(7th in a
series on Lent)
Mark 15:33-41 & Hebrews
12:1-3
(Use the link below to read the verses.)
When
I was a little boy, there was nobody more important to me than my Dad. Above
everybody else, I needed his love and affirmation.
If I felt his rejection, I could
easily be moved to tears. All he had to do was raise his voice and I would be hurt.
If he spanked me I would cry, not because of the physical pain, but because I
felt unloved.
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the
afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in
a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema
sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)…
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. NIV
Jesus
suffered unimaginable torture and pain before he even got to the cross.
Crucifying someone was not only a shameful death, but it was an excruciatingly
painful death. He had hung on the cross for three hours before he spoke these
words. Was he referring to his physical pain? I don’t think so.
I
believe at the moment Jesus spoke these words, he was experiencing the total
rejection of, and separation from his Heavenly Father; the same one whom he had
been completely obedient to despite being fully human; the same one who Jesus
spoke of as “if you have seen me, you
have seen the Father”.
Complete
and total rejection from the one who he desired to please the most. His Father
turned his back on him at the time that He was needed the most. Jesus suffered,
with his eyes focused on the other side of his crucifixion when he would once again
experience the love and union with the One who he loved the most.
2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends
from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the
contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of
the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of
God's throne. GNT
Jesus
smiles now because he hears these words: “This
is my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.” Nothing can be sweeter
than to hear our Heavenly Father speak these same words to us.
(If
God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share it with
others.)
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