GOOD FRIDAY: NEVER FORSAKEN

 

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’-- which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he's calling Elijah.’” (Mark 15:34-35, NIV)

Those people standing at the cross misunderstood what Jesus said, and we sometimes do, too.  One popular, but non-biblical interpretation, is: first, the sins of the world were transferred to Jesus, for our substitutionary penalty; at that moment God, the Father, unable to look at sin, turned away from Jesus; and, Jesus in response cried out about being forsaken by God.

This text, however, is about Jesus starting to recite Psalm 22!  When the NT writers give us a phrase from the OT, we sometimes place our focus only on that phrase, but their expectation was that their audience knew the context of the phrase; they knew their Scriptures.  They are telling us that Psalm 22 was on Jesus’ mind.  Psalm 22 is the epitome of a type of psalm, the Psalm of Lament, and here, of the innocent, righteous sufferer.  [Note: The early Christians came to see Psalm 22 virtually as a prophecy about the suffering Messiah (for example, see verse 18 and John 19:24) and please read all of Psalm 22.]

What, then, was Jesus thinking?  Jesus’ cry from the cross is a cry of despair, but not total despair.  Jesus’ cry is a cry grounded on faith.  There is still trust in God; but not just trust, even praise and affirmation of divine victory!  Here is the concluding part of what Jesus was reciting:

For he [God] has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;
     those who seek the LORD will praise him--
     may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!  (Psalm 22:24 – 31 NIV)

Personal Application:  I think that we, too, have times when we are allowed to cry out to God, “Why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus’ cry from the cross reminds me deeply of the Incarnation, that God took on our humanity.  We will never know the depth of Jesus’ despair and suffering on the Cross.  However, Jesus in his humanity does know and understand the depth of our despair and suffering.  We will experience times when God does not seem to be present and when we seem to be engulfed in darkness: times of crucial decisions, times of lost relationships, times of depression and anxiety, times when we feel beaten down. I am convinced that in these times, Jesus not only gives us permission to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me;” but our Risen Lord Jesus is there to intercede for us and cry out those words for us and in us and through us.  However, when Jesus cries out those words through us, they, like those of Psalm 22, will also be words of faith, words that proclaim down to the very last breath of life that God is still sovereign, that God is still there, that God is still for us.  
And we also have this perspective: When Jesus cried out those words from the Cross, it looked like all was lost, that the Son of God was dead, that the Kingdom of God would not come, that Satan had triumphed.  But, those who know Jesus, know that those words and the utter bleakness of the Cross are followed by Resurrection and Life.

Lord, thank you that the Cross was not a defeat.  Jesus was not forsaken.  And, you will never forsake me.  Amen.