Lenten Devotional: April 3, 2026 - Good Friday

by Rev. Elyse Nielsen

Psalm 22

Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility

1. My God, my God, I cry to you,

Am I to be forsaken too, 

Who still lament and groan!

Far from my passionate complaint

Why have you suffered me to faint,

And seem forever gone!

—Paul W. Chilcote, Sheltering With The Psalms: 30 Days Of Prayer With Charles Wesley, p. 38.

Jesus's crucifixion is a graphic display of suffering in solidarity with humanity. Jesus's incarnation started the trajectory of his life and mission. He was born by a woman through the power of the Holy Spirit. The gifts that the Magi brought were for a king's funeral. So from before His birth, He was meant to die. Why then does Jesus quote Psalm 22 when he is upon the cross? It is tempting to let the whole meaning be a reflection on Psalm 22 which is a lament Psalm that transitions from grief to victory. As if Jesus is claiming the victory, from an underdog position, even as he hangs from the cross. We would finally be getting the world leader that we expect, but Christ is not that sort of Lord.

Like most scriptures, it works on several levels. Jesus cries out because He does feel forsaken. He also holds the close relationship of "My God, my God." Jesus does not deny His Father. He doesn't use a more formal title to establish an emotional distance. He keeps close. He embodies the closeness that God desires for us. God is closer than sweat to us in our suffering. The last line of the poem holds the tension but makes clear God's relationship with humanity. Even in our suffering, God may seem far, or "seem forever gone," but is not. We know that because of Christ's endurance of hostility and suffering we know that He understands. Christ "gets" it in a way that should bring us comfort. We are not alone in our suffering, Christ suffered and still suffers with us in total solidarity. As Christians, we are not immune to suffering, but it does not last forever, and separation or despair is not permanent. That is Good News!