“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Those were the last words of Jesus. At that moment, he was alone. He could feel it in his soul. It was empty and hollow. The pain was too much to bear. The physical torture had taken its toll, not to mention the mental anguish. Just yesterday, his best friends betrayed him. Not only did they hand him over, but they also denied knowing him. Even the political system didn’t go in his favor. Pilate took the simple and self-serving route. He could have set him free. He didn’t. No help. No people, no angels, no God.
Maybe you have been there? The circumstances of life have stacked against you and they just keep coming. Perhaps your friends have betrayed you, just like Jesus. Maybe it’s illness or financial pressure that keeps you from living a joy-filled life. It could be death. For many, it’s more than one at the same time. That is when we cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Do those words signal the end of our faith? Are they the suggestion that we have found such ongoing despair that we no longer believe God is good? Maybe not. According to John Calvin, these are words of strong faith. It is only the faithful, in fact, that are able to question God in this manner. It stems from the foundation of promises that God made to us. We cry out because we know them to be true. We want them to be true, we need them to be true. They are true.
Today, we know that Jesus’ death was temporary (1 Corinthians 15:4). We know that He now sits at the right hand of God (acts 7:55). Because of this, we also know that God’s delay was temporary. It was perfect. Just enough that Christ would facilitate our redemption. Today, it is this redemption that we build our lives upon. While it may not relieve us from the troubles of this world, it does assure that we can have peace, hope, and love, today, forever, and always.