I follow the way of Jesus because I want to live well and I want to die well. I pray my life and death will be marked by faith, hope, love, and peace. Maybe you share this same desire?

Between now and Easter I want to remind you of the words Jesus spoke while dying. These words can serve as a guide for living and dying well.

The first gospel written, Mark, and the second, Matthew, agree that Jesus spoke only once on the cross. In Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46, Jesus asks, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus did not make-up these words, he was reciting the opening line of Psalm 22. This ancient song is attributed to King David and is in the form of lamentation. A lament is a complaint directed to God. A lament springs from a time of suffering when it can seem that all is lost and God is absent. Psalm 22:14 captures this feeling well with poignant imagery: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast. Have you ever felt like that? I have, and Jesus did too.

Jesus shows us it is okay to admit feeling spent and alone. It is okay to cry out to God in complaint. God is strong enough and loving enough to receive our lamentation. In the throes of an agonizing death Jesus may not have had the energy to recite the entire psalm but I have no doubt he knew and trusted all of Psalm 22. This song begins with complaint but concludes with praise. Again, we return to the poetic imagery of the song in verse 21, From the horns of the wild oxen, O Lord, you have answered me.

It may feel at times like we are spent and alone and it is important to articulate this feeling. This feeling does not describe the fullness of life and death. Jesus and Psalm 22 remind us that we are never all alone and lost. God is always with us to see us through the worst of our pain and suffering. After all, God through Christ knows exactly how it feels to live and die.

Yours in Christ,

Marc