A Christian leader diagnosed with terminal cancer says knowing that Jesus Christ understands suffering brings him “great hope”.
Jeremy Marshall is Chairman of Christianity Explored and a former CEO of British bank C. Hoare & Co.
Writing for the Spectator, Marshall explained that knowing Jesus went through sorrow, pain and death – and then rose from the dead – brings him deep solace.
Tears
In 2016 Marshall was told he had numerous large, inoperable tumours and would not live beyond 18 months.
“With those words, I burst into tears”. He said his priorities “shifted immediately” and he “wanted to make the most of however long I had left”.
Now, having endured nine operations and four rounds of chemotherapy, he is still alive but says: “Living with cancer can be terrifying” because death is ever present.
Comfort
His Saviour is his rock: “Jesus knows what it is like to suffer and he knows it first hand”, he said.
Jesus knows what it is like to suffer
In my fight with cancer, I find that immensely comforting. “There’s more: he also knows what it’s like to die.”
Marshall continued: “I recently attended a funeral where the celebrant said mournfully: ‘There is no answer to death’.
“But I believe there is – and it brings me great hope. In the short time left for me in this world, I can think of nothing more important than sharing that hope with others.”
Hope
Marshall explained that because of his Christian faith, he is convinced that Jesus both died and came back from the dead.
“As I’m wheeled in for another operation – or when I have days of facing up to my imminent mortality – the words from Psalm 23 are on my lips: “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me”.
He concluded: “I am convinced that the Christian story is real – and it brings me hope, even in the depths of my despair.”