Last night, 15 September, I was speaking to a dearly, dearly loved brother in Jesus on the phone. Adam asked me as we were studying Mark 7, why are some people hear, like during this virus, and others not?
This question is akin to: why is there sufferings, deaths ? why am I healed and not another? why ..?
Why is the hardest( with ‘how’ ) question to answer. There is no yes or no with why. No simple sentence.
Why deserve, need, long and deep thought; complex and draft and designed paragraphs not a sentence or a word.
Jesus asks his Father here not to do something, a request, as, Father, remove this cup if possible? No. This is a different type of question, a prayer filled ‘why’.
Jesus doesn’t need a rescue. He is the rescuer. And Jesus knows why he is abandoned by God and friends; by disciples and the crowd; by us.
He is abandoned so that when I am abandoned my friends and family; by daughters and son; by unfaithful loves, I will know and know deeply that he knows how I feel because he felt similar emotions. He was abandoned.
Me, abandoned. By mother, at birth, and father at marriage; by twin and sister, her husband and family. By daughters.
Abandoned. Alone.
Except for him. Except for Jesus. He knows. Here, below, is a description of his abandonment,
‘Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.
16-20 The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.
The Crucifixion
21 There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus’ cross.
22-24 The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning “Skull Hill.” They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn’t take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.
25-30 They nailed him up at nine o’clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
31-32 The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—but he can’t save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then!” Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.
33-34 At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”’
If I am in a band, I am in a group, as the band of brothers. Jesus, I am with you; you are with me. Running, walking, we are together.
I am not abandoned. I am with you.
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