Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ✝️

That moment in Mark 15:33-34, when Jesus cries out, 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?', is one of the most poignant and powerful verses in the entire Bible. I've spent a lot of time reflecting on it, especially around Good Friday. It's easy to read it quickly, but when you really sit with those words, they hit differently. Many of us wonder, how could God abandon Jesus? It’s not that God literally turned away from His Son in a personal sense. The theological understanding is that in that moment, Jesus truly bore the weight of all humanity's sin. He became sin for us, and in that, experienced the ultimate separation from God that sin creates. It’s a profound mystery, but it shows the depth of His sacrifice. He went through immense spiritual agony alongside the physical pain on the cross, so we wouldn't have to face that eternal separation. For me, this verse also brings immense comfort. If Jesus, in His divinity, could feel such profound abandonment, it helps me understand that my own feelings of loneliness or being forsaken are not foreign to Him. He truly understands our human experience, not just intellectually, but through direct, agonizing experience. This resonates so much when I'm doing my #biblejournaling, trying to connect these ancient words to my daily life. And then, the article reminds us, 'Sunday is coming 🤍'. This simple phrase holds so much hope. The darkness of Good Friday, the feeling of abandonment, the suffering – it wasn't the end. The cross, which we often see depicted (like the drawn wooden cross I’ve journaled), is a symbol of death, but it's also the gateway to resurrection. It's the assurance that even in the deepest despair, there is hope for new life, for triumph over death and sin. This is what makes Christianity so profound. When I reflect on hymns like 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,' the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross becomes even more real. It's a reminder to truly contemplate what He did for us. And just a little note on bible study – I even made a small typo in my journaling, writing Mark 16:14 instead of 15:34 initially! It just goes to show how important it is to keep exploring the word and double-checking, really digging into each chapter and verse like Mark 15:33-34 to grasp its full meaning. This journey of exploring God’s word is so rich and rewarding, helping us understand the incredible love behind Jesus' sacrifice and the powerful promise of His return.