45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" 55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" This is known as the cry of dereliction - a cry of despair when Jesus is "abandoned by God." Or so many theologians contend. I disagree. (Of course, I am not internationally known, paid for my insights nor a PhD. but such as it is, I disagree).
The passage from life to death .....and then into the unknown of life again in Jesus......particularly when you are crushed with pain and mocked by those who stand safely on the sidelines, betrayed by a close disciple and denied by your chosen leader, when too many of those who shouted Hosanna are nowhere to be seen..........that passage from life to death for our beloved Jesus is too painful to consider. There would be no easy sleep for him; no mind and pain numbing drugs; no loving family gathered around sharing memories and singing hymns. Jesus' death is a good example of the old saying, "You are born alone and you die alone."
But do you die without God? Does the God who gave you life turn away the divine face just as you move into this abyss of the unknown? Does the God who guided you, spoke to you, formed and loved you leave you to your own devices as the pain becomes unbearable? Does the God whom you served.....whose purpose has been your purpose....who has given meaning to your life, your work.....simply disappear at this, the moment of your greatest need?
I believe the answer is No. A God who would send a part of his own heart into this world to live and work and die as a human would not take a vacation at the moment of a human's greatest need.
That doesn't mean that we humans are not so crushed that we can no longer hear God's voice. I can imagine that Jesus no longer had the strength to reach out to God and to feel God's presence. In fact, if Jesus was at all human I can easily understand that he felt abandoned by the one who called him into this ministry. I do not fault Jesus for these words of grief and longing for God's presence, for some comfort in these moments of utter distress.
But I also believe that God was there with him - sweating, grieving, weeping for this beloved one who the world would not accept, could not love, refused to follow. I believe that God's love for the lowest, most oppressed of all humanity was made manifest in Jesus' death: a death reserved for the lowest, most despised of this world.
It is the horror that we inflict upon our own in this world that Jesus carried to the cross and into his glory. It looked as if he was all alone, but the angels of God, the powerful Spirit of life were told to stand back. This thing had to be done for the sake of all humankind whom God loved as much as the beloved Son Jesus.
Or so I believe. What about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment