Matthew 19:17 Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

Recently I visited a friend who had been ill for some time. We talked about many things. Half way through my visit I anointed her with oil and, with three of us in the room, I prayed for her healing because I have seen God answer such prayers. Why is that? I believe that not everyone who is severely ill is meant to die at that particular time. I also believe it is God who has the last word and he decides who lives and who dies and when. So to the extent that his Word instructs us to pray and believe that he will raise up the sick and forgive their sins, it is incumbent on us to be obedient and intercede for them. (See James 5:14-16). The Scriptures record repeatedly that  Jesus healed people on the basis of their faith or the faith of those who brought the sick to Him. It is the restoration of the “hopeless cases” that brings the most glory to God’s name.

Before I left my friend that day she had a question: “Why do good people suffer? In retrospect, I know I fumbled the answer. So let us go to the Bible and see what Jesus had to say about being good. Matthew 19:16-22 records an encounter between Jesus and a rich young man who had similar questions. You will see that Jesus took the position that there is only One who is good, that is God. (See the New King James Version of the Bible). Jesus’ response left the young man totally dejected and he went away disappointed to learn that all his good deeds so far, and they were many, would not assure him a place in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ disciples were equally stunned by the discourse as they exclaimed: “Who then can be saved?” (See verses 23-30). Are you stunned too?

The position Jesus took was not new. The prophet Isaiah summed up our condition before a Holy God: “All of us have become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6).

This condition of ours, my friend, is why Jesus went to the cross. The shedding of his blood covers our sins. Once we accept that he took our punishment, God credits us with His righteousness. The good we then begin to do is God-ordained and therefore is of value in his  sight. (See Ephesians 2:8-10).

If you are still holding out on the idea that “good people” shouldn’t suffer, consider Jesus. What did He do to suffer as He did? “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and put him to grief.” (Isaiah 53:10). “God did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all…” (See Romans 8:32 and study Chapter 8 in its entirety).