Psalms 22:1-2
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
Mark 15:33-34 (The Message)
At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
Mark 15:33-34 (The Message)
At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
This week puts us right in the middle of our journey to the cross. Every step we take, from now on, takes us closer to Good Friday. I don’t know about you, sitting out there listening to me, but I know that for me, this is a hard sermon series. Standing up here each week talking about the obscenity that is the Cross is hard – I’d rather be doing just about anything else. But if Jesus could endure it – and if I want to claim to follow Jesus – then I’d better be able to at least spend some time thinking about the Cross.
This week we’re looking at the Cross as the epitome of abandonment – the cross is where you end up when there is no one left to save you. It is the ultimate aloneness – there is absolutely no one nailed up there with you. Our readings today, I think, are among the most heartbreaking in all scripture.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? We recognize this as the cry of a soul in torment – one who has almost reached the end of their resources. Psalm 22 is considered one of the generic psalms – not so much a prayer for a specific time of suffering in David’s life, but one that reflects humankind’s occasional descent into despair and our never-ending need for God’s hand in our lives. The suffering is real, the grief is real, and it is a feeling we all know, all too well.
But as if the psalm isn’t hard enough, we had to hear this twice just now – first from the Psalmist, and the second time in the voice of Jesus himself – clearly quoting from the Psalm. These are, in fact, recorded as Jesus’ last words before dying. It’s a cry to break the heart.
But is it really? This is where I am reminded that study and research really do matter because it turns out it might not be as awful as it seems, at first glance. Yes, it’s awful. Yes, the suffering is real. Yes, there is death to follow – but is there really abandonment?
The two verses we read from Psalm 22 are the opening verses to that psalm, but it’s a pretty long psalm and there is a lot more that follows. In fact, a few verses further, we find this:
But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he 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.
Here the psalmist prays – knowing that someone is listening! He is not abandoned. God is there to hear his prayer. And furthermore, the writer gives praise in advance because he has absolute faith that not only does God hear him, but that God will act on his behalf.
What does all this tell us about the fact that Jesus quotes this psalm as his last words? First, a couple of points that are important to recognize here: One, the average Temple-going Jew of that day – Jesus among them – knew his scripture way better than we today tend to know ours. And Two, both Jesus and those who heard him would have known exactly what prayer he was quoting and they would have known it in its entirety – not just the one line he quotes. In fact, I found out from my studies this week, that for the people of Jesus’ time, quoting just the opening lines of a psalm – a prayer -- would have been a kind of “shorthand” way to refer to the entire prayer.
It appears that Jesus was not despairing in abandonment. He was suffering, yes. He was dying, yes. He’d had hoped he’d be rescued. But even dying he did not lose faith in the one he called Father. Even dying he proclaimed his faith that God’s will would triumph. Even death would not separate him from God.
That’s a very different story than the one we get from just a surface reading of the scriptures. So, what does all this have to say to those moments when we are feeling abandoned, when we feel like there is no one anywhere who cares what happens to us – and I’m pretty sure every one of us has felt that at some time in our lives – what does this more complete reading of the psalm say to us? Are we able, as Jesus was apparently able, to cry out in our pain and grief, and STILL retain our surety that God IS there for us? Our bone deep awareness that God WILL come through for us? That God HAS NOT and WILL NOT abandon us?
None of us want to be in that position. All of us hope to never be there again. But if the time comes around for me again, I hope and pray I have the faith to carry me through. I hope I have memory enough to remember that God has always been there for me in the past – even when it felt at the time like I was left all alone. That further down the road, when I’ve been able to look back, I’ve seen that God was indeed there and acting on my behalf. Faith and memory enough to hang onto the knowledge that even if it feels like abandonment right now, I know my God well enough that then I cry out in misery and suffering, it will be God I cry to – and I will know that someone is listening and caring. This is how Psalm 22 ends – remember, this is the writing of the same person who cried out in abandonment at the beginning of the psalm:
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
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!
He has done it. He will always do it. Love always wins. Amen.
This week we’re looking at the Cross as the epitome of abandonment – the cross is where you end up when there is no one left to save you. It is the ultimate aloneness – there is absolutely no one nailed up there with you. Our readings today, I think, are among the most heartbreaking in all scripture.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? We recognize this as the cry of a soul in torment – one who has almost reached the end of their resources. Psalm 22 is considered one of the generic psalms – not so much a prayer for a specific time of suffering in David’s life, but one that reflects humankind’s occasional descent into despair and our never-ending need for God’s hand in our lives. The suffering is real, the grief is real, and it is a feeling we all know, all too well.
But as if the psalm isn’t hard enough, we had to hear this twice just now – first from the Psalmist, and the second time in the voice of Jesus himself – clearly quoting from the Psalm. These are, in fact, recorded as Jesus’ last words before dying. It’s a cry to break the heart.
But is it really? This is where I am reminded that study and research really do matter because it turns out it might not be as awful as it seems, at first glance. Yes, it’s awful. Yes, the suffering is real. Yes, there is death to follow – but is there really abandonment?
The two verses we read from Psalm 22 are the opening verses to that psalm, but it’s a pretty long psalm and there is a lot more that follows. In fact, a few verses further, we find this:
But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he 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.
Here the psalmist prays – knowing that someone is listening! He is not abandoned. God is there to hear his prayer. And furthermore, the writer gives praise in advance because he has absolute faith that not only does God hear him, but that God will act on his behalf.
What does all this tell us about the fact that Jesus quotes this psalm as his last words? First, a couple of points that are important to recognize here: One, the average Temple-going Jew of that day – Jesus among them – knew his scripture way better than we today tend to know ours. And Two, both Jesus and those who heard him would have known exactly what prayer he was quoting and they would have known it in its entirety – not just the one line he quotes. In fact, I found out from my studies this week, that for the people of Jesus’ time, quoting just the opening lines of a psalm – a prayer -- would have been a kind of “shorthand” way to refer to the entire prayer.
It appears that Jesus was not despairing in abandonment. He was suffering, yes. He was dying, yes. He’d had hoped he’d be rescued. But even dying he did not lose faith in the one he called Father. Even dying he proclaimed his faith that God’s will would triumph. Even death would not separate him from God.
That’s a very different story than the one we get from just a surface reading of the scriptures. So, what does all this have to say to those moments when we are feeling abandoned, when we feel like there is no one anywhere who cares what happens to us – and I’m pretty sure every one of us has felt that at some time in our lives – what does this more complete reading of the psalm say to us? Are we able, as Jesus was apparently able, to cry out in our pain and grief, and STILL retain our surety that God IS there for us? Our bone deep awareness that God WILL come through for us? That God HAS NOT and WILL NOT abandon us?
None of us want to be in that position. All of us hope to never be there again. But if the time comes around for me again, I hope and pray I have the faith to carry me through. I hope I have memory enough to remember that God has always been there for me in the past – even when it felt at the time like I was left all alone. That further down the road, when I’ve been able to look back, I’ve seen that God was indeed there and acting on my behalf. Faith and memory enough to hang onto the knowledge that even if it feels like abandonment right now, I know my God well enough that then I cry out in misery and suffering, it will be God I cry to – and I will know that someone is listening and caring. This is how Psalm 22 ends – remember, this is the writing of the same person who cried out in abandonment at the beginning of the psalm:
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
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!
He has done it. He will always do it. Love always wins. Amen.
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