{"id":44165,"date":"2011-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/john-stott-on-how-cross-speaks-to-injustice-and-suffering\/"},"modified":"2011-04-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-18T00:00:00","slug":"john-stott-on-how-cross-speaks-to-injustice-and-suffering","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/john-stott-on-how-cross-speaks-to-injustice-and-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"John Stott on How the Cross Speaks to Injustice and Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How does the cross of Jesus speak to a world of pain, poverty, and injustice? After explaining the full range of biblical ideas of the atonement, Stott concludes his book with a chapter entitled &quot;Suffering and glory.&quot; He describes the miserable conditions of millions of people who live in shanty towns of Africa and Asia, the <em>barriadas<\/em> of Latin American and the <em>favelas<\/em> of Brazil.<\/p>\n\n<p>Then he tells a story about an imaginary poor man from the slums of Brazil who climbs 2,310 feet up the mountain to the colossal statue of Christ that towers above Rio de Janeiro&mdash;&quot;The Christ of Corcovado.&quot;  After the difficult climb, the poor man finally reaches Jesus and says,<\/p>\n\n<p>I have climbed up to meet you, Christ, from the filthy, confined quarters down there &hellip; to put before you, most respectfully, these considerations: there are 900,000 of us down there in the slums of that splendid city &hellip; And you &hellip; do you remain here at Corcovado surrounded by divine glory? Go down there to the <em>favelas<\/em> &hellip; Don&#39;t stay away from us; live among us and give us new faith in you and in the Father. Amen.<\/p>\n\n<p>Stott asks, &quot;What would Christ say in response to such an entreaty? Would he not say &#39;[in the suffering of the cross] I did come down to live among you, and I live among you still&#39;&quot;?<\/p>\n\n<p>Then Stott adds,<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We have to learn to climb the hill called Calvary, and from that vantage-ground survey all life&#39;s tragedies. The cross does not solve the problem of suffering, but it supplies the essential perspective from which to look at it &hellip; . Sometimes we picture [God] lounging, perhaps dozing, in some celestial deck-chair, while the hungry millions starve to death &hellip; . It is this terrible caricature of God which the cross smashes to smithereens.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3577,3719,3738,3903,3923,4250,4669,5103,5128],"tax_ctp_topics":[388],"class_list":["post-44165","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-christ-burden-bearer","tax_ctp_tags-cross-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-death-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-evil","tax_ctp_tags-explanations-for-evil","tax_ctp_tags-injustice","tax_ctp_tags-poverty","tax_ctp_tags-suffering","tax_ctp_tags-tears"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>John Stott on How the Cross Speaks to Injustice and Suffering - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/john-stott-on-how-cross-speaks-to-injustice-and-suffering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John Stott on How the Cross Speaks to Injustice and Suffering - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How does the cross of Jesus speak to a world of pain, poverty, and injustice? 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