Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put
it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us
see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried again with a loud
voice and yielded up his spirit.” -
Jesus recites the beginning of Psalm 22. In the moment when
it seems God is absent, Jesus declares God’s victory. God is overwhelmingly
present. A cosmic event is taking place. He was born under the sign of light,
an inexpiable star, and now he dies under the sign of darkness, an
inexpiable eclipse. Darkness comes over the land in the middle of the day.
The earth shakes. Creation is responding to the death of its God.
It seems all is lost, but it is not lost; it is given. Blood
and water flows from the side of Jesus, a sign of baptism and Eucharist, of
Jesus giving himself for us, in this moment and for the rest of eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment