GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
We recognize the first line of the first verse in Psalm 22 as the words spoken by Jesus on the cross. It confirms the humanity of Jesus that he, though God’s son, could experience such despair. Jesus suffered the disorientation we all experience when we lose control of our lives. Categories of meaning disintegrate, and we are left in darkness. It may be the death of someone we love, the loss of a job, or receiving a frightening diagnosis. For Jesus, it was the people he loved turning against him and standing by helpless while the state nailed him to a cross – leaving him hanging, helpless, and in agony until the last breath left his body.
When Jesus cries out, he embraces the darkness. Like Jesus we can embrace the darkness and wait patiently for the light, which will penetrate it and redeem our life. As Walter Brueggemann reminds us in his book, Spirituality of the Psalms, Jesus promises to be in the darkness with us. When darkness enters our lives, we can count on Jesus’ solidarity with us. In our disorientation, our loss of control over the meaning of our lives, Jesus embraces us, and we find our hopelessness transformed into a new hope by grace.
[These thoughts are drawn from the work of Walter Brueggemann on ‘disorientation’ and ‘new orientation’ in his book, Spirituality of the Psalms.]
Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep us mindful of your embrace when we experience times of darkness. Draw us into your embrace when we lose our way. We pray that we will always remain watchful for your light penetrating and transforming our darkness. Amen.
Ernest Krug
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