Today’s reading calls us to reflect on Psalm 22. This psalm, the beginning of which (‘My God, my God, why have Your forsaken me?’) was quoted by Jesus moments before He died on the cross, completing the work of salvation, speaks of a dark place, a place where God seems absent, a place of anguish and unanswered prayer. Alone and stricken, the psalmist nonetheless remembers all the ways God has intervened on His people’s behalf in the past and ends in hope that God will draw near once again. As he trusts in God, his rock and his deliverer, the psalmist can turn lament into praise. This can be our experience too.
We have a Saviour who knows what it is to suffer, who has shared in the darkness of humanity as well as in our joys. ‘We trust in the God who has already redeemed us, who has shown his care for us in the past and who continues to love us. We trust in the Son, who shares our suffering, bearing his wounds willingly for our sake. We trust in the Spirit, whose life-giving breath infuses every moment with hope, offering the certainty that this suffering will be redeemed and transformed. We are invited to call out to God in the darkness, to trust his eternal and love response and to praise him.’ (‘Sharing the Easter Story’, P 113)
