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...but in this case, I don't mean that phrase sarcastically.
Thanks for your wonderful post to our friend Cheryl's post ;-) I have often thought about these particular last words, how it shows that it's OK to cry out to God with our sense of abandonment when we're getting nailed (if you'll forgive the cheesiness of the expression)... Of course the theologians love to point out that Jesus was, at that point, being spiritually "forsaken" by the Father, that the Father had to turn away from his Son. At least that's how I heard it explained to me.
But with those words, Jesus affirms that it's OK to cry out in pain... counter to Eastern philosophy, not all suffering is "illusion." There are other words he said too in that time of extreme suffering, words of physical need (I thirst), words of empathy and connection to others (John, here is your mother...) Then there's what Luke reports he said to the thief: today you'll be with me in Paradise. When Jesus is in agony, he's thinking about what's to come. He hasn't given up hope.
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." --His very last words, modeling what we should say/do.
This isn't an "answer" to the "why???"--but the wrestling is inevitable, and hope & crying out co-existed in Jesus, so it must be OK for it to co-exist in us, too. |
