Read Matthew 27:38-56; Psalm 22
As the poet John Donne wrote, no man is an island. Like it or not, the way others treat us affects how we feel about ourselves. People who inform our self-perception are usually parents and leaders. Their attention to our needs confirms our value. But what happens when they ignore our cries for help?
We sometimes think that Jesus didn’t experience this human struggle, but His response to the Father’s silence reveals His emotional anguish on the cross. When criticism surrounded Him during His ministry, His Father’s affirmation sustained Him.
But through the long, torturous night of His trial and resulting crucifixion, God the Father seemed silent.
Like His ancestor David, Jesus had entrusted His honor to God, remaining silent before His accusers rather than engaging in a heated self-defense. He clung to His identity as God’s beloved Son, an identity confirmed by His Father (see Matt. 3:17). But as wave after wave of mockery, abuse, and false testimony crashed against Him, Jesus felt weaker and ever more alone.
Matthew’s account describes what was happening in the external events Jesus experienced, but David’s prophetic Psalm 22 provides a glimpse into His internal angst. People’s scorn must have been painful, but the Father’s silence during His suffering on the cross was worse. If Jesus was so precious to God, why didn’t He intervene?
Yet with His dying breath, Jesus affirmed His faith in the Father’s unfailing love (Luke 23:46). Though He felt forsaken, He believed God heard His cry and would come to His aid and rescue Him from the grave.
APPLY THE WORD
It may be disturbing to think of Jesus experiencing shame and abandonment, but it should be comforting to know even the Son of God felt as we sometimes do. His prayers on the cross model for us how to express ourselves to God in a way that is consistent with His Word. When you wonder where God is, you can pray these psalms, too.
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