Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani (7)

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani (7)

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?"(15:34)

If we are to define the statement, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”, we would say that it is an expression in which Jesus himself accepted his death on the cross as a failure of his mission. Everybody judges that crucifixion is the epitome of failure. In fact, the proclamation of the imminent kingdom of God is Jesus’ real mission. He said, "The time has come," and "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). Jesus dedicated his total life for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is God’s kingly rule. It is the kingdom where justice and peace of God truly prevailed that everybody irrespective of the Jews or Gentiles enjoys living in the kingdom. Believing that the kingdom of God was near, Jesus proclaimed forgiveness and expelled evil spirit. With God’s heart he taught people and loved them. However, his mission and devotion for the kingdom of God came to an end with his brutal death on the cross.

Jesus’ ultimate destiny that ends up with the crucifixion on the cross could come under one of the following three conclusions: First, God does not exist. Second, God is helpless. Thirdly, God abandoned Jesus. We cannot deny the existence of God. If God is helpless God cannot do it. At this juncture, Jesus cried, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” We have to deeply understand Jesus’ spiritual, existential suffering he had undergone on his way to the cross or on the cross.

To see the deepest of his agony, we have to first for the time being push off the thought that Jesus was resurrected. If we see him with a dogma that he has already resurrected and ascended to heaven, we would lose the aspect of the critical situation Jesus had to face. When Jesus was hung on the cross, I would like to say, he was captured by despair albeit momentarily, that even God had forsaken him. Such kind of despair looming large in his heart might have prodded him to utter, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"