Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (8)
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?"(Mark 15:34)
I would like to add some more supplements to the meaning of the last sentence of the foregoing meditation. I have mentioned that Jesus experienced a deep sense of despair on the cross. In this we may ask, as the Messiah, would Jesus ever feel a sense of despair in public life on earth?
Surely people do not fully understand the nature of Jesus. They judged and evaluated Jesus based on their own viewpoints. People fervently supported Jesus when his activities and movements are in tune with their personal mood and intentions but if Jesus’ action is found to be contradictory with their intentions, then they outrageously reject him. Neither the Jewish religious leaders such as the Pharisees nor those sincere religious person like Nicodemus can understand Jesus. Not one of them can fully understand Jesus. Even Jesus’ disciples were not exception in this matter. Once Jesus replied to someone who would like to be one of his disciples saying, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matt. 8:20)
Based on the above verse, we can say that Jesus’ life was a life with absolute solitude. It does not merely mean that there are not many people who understand Jesus. An absolute solitude does mean here the availability of people in relation to one’s close relationship with God. Jesus absolutely trusted the impending kingdom of God. However people thoroughly neglected the kingdom of God. Little by little Jesus was driven into a corner. Did he experience deep sense despair in such situation?
Jesus who proclaimed the impending kingdom of God was hung on the cross helplessly accomplishing nothing. Where is God’s kingly rule? What hope can one have, for the one who promised life is going to lose his own life? Where is God? Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
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