Forsaken with Jesus
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These first words from Psalm 22 are most familiar because they are words that Jesus subsequently uttered on the cross. It can be difficult to find these plaintive words on the lips of Jesus. But Jesus came to live among us, not as God in a human costume that can be shed whenever things get hard and rough. Rather, in Jesus, God came as human to the bone, which means human enough to experience bone-deep despair and even the perceived absence of God. If Jesus never experienced these emotions, that would mean that he never experienced the kind of life we live, which is filled with such things.
The Apostle's Creed contains this affirmation: "Jesus Christ was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to hell." The last part of that statement always used to trouble me, until one day someone told me that, for her, it was the most treasured part of the creed. When I asked why, she answered: "Because hell is where I spend much of my life." Hell—a sense of being forsaken, a place of despair. We have been there. And Jesus has been there. He has been with us. And, having been there, Jesus transforms it by his presence. And he still has the power to transform the experience of any and all who have been in the darkest regions. So this word of despair ends up being good news, indeed.
Prayer
Oh precious Lord, accompany me into the darkest valleys of my life, that I might know that I do not journey there alone. Amen.
About the Author
Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the author of To Begin at the Beginning: An Introduction to the Christian Faith.
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