The Wrong Question

They wanted to wait to see if God would intercede.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" - Mark 15:33-39

If he truly is who they say he is, wouldn't God save him from death?

Our thinking, and theirs, is all wrong.  God isn't the one who would save Jesus.  At this point, no one else can either.  It has gone too far.

What could have been done earlier?

Perhaps they could have believed in him.  

But then again, there were many who did.  Or at least they came to him to be healed and their faith in him made them well.

So, what could have saved Jesus from death?

They expected a different entrance for the true Messiah, perhaps arriving on a cloud or in a chariot of fire.  And they expected a different exit as well, one that did not involve death as we know it.

So, they stood and watched to see what God would do.  And some were amazed that God did nothing.  While others were unimpressed by the whole affair.

Yes, there was an eclipse of the sun and an earthquake to make the moment of Jesus' death something they would not soon forget, but would they understand what it all meant?

Maybe we can ask ourselves the same questions.

Do we truly understand, or have we just become so familiar with the story that we accept it without thinking about it, what it means to the world, to us?

The question to ask is why God would choose to become one of us and subject himself to death on a cross.

If we ponder that for a moment, we might come away with the feeling that we should be doing something in our lives to make them more meaningful.

We have some time.  We just don't know how much.

More to come...