Good Friday service
7 Last Words
Mark 15:33-34
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Fourth Word
April 22, 2011
Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani – translated My God, My God why have you forsaken me.
That’s actually the title of a short story about a man who developed an explosive that can create darkness. He was also fascinated by the passion story. He considered himself a devout Christian.
Mr. Baumoff was also a scientist, when he saw the explosives of war, he was fascinated. He couldn’t wait to tell his friends about his new invention. But none of them seemed to be interested.
Mr. Baumoff wanted to impress his best friend so he actually drank the invention to demonstrate it’s effectiveness. His friend really did not want to watch to see what would happen, but Mr. Baumoff told him the he should be priveledged to watch, and should document all that he saw.
Mr Baumoff started to sweat and to turn red. His friend became scared. Then Mr. Baumoff felt that he needed to reenact the crucifixion. He started to out nails in his hands and feet, he tied himself to the chair. All of a sudden there was a loud boom and everything dark. The friend fainted. When he woke up, he found Mr Baumoff dead. When they did an autopsy, they found that he died from heart failure, not from the cruxifixion. But the friend remembered that the last thing that he said before he died was “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.
The story is intended to remind us of cruxifion – the darkness – the last words, the torn curtain, the anguish of Christ.
Baumoff is not intended to be a hero- he is sort of like a suicide bomber. He had a confused and contorted theology of pain and suffering. He was also confused about why Jesus died on a cross. Confused about the darkness surrounding the day and the events of the cross
God’s response of darkness is not about his disappointment of Jesus. But disappointment with others, with us: our need to blame, to not take responsibility for our actions, to disregard for how our actions affect others, disappointment basically in our sin.
The darkness surrounding the cross, darkness surrounding our lives. Our world today.
Arthur Blessit got a call from God to carry the cross across the country in 1968. In 1969 he was called to carry the cross across Ireland. 42 years later, he has taken the cross to 315 countries, and travelled over 39,000 miles. Wherever there is calamity, he brings the cross. One day a reporter asked him if its heavy – he reported that it is not nearly as heavy as the burden of listening to peoples stories –stories of pain, war, loss hunger, and untold suffering.
The New York times says that the mood of the nation is worse then it have ever been. That is the darkness of the day – the suffering of Christ.
The suffering of Christ was not about his physical pain, but about his spiritual and emotional pain. The pain of bearing our suffering and sin.
Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani – My God, My God, whi have you forsaken me.
We know from these words that Jesus spoke Aramaic. Hebrew, araimaic and Arabic are very similar but not the same. But aramaiic is a beautiful language, because words can carry double meanings at the same time.
Eli – means My God
Not the God of the situation, that the God that I have always heard about, Not the God that I read about, but My God.
The God of my soul, the God of my life, who knows me and understands my situation and feels my pain, My God.
Lama – means why
I am asking you a question God – why?
Why is this happening , why does it hurt so bad, why is the darkness so deep?
It’s the question that God never answers, not for me of for Jesus. But Jesus has to ask anyway
Why god, Why?
Not a day goes by in my life that I don’t ask that same question.
Why God, why?
Jesus was speaking in Aramaic…
In hebew the word is azabathani, in greek it is transliterated sabachthani. But it cant be properly translated in Aramaic.
It is a grief that is too deep for words. A sorrow that cannot be explained.
It is the pain of being abandoned by God. jesus is literally saying that the spirit of God inside of him has left – after he cried a second time he gave up the ghost.
But it also means totally and completely separated from God. beig abandonded by God.
Why would god abandon his son on the cross?
Habbukuk 1:13 says that God cannot look upon sin and approve it. God cant ignore that it happens, god cant pretend it is okay, God cant participate in it, not even for his Son.
The consequences of sin is death.
The darkness cant be dispelled, but dark and light cannot exist in the same place.
My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Those are the first words of palm 22. This is a cry of aganoy – a request for relief and victory over the darkness
But it is also a psalm that speaks of the cruxifision of Christ. Verse 17-18 says I can count all m bones, they stare and glote over me. The divide my clothes amongst themselves and for my clothing they cast lots.
In times of despair – I believe Jesus us leading me to this psalm. The first 21 verses speak of suffering of the world, of people of the results of sin. The last 10 verses are the hope of God.
Verses 23-23 says that he has not despised me or afflicted me. Thse who seek him shall not be disappointed. Praise the Lord in your hearts forever!
The work of Christ on the cross – to give hope to overcome all despair, no darkness, cant be overcome by light.
No pain that can be sung in a song
There is no time in my life that God will ever leave me. There is no death that will not someday find new life. All because Christ’s work on the cross.
There are times when I might abandon God, times when I may think God has left me.
Those are the times when I need to remember the cross, Christ unspoken love for me, and know that I am never alone.
Amen.
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