Reflection on Matthew 26:46-50

Matthew 26:46-50

“And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last” (NRSV, Matthew 26:46-50).

Reflection:

I have heard plenty of people say, as hard as this COVID-19 quarantine is, God must have meant it to do some good.  Then they usually go on to tell about how they finally have time to spend quality, picture perfect moments with the children.  They talk about how they finally get to work on neglected parts of the house, or have downtime to paint or write music, or finally get to just sit on the long neglected couch.  Couches are loving the companionship of the past few weeks.

I get that.  I have to admit that the same thoughts have crossed my mind also.  I do like that I have more time to play outside with the kids.  I am thankful to God for that.

But, at the same time, there is something that just doesn’t feel right about that.  I mean, people are dying from this virus; lots and lots of people.  People are dying in places like the slums of India where they do not get the opportunity to just stay home, away from everyone else until this all blows over.  When you have a one room house the size of most people’s bathrooms, 6 people in the family, and you live just feet away from the next family, you do not get the luxury of quarantining and staying safe.

That leads me to ask, is it right for me to be saying, “I’m glad God killed all those poor people in the slums of India just so that I can play ball in the yard with my kids.  Thanks God!”?  That is not right.  You know it and I know it.  And, if God is the type of God who kills vulnerable people so that richer and healthier people of the world might have some free time to paint or write poetry, then I am not certain that I want to follow that God.  And, neither are you.

But, that is not the God we follow.  The God we follow lost a son.  Tears fell from the sky just like tears fall from the eyes of those who have lost loved ones to this virus.  And, God’s Son was left to die alone, on a cross, bringing him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”  And, similar words echo through the lonely rooms of people isolated in hospitals from family, and people isolated, trapped, in abusive homes, and people isolated from beloved family. 

When we look to the cross, we find Jesus right there in the horror, in the pain, and in the death…even the torturous death of the cross.  The God we follow chose to be in that place of suffering.  Jesus Christ chooses to be in the places of death and not in the places of safety and luxury.

Now, I am not saying that God cannot take something terrible and make something good come out of it.  After-all, the tomb is transformed into new life on Easter morning.  Deaths and graves cannot hold Jesus down.  And, neither can the horrors of this virus. 

But, what I am saying is that God does not intend people to suffer just so others could find enjoyment.  Not at all.  Rather, the gospels clearly proclaim that God can be found with the suffering, and will always be found with the suffering. 

So, we pray that somehow, in some way, Jesus will dwell in those who suffer, and will dwell in those who care for them, and by being so close to the suffering, will bring new life.  Because, that is what the God we follow does.  Jesus turns our tears into dancing.  Jesus brings life out of death.