Bible Reading Blog
“A Better Future”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Mark 15
To say Jesus suffered on the cross would be an understatement. He was brutally mistreated, rejected by the ones who should’ve listen to him, betrayed by one of his own followers, and abandoned by his closest friends. Hanging on the cross must have been the loneliest anyone has ever felt.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15.34)
At first glance, this looks like a plea of despair, but really it is a message of hope. His statement, borrowed from Psalm 22, is the beginning of a psalm about victory. The psalmist feels utterly abandoned until he remembers the faithfulness of God and his promises.
“You who fear the LORD praise him!... For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted… but has heard, when he cried to him.” (Psalm 22.23-24)
Jesus alludes to this psalm not because he is forsaken, but because he wants others to know that this is the plan of God; He is in control, and it turns out for the best. Jesus completely trusted the will and the faithfulness of God. In his moments of agony, he continued to teach by pulling back the curtain on the power within him to endure the suffering. My friends, if this hope powered Jesus through his suffering, it can power us through whatever we face in life.
We all have moments of weakness. We have times we question whether or not faith is worth the struggle. Some of us may have gotten to the point where we just want to give up. When we reach those breaking points of faith, the example of Jesus teaches us to lean into God’s promises and find courage in what comes next (Romans 8.28).
Life may be hard, and you may feel like no one understands. But Jesus does, and he wants you to see a better future. Even though he was tired and weak and abandoned by those around him, Jesus trusted God (1 Peter 2.21-23), and God rewarded him for it (1 Corinthians 15.3-4; Ephesians 1.20-23).
In your worst moments where does your mind go? Do you focus on the present or on the future?
Jesus’ example teaches us we must think long term and realize that “the sufferings of this present age are not to be compared with the glory that is to come” (Romans 8.18). The struggles and stresses of life will overwhelm us at times, but we are not without hope (Hebrews 10.37-38). God has promised better things to those who trust him (Hebrews 11.16, 39-40). And so, let us “look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12.2).
