"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" : Sharing My Faith Journey Part 1

A chapel in Montana

I am a Christian. Because of that expression of my soul, this weekend marks the celebration of the most holy event in my Christian walk; believing that Jesus Christ arose from death making me acceptable to God. It's such a hard, but yet simple, concept to embrace. I see everything else that happens in my life through that prism.

My journey as a Christian has many twists and turns, but one thing was always sure: I love Jesus. And He loves me. Here is the passage for Good Friday that is most difficult to understand. That He would knowingly do this thing and that it was very painful. So, when I complain that something is hard or I can't--I have to remember, it's hard, but compared to what? Compared to this?

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.  And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

The Gospel of Matthew 27:35-37, 45-53