On-Line Church: "Grasping For God In A Time Of Great Suffering" Lectionary Reflections For April 5

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Here are some reflections on the scripture texts that are the background for our on-line service at 4 pm this Sunday: 

Matthew 27:11-54 Jesus Experienced Every Form Of Suffering Imaginable
Crucifixion was used by the Roman occupiers to inflict the most agonizing and prolonged pain possible on any who dared threaten their rule. The Persians apparently invented this barbaric form of execution as a means of terrorizing their opponents, and the "gallows" referred to in the book of Esther was likely an early example of someone being impaled on a pole and left to die, according to one source.
     But prior to Jesus's wrists and feet being pierced through with nails and the entire weight of his body being brutally suspended from the upright cross beam, he had been mercilessly beaten all over his body and on his head, which had been "crowned" with thorns.
     In addition, there was the emotional pain of feeling abandoned by God as well as cruelly mocked, shamed and falsely accused by a crowd of people demanding his execution.

O sacred Head, now wounded with grief and shame weighed down; Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown. 

How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn; 
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn. 

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinner’s gain; 

All mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain. 

Lo, here I fall, my Savior; ‘tis I deserve Thy place. 

Look on me with Thy favor; assist me with Thy grace. 

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend, 

For this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? 

O make me Thine forever; and should I fainting be, 

Lord, let me never, never, outlive my love for Thee. 

- based on the 13th century Salve caput cruentatum

Philippians 2:5-11 Jesus Is The Supreme Example Of Suffering For God's Glory And Others' Good
Even as one who was "in his very nature God," Jesus did not claim his right to extravagant honor and divine protection as "something to be grasped." Our Lord gave up everything for the sake of demonstrating the full extent of God's love. Stripped of everything that was rightfully his, he clung to God alone.
     Jesus shows us that complete condescension and total sacrifice are the way to exaltation. Through Christ's perfect obedience in the face of unbelievable suffering, our every knee will bow and our every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Psalm 31:9-16 David's Desperate Plea In A Time Of Great Fear
In one of his many laments, David begs for mercy in the face of the mortal danger he faces from his many enemies. "There is terror on every side, and they threaten to take my life."
     This is a great prayer for times like these, when one of our "enemies" is a pandemic that is frightening and life-threatening to all of us.
     "But I trust in you, O Lord: I say 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands."

Isaiah 50:4-9a The Sovereign Lord God Advocates For All Who Suffer Unjustly
Isaiah is given divine insight into God's heartfelt concern for those who suffer wrongfully. The prophet is given an "instructed tongue" and the ability to know "the word that sustains the weary."
     The apostle Paul, well acquainted with grief himself, was undoubtedly inspired by these words when writing to the church in Rome (Romans 8). He doesn't deny or even try to explain unjustified suffering, but accepts it as reality, and affirms Isaiah's promise in the words, "If God is for us, who can be against us?  ...Who is he that condemns?  ...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through the One who loves us."