He’s Here – Even from the Grave

Mark 15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”-which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
 
JESUS’ cry from the cross rings loud and tragic through the ages. “Why, my Jehovah, the One who is Eternal, Deliverer, why have you abandoned me, your Son?” This is our sin’s cost to our Lord.
    Alone in agony on the cross, the Son of God cries out for an answer you and I often demand to know. “Why have you abandoned me, God? Have you left me to die? Have you allowed my enemies to triumph? Why, God, have you not saved me? You promised you would always be my God. Why am I all alone?”
    Sometimes the answer comes in an eye-opening moment. Sometimes there is no answer. The question lingers until the day God reveals, “I am here.” The Bible testifies to this in David’s life story. You see this in Job’s story. Dark days in Jonah’s and Daniel’s lives, today’s stories of God’s people suffering and martyred also point to God sending us into impossible, even deadly moments to exalt his purpose.
    God had left his Son to die on a cross, but he had not abandoned Jesus forever. As Jesus cried out, his human agony was deep in his soul, his human pain was excruciating to his body. But that was not the end. It was the beginning. His Father returned to resurrect his body. Out of Jesus’ resurrection came the new body of his church.
    Are you asking God today, “Why have you forsaken me?” Be of faith. Believe he is present and prepared to enrich your life. Understand his light is brighter in the darkness. See Jesus’ outstretched arms are off the cross. Now they are embracing you.
 
Life Thought: You can believe Jesus, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b