LAST WORDS OF CHRIST -- LAMENT AND HOPE

John 11:17-37 (Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead)
Matthew 27:46    "... My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Lament: to bring our suffering, our grief and our pain to God. As in “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. (Matthew 27:46)

Or Mary and Martha’s reaction to Jesus’ arrival after the fact of their brothers death. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:17, 32)

And, “Where were you, God? I prayed every day to you asking you to protect my husband and keep him safe, and now he’s dead!”

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

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted

(Isaiah 53:4-6, New King James Version)

You see, on the cross, Jesus not only took on all our hate, all our selfishness and every willful act of wrong doing ever committed and will be committed by humanity, he also bore upon his bloodied shoulders all, he took on all of our grief, despair, sorrow and hopelessness as his own.

Jesus more than understands why we lament. Within himself, he has felt the depth of our pain.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” (John 11:17-18)

As people of faith, our lamenting is an honest expression of how we are feeling, but it is not complaining that goes nowhere. In the soil of exasperation and despair, we plant the seed of hope, expecting that the Lord will come through in the end.

We have the assurance that not only does Christ hear our cries, but he has borne our suffering on the cross. Furthermore, as he sat with Mary and Martha and wept with them, sharing their grief, Christ is also actively present in our own troubled times.

Out of death comes resurrection. 

 Out of loss, comes a confident hope that God is at work for our good. 

 The Lord will come through for us.