Guest Column by Steven G. Kay
Saturday, March 30, 1996
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father; into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46
Heaven seemed so silent at the death of Christ. There was no voice from the clouds giving honor to the Son as there had been on other occasions. At his baptism, the voice of the Father had declared: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” But on Mount Calvary when Jesus is being crucified, in the valley of his son’s most painful experience, the voice of God is silent. Had he truly forsaken Jesus as he suffered for our sins?
The Scriptures show that God did not forsake Jesus on the cross. God promised Joshua in Joshua 1:5, “I Will never leave you nor forsake you;” and Psalm 94:14 states, “He will never forsake his inheritance.” Would the Father treat his only Son any Worse? .
Even Psalm 22 shows that Jesus was not forsaken by God even though at the moment of his cry he may have felt deserted.
Why then the silence? Why no voice from heaven? It is because it was a time when words would not have helped or brought any comfort. Joe Bayly in his book, “View from a Hearse,” says that one of the best contributions we can make to a person going through intense suffering and loss is our presence without words, not even verses of Scripture dumped into the ears of the grieving. He said: ”Don’t try to ‘prove’ anything to a survivor. An arm about the shoulder, a firm grip of the hand, a kiss: These are the proofs grief needs, not logical reasoning.”
We’ve all been there. Confronted by a friend going through an intense trial, and not knowing what to say, we said nothing and often used it as an excuse to do nothing and left them to suffer alone. We need to see that God did not leave Jesus alone on the cross with no expression of love and comfort. Did you note what he did? He darkened the heavens, shook, the earth, opened tombs and split the curtain in two. He showed that he also was suffering with his son.
The next time you are confronted by the suffering of a friend and don’t know what to say; please don’t use that as an excuse to do nothing, because that abandonment hurts worse than the trial itself. If you don’t know what to say, tell them so while you give them a hug and show them your love with the tears you share with them. And know it is the best thing you could do at that moment for them.
Steven G. Kay is minister for the Santa Pauta Church, of Christ. He brings to his ministry the experience of a father whose 12 year-old daughter died. She succumbed to bone cancer in 1993. This weekly guest column is open to contributors of all faiths. For guidelines, write to Star Smith, The Star, P.0. Box 6711, Ventura 93006; or Steve Brown, First Baptist Church of Oxnard, 936 W. Fifth St., Oxnard 93030.
