"My God, My God..."

A copy of the Pieta by Michelangelo

For our Good Friday Service at church tonight, there were seven of us asked to speak on the seven last words spoken by Jesus.  Here was my contribution:

Matthew 27:46 reads, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  We know that these were some of Jesus’ last words as he hung on the cross.

I was reminded that these are the same words David spoke in Psalm 22. He writes, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

There are many times in life in which we feel forsaken by God.  Forsaken is likened to feeling deserted, abandoned, desolate, isolated…  We feel that we have been left to fend for ourselves. We feel very much alone. 

Have you ever felt forsaken?  Maybe you have been without a job for a very long time, or you found out your spouse has had an affair.  Maybe you have been waiting for years to even have a spouse.  Maybe you feel stuck in a pit of depression, or feel without hope in the midst of what feels like a mundane life. 

Sometimes we feel forsaken because of our sin.  More often, we feel forsaken because of our shame. 

Our sin separates us from God because we have stepped outside of the boundaries He has set for us.  As Christians, we know that forgiveness from Him restores us and sets us free.  The problem is, we often don’t believe we have been forgiven.  We may know it in our heads, but we don’t believe it in our hearts. 

You see, our shame gets in the way.  While our sin is based on the things we have done, shame is based on lies about who we are.  Shame messages permeate our thoughts, our beliefs, our actions, and our lives. 

When Jesus hung on the cross, he was separated from God because he carried our sin.  The sin in which he died for.  And it was this death that set us free.

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It’s important to know that Jesus died for our sins; our actions against him.  He did not die for the lies of shame we continue to believe. 

To read that verse again, it says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him (Easter), he endured the cross (taking on all our sins), scorning its shame (he did not take on the lies we believe), and (then he) sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (emphasis added)

Are you feeling forsaken?  Ask the Lord to meet you there.  Are you believing shameful lies of the enemy?  Ask the Lord to show you how to be set free.  Our first step is to cry out, “My God, My God...”  And because of the cross, He will meet us there.