“And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ And some of the bystanders hearing it said, ‘Behold, he is calling Elijah.’ And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last’” (Mk. 15:33-37 ESV).
Forsaken. This is a strange word coming out of the mouth of the Son. Just as you and I have never known life without skin or oxygen or a heartbeat, Jesus has never known life without Trinitarian community.
Remembered. That’s the word that should be coming out of the mouth of the Son. That’s the word that describes what has been as characteristic to Jesus’ life as breathing is to ours. Yet here Jesus is, forsaken.
Note what Jesus does: he prays. He prays to the very one whom he feels has abandoned him. Jesus prays hard words. He prays raw words. But the important thing is that Jesus prays.
When we are wounded and upset, what matters most is not the kind or quality of our words, just presence of our words. Keep communicating. Keep talking. Keep praying.
Is there something in your life about which you’ve just stopped talking to God? Is there a pain, an injury, or a wound that you no longer share with God? Take time today and this week to re-start the communication with God in that area.
