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This is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible--not "favorite" in the sense that "Princess Bride" is one of my favorite movies--more like, a rough piece of rope to hold onto over a ravine?
33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"[c]
35When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
36One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and[d] saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son[e] of God!" (NIV)
I think it's interesting that when Jesus cried out to God in this way, some of the folks on the scene didn't get it. When I cry out to God in pain, I'm sometimes misunderstood by those around me...and I hate that. Can you relate? Can you relate to someone giving you "wine vinegar"? (I've heard that this was a well-meaning attempt to medicate his pain...thanks, but no thanks.)
Interesting that the centurion "got it," though. |
