Eli Eli, lema
sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? These are the first words of the Twenty-second Psalm. We
heard Jesus praying these words last Sunday during the proclamation of the
Passion from the Gospel of Matthew. To understand why Jesus would say this we
need to listen to some of the rest of this psalm:
Yet you, O God, are holy, enthroned on
the praises of Israel. In you our
fathers put their trust; they trusted and you set them free. When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you the trusted and never in vain.
But I am scored by men, despised by the
people. All who see me deride me. They
curl their lips, they toss their heads.
“He trusted in the Lord, let him save him; let him release him if this
is his friend.”
Like water I am poured out, disjointed
are all my bones. My heart has
become like wax, it is melted within my breast.
Parched as burnt clay is my throat, my
tongue cleaves to my jaws.
Many dogs have surrounded me, a band of
the wicked beset me. They tear
holes in my hands and my feet and lay me in the dust of death.
I can count every one of my bones. These people stare at me and gloat,
they divide my clothing among them.
They case lots for my robe.
The Passion we have just proclaimed, that from the Gospel of
John, points out the fulfillment of these prophesies made perhaps by King David
himself 1000 years earlier, or perhaps during the exile, 550 years before
Christ. Jesus was scorned by the arrogant. He thirsts. He had holes torn into
his hands and feet. The wicked divided his clothes and cast lots for his robe. But
Jesus never give up his faith that his Father would save him[1],
so the psalm ends:
O Lord,
do not leave me alone, my strength make haste to help me......I will tell of
your name to my brethren and praise you where they are assembled.
Due to His
faith in the work of His Father, His determination
to complete the sacrifice of His life as a pure offering to God for the sins of
the world, due to His love for us, His people, the wood of the cross has become the Tree of Life. And love
conquered hate, good conquered evil and eternal life conquered death. The Lord calls us to His Cross today. He
tells us to give Him our fears, our sorrows, our pains, and even, and
especially, give Him our sins. He says to us, “This is why I am here. I
willingly suffer for you. Give it to me. Give it all to me.” He takes them all
upon Himself. He dies so we can
live.
What are our concerns?
What are our fears? Perhaps our health is declining. Maybe there are those
we love who are very sick. Maybe we are suffering from the death of a loved
one. Perhaps our families are going through a stressful time. For many months
of unemployment and underemployment, may be a difficult situation in your love
life… Certainly we are all fighting against sin, sin in the world, sin in each
of our lives, the very existence of sin. There are times all of us feel beaten
down. “Come to the cross,” Jesus says today. “Come to the cross and give it all
to me. I am here on the cross for you. I want to take it all upon myself. I want to die for you so you can live
for me.”
Then we can join King David in proclaiming another psalm:
Have mercy on me, God, in your
kindness. In your compassion blot
out my offense. O wash me more and
more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.
My offenses truly I know them; my sin
is always before me. Against you,
you alone, have I sinned. What is
evil in your sight I have done.
Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my
heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall
be whiter than snow.
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have
crushed may revive. From my sins
turn away your face and blot out all my guilt.
A pure heart create for me, O God, put
a steadfast spirit within me. Do
not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you[2].
And we walk up
to venerate the cross this afternoon, we venerate it, kissing a symbol of the Lord’s
sacrifice. For by the wood of the cross, all that kills us, all that is killing
us, is being destroyed. In fewer words:
The tree of the cross, that symbol of death, is the Tree of Life ■
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