During the terrible ordeal of his desertion by friends, trial, false accusations, beatings, mocking and being nailed to the cross, Jesus has been largely silent. He only answered questions relating to who he truly was and stuck to his mission as Saviour of the world, even when no one else around seemed to understand or accept what he was about.
Today, we remember how he hung on the cross, crucified and died in our place – suffering for our sins.
In the very moments before his death, there is this terrible, agonising cry from the cross. It must have sounded especially loud in the quiet, dark of the moment. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
After his prayer to his
Father in Gethsemane, Jesus took courage and bravely faced the horror and pain of his trial and crucifixion. Now exhausted and in excruciating agony, Jesus experiences his final human thoughts and doubt of God-forsakenness. His horror of drinking the cup of God’s wrath, of sharing the depth of suffering – mental, emotional and physical – of the whole world, is unthinkable. The dark cloud of evil, the political authorities evil, the world’s evil, evil itself greater than the sum of its parts, cut
him off from the one he called ‘Abba’ in a way he had never known before. Welling up from his lifetime of habitual prayer, almost as a reflex, comes this cry. It is not a cry of rebellion but a cry of despair and sorrow that, having lost contact with God, still asks God, “Why?”
Of course, the Father had not left Jesus or deserted him, but it must have felt that way at that moment, and Jesus shares this feeling honestly with his
Father.
Up to his dying moment, Jesus shares our humanity, showing that we can also share his divinity!
Have you ever experienced despair in this sort of way? How has God answered your cry for mercy and help?
On this Good Friday, may you know that Jesus suffered this utter despair with and for you so that you
may enjoin him in the joy of his resurrection and triumph over sin and death.
Reflections by Reggie Venter
