Devotion: Questions from the Cross

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema 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 15:33-35

For just a moment, forget you know the end of the story. Forget you know it ends with a resurrection and try to imagine what it would have been like at the foot of the cross. Many of the witnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion would have been familiar with scripture. Their reference to these words “My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me?” would be very different from ours. They may have known this psalm by heart:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22:1

As much as for any other reason, Jesus came as a wisdom teacher. The parables he often told are in a style of teaching from an ancient Wisdom tradition. Jesus asked many more questions than he ever answered. His disciples often called him ‘Teacher.’ Perhaps we would do well to borrow this understanding.

What is Jesus teaching as he offers his last words? He knows we will continue to struggle and wrestle with all the aspects of our humanity. If we follow the words of Psalm 22, we find it is the story of a struggle. A very human struggle.

I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Psalm 22:10-11

The longer we live the more we come to understand that very little in life follows a straight line or path. Life is made of ups and downs and our faith life is no exception. We can rest in faith for a time or season only to be filled with questions and doubt in the next. Things happen or fail to turn out the way we hoped or planned and we wonder ‘Where is God?” Yet the psalm ends very differently than it began:

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 22:29-31

The psalmist writes of a faithful and honest struggle. He wavers back and forth between angst and reassurance, from worry to begging to hope to new certainty. And this is a good metaphor for life. One day piles on the next and we walk from light to shadow to light again,. Our calling is to trust God in the shadow to be the same God we learned to trust in the light. In his last words, Jesus is again the teacher for his beloved. YOU are his beloved. Don’t worry. Do not be afraid.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3

Amen.

 

Written by Patty Forsberg