My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me - Mark 15: 29-36

There came a point when Jesus had enough. After being beat, tortured, hung to suffocate,  and stripped of clothing. A moment that came after those around them, those who may have even heard him speak words of peace before, mock him and misunderstand his words. A moment that came after the religious leaders lead the crowds in taunting him and spitting on him. A moment that came after the darkness that covered the land for three hours - the darkness that reflected the sin in the hearts of those who gathered there.

Before we start claiming that we would never act like the crowds did that day, remember that it was normal, synagogue going people who were mocking Jesus. It was people who studied their scriptures. People who had just celebrated the deliverance of the Israelites on the highest religious holiday - Passover. These were not the worst of the worst who were trying to break Jesus’ spirit that day. No, it was people who got caught up in the mentality of the crowd. 

One of my family’s favorite shows to watch is The Big Bang Theory. It’s based on six scientists who are self-proclaimed geeks, and a woman who is trying to become an actress but is currently working as a waitress. During one of the episodes two of the female scientists were talking about what it was like growing up and being bullied. At first as they talked, the waitress claimed that she used to be the one who did less than charitable things to other people, but that they wanted those things done to them so they could be part of the group. Later she realized that the group had swept her up and made her act contrary to her beliefs, the group had made her a bully. 

We probably all have stories of being bullied or of bullying others. Stories of just trying not to get picked on by other kids so we pick on others. And for far too many people, this behavior doesn’t end in the school yard, but extends in our adult lives to the workplace. And sometimes even the church. It really isn’t that difficult, is it, to see how normal people got caught up with mocking Jesus that day. The more they mocked, the more they distanced themselves from him and the punishment he was receiving. They were trying to protect themselves by hurting him.

If it still difficult for you to imagine how every day religious people could seek to harm Jesus with their words and actions, just think of some of the things that you have had other Christians do or say to others in public. We only need to think back to a few weeks ago when a pastor made headlines by refusing to give her waitress a tip at Applebee’s by writing a less than kind message on the receipt. When we do not get our way or are unhappy, all too often our sinful human nature takes over and we try to dehumanize or break the spirit of another person. At times all of our hearts have the same darkness as those in the crowd that day.

And finally Jesus had enough and cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Imagine that you are Jesus. Your body in heavy as your lung fill up with fluid. Yet even as he is dying his voice burst forth with these words. The only words that Mark and Matthew record him saying at all on the cross. Words that reflected a feeling of abandonment and despair. 

These words can sometimes confuse us. Especially since we believe that Jesus and God had an intimate relationship. And that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are three in one, and one in three, our basic Trinitarian theology. But somehow that day, Jesus felt like he was alone and cut off from his Heavenly Father. 

But have we not all felt like this at one time or another? Have we not all experienced a time when we feel that the God who loves us so deeply and has claimed us as children has forgotten us. Has abandoned us. Times when others have humiliated us. Or we just cannot find it within ourselves to pray. Times when loved ones die or we face an unexpected diagnosis or set of circumstances. Times when God just seems silent. But because of Jesus proclamation that day on the cross we can say that Jesus understood us fully, Jesus understood even our darkest moments. Jesus surely knew that God was with him that day, but in his heart he felt like we do at times, like he was all alone. Jesus’s cry reminds us that we have a King, we have a Lord, we have a mediator who understands us fully. Who has walked where we have walked and felt what we have felt. 

Jesus also reminds us of what sacred so many in the crowd that day - our faith requires sacrificial love. Our faith asks us to pay a dear price. Sometimes we forget that our faith costs us something too. Our faith requires obedience, faithful living. It can causes us discomfort when we share about it. It requires us to give up what is dear to us. During the season of Lent we are not only reminded of the cost of what Jesus did for us, but also the cost of our response. The sign outside of the church near my family’s home described Christ’s sacrifice as priceless, in quotation marks, so far this Lenten season. The sign reminded me of not only the deep cost that Christ paid, but the cost and the risk of being counted as his disciple as well. 

For those around the cross that day, Jesus’ crying, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me” would have immediately reminded them of the 22nd Psalm as religious people. Adam Hamilton writes that this Psalm would have been just as familiar to the religious crowd as the first line of the hymn Amazing Grace would be for us today. Jesus only said the first line of the Psalm, but the rest would have been recited in the heads and hearts of those gathered. 

When I worked at Hershey Medical Center as a pastoral intern, one of the floors I was assigned to was Medical Intensive Care. This was the highest level of intensive care offered and many in the unit never left. In the early morning hours one day I was paged into the room of a patient who was dying. I asked the family what they would like to do to help their loved at this time and they decided to sing Amazing Grace. As we sang, the dying man was still able to mouth the words with us. He knew them that well in his heart and mind. 

Just as Amazing Grace cannot simply be quoted in one line, so Psalm 22 is not summed up only in the first line Jesus quoted that day. The Psalm describes the despair David felt as he was being pursued by his enemies, but it ends with the statement that he still trusted in God. As much as Jesus was saying about feeling abandoned by quoting the first line of the Psalm, he could equally be asserting his trust in God, even in the midst of feeling God’s absence. Even in the midst of death. Do we have this same level of trust and confidence in God, even when we feel forsaken and abandoned? 

A few years ago the Christian Rock group Third Day released a song entitled “Cry Out to Jesus”. It spoke to those who often feel abandoned by Christ - those who have had a loved one die, to those carrying heavy burdens and deep pains, for those struggling in their relationships, for those with addictions, and to those who are lonely. The chorus encouraged those going through times when they feel hopeless and broken to “Cry out to Jesus”. We can cry to our Lord because of the words he spoke from the cross. Because even he had a breaking point. Because he has felt the sting for  humiliation as those whom had praised him earlier in the week now sought to break his spirit. Jesus knows what we are going through. He has walked the same dark valleys that we have walked. And he understands the cost of our faithful discipleship. Jesus also reminds us to trust in God in all circumstances, as he ultimately looked to God that day. Next time that all you can do is look up at the sky and cry, “why God?” remember that Jesus has been there, and that we have a King who understands and cry out to Jesus. Amen.