a very small level to this part of his suffering, because we have all had our bodies damaged in some way. But Jesus suffered more than just physically. He suffered spiritually. He bore our sins in his body while on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). And this is difficult (maybe impossible) for us to relate to on any level. Just try to imagine what it must be like to undeservedly feel the weight of all the past, present and future sins of humanity. You probably can't. Even so, it's not unreasonable to assume that such agony is greater than any physical torture - especially considering that he knew so many would reject the gift he was giving to them through all of that torture.

The second category of suffering for Jesus is far easier for us to appreciate because those of us trying to walk our talk deal with this kind of suffering every day.  It is this: Jesus suffered from temptation (Hebrews 2:18). As a man he was met daily with the temptations common to all men (Hebrews 4:15). And yet,  he never sinned. He never gave into that temptation. Ever. In fact, he resisted temptation all the way to death!

How long do we suffer temptation before giving in? Why?