It seemed very appropriate on this Good Friday to have some of Jesus' words from the cross at the heart of the art in the Holy Week Hut this evening.
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me", is the anguished cry that Jesus utters from the cross and is recorded in the accounts of the crucifixion in both Mark and Matthew.
From noon until three o’clock, the whole land was covered with darkness. 46 About three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice. He said, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” This means “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Psalm 22:1)
In saying this Jesus is quoting from the Psalms so it's not a new thought unique to him, but something common to human existence.
It's such an extraordinary statement from the Son of God and it's somehow comforting to know that Jesus echoes the thoughts of so many who suffer and wonder where God is in the midst of their pain.
Paradoxically it gives us hope to think of God who experiences the absence of the divine and who understands that we too question God's presence, especially during times of suffering and distress.
The art in the hut was a beautiful collage of Jesus with head bowed as he contemplated his situation. The rips of the paper echoed the wounds of the whips and the thorns in the crown that tore Jesus' flesh and added to the pain of crucifixion.
In the background was a soundtrack of rain and rolling thunder as the gospels describe the land being dark and a storm rising as Jesus came to the end of his life. This hut speaks to us of a God who accompanies us through all the storms of life, even when it seems that he is absent.
