The last words of Jesus from the cross: …‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’
This is the fourth in a series of studies for the Easter Preparation season.
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).
Matthew 27:46 (NIVUK)
As we come to the fourth of Jesus’s words from the cross, often referred to as the ‘cry of dereliction’, we are entering into a deep and dark mystery. In many ways, we should stand in awe and wonder meditating on Jesus’s experience, rather than rushing around seeking explanations.
In crying out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus is reciting Psalm 22:1. A good place to start our meditation would be to read through this messianic Psalm, and I encourage you to do this first as it would help us to understand how Jesus is interpreting his experience and provide some context for quoting this psalm.
In this profound and disturbing shout from the cross, Jesus in his humanity, is identifying with all of us who have asked the question, ‘Where is God?’ when we are going through a difficult time. Jesus is united with all of us who wonder where deliverance from our trial is going to come from, who cannot see or hear God, do not sense his presence, and feel abandoned by him.
As we humbly ponder this, is it true that God had forsaken Jesus in his darkest hour and that he is nowhere to be seen when we suffer? The Psalmist gives us a clue to the answer when he writes, ‘[the Lord] 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.’ (Psalm 22:24). Jesus’s cry from the cross was not merely a cry of despair or dereliction, but a cry for help, with the confidence of knowing that his Father has not despised him, not hidden his face from him, and has heard his cry.
We should not downplay what Jesus experienced on the cross, but even though he could not see or hear or sense God, he knew his Father was there with him, after all, why cry out for help to someone you know is not there? On the night Jesus was arrested, he said to his disciples, ‘A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.’ (John 16:32).
The Father was with Jesus during all he experienced on the cross, and the comforting news for us is that, even though we may not always sense his presence when we are suffering, he is with us, and he hears our cries for help.
Prayer
Loving Father, as we attempt to plumb the depths of Jesus’s cry to you from the cross, help us to never forget that you are right there with us through all our trials, and that you will never leave or forsake us. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Study by Barry Robinson
Barry Robinson is a minister in Grace Communion International and Regional Pastor for Southern England, the Midlands, and Wales
Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church