People often ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It sounds noble and compassionate, and we usually nod along as if it carries deep moral weight. But behind that question is an assumption that quietly distorts our understanding of God, humanity, and grace, the assumption that there are truly good people.
When we measure goodness by human standards, it is easy to label certain people as good. We think of kind neighbors, honest workers, faithful husbands, or loving fathers. Yet Scripture pulls back the curtain and shows us a different reality. Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, not even one.” Apart from God, none of us are good in the pure and holy sense of the word. We might do decent things, but our hearts are stained by pride, selfishness, and rebellion.
The question we should really be asking is not why bad things happen to good people, but why good things happen to any of us at all. The fact that God gives us breath each morning, provides food on our tables, and pours out His mercy daily is evidence of His goodness, not ours.
But there was one good person who walked this earth. Only one who truly lived without sin, who never wronged anyone, who loved perfectly and obeyed the Father completely, Jesus Christ. And what happened to Him? The worst thing imaginable. Betrayal, mockery, injustice, torture, and death on a cross.
Yet here is the mystery of grace. He willingly took that suffering upon Himself. The only good person who ever lived chose to bear the punishment that evil deserved, so that those who are evil could be called righteous in Him. He traded His perfection for our corruption, His glory for our shame, His life for our death.
So the next time someone asks, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” we can answer gently but truthfully, “That only happened once, and He volunteered for it.”
Every hardship we face, every pain we endure, and every trial that seems unfair can be viewed through that lens. Christ’s suffering redeems ours. The cross turns the question upside down. Instead of wondering why bad things happen to good people, we begin to marvel that a good God would allow anything good to happen to broken people like us.
And that realization does not lead to despair. It leads to worship.
