On Good Friday, we Christians remember the death of Jesus, the founder of our faith. A common topic for a Good Friday sermon is the seven words/phrases recorded in Scripture of what Christ said from the cross.
One of those phrases is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). This phrase has always made me ponder the mystery of the Trinity. Here is Christ, God in the flesh, on the cross. How can he be forsaken by himself?
But perhaps there is more to this phrase than I ever understood. Perhaps there is more to the story. When Jesus says, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” He’s quoting Psalm 22:1 and the Psalms are the prayer book of the Jewish people. Many Jews would spend their young years memorizing the prayers of the Psalms. What’s more, a common Jewish call to prayer was to speak the first line of a Psalm at which point everyone else would join in reciting the rest of it.
So when Jesus speaks these words from the cross on Good Friday, imagine, perhaps, that Mary, his mother, Mary Magdalene, his follower, Mary, wife of Clopas, and John who are there at the cross hear this call to prayer from Christ himself, and then imagine them joining him in reciting the rest of the Psalm.
Imagine them saying, “all who see me mock me” (vs. 7) as they watched “those who passed by derided him… so also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him” (Mark 15:29-31).
Imagine them reciting, “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him” (vs. 8) just moments before hearing someone nearby speak these words: “‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe’”(Mark 15:31-32).
Imagine the tenderness and love Mary felt while reciting, “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you I was cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God” (vs. 9-10).
Imagine them reciting “my tongue sticks to my jaws” (vs. 15) right before Jesus calls out, “I thirst,” and, “they have pierced my hands and my feet — I can count all my bones…. they divide up my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (vs. 17-18) as they take in the sight of Christ on the cross, bones left unbroken, the soldiers casting lots for his clothing.
Imagine their hope as the Psalm concludes with the words, “Our children will also serve him Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done” (vs. 31).
Imagine, perhaps, Jesus joining them in reciting the final phrase of the Psalm, “he has done it” which can also be translated, “it is finished!” (vs. 31).
Imagine their awe and reverence as they are reciting a Messianic prophecy even as they watch it all unfold in front of their very eyes.
I can’t know for certain that this recitation happened; those details aren’t recorded in the gospel account. But I can know that this Psalm would be deeply familiar to them and that upon hearing Christ speak the words, “My God, My God…” they would be reminded of it.
Biblical imagination is a phrase I learned from Micheal Card and his commentaries on the gospels. It’s the idea that when we read scripture with an imagination surrendered to God and informed by the text (and historical context), our heart and mind work in concert to bring a depth of meaning and understanding to old familiar passages of scripture.
That’s certainly the case for me this morning as I remember Christ’s last words.
And later, when I attend a Good Friday service at my church, I’ll remember that I, too, get to be a small part of the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations” (vs. 27-28).