Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for May 6, 2007
Reason for Being
In some versions of the Bible this passage reads like this: (Matthew 27:46-47) "About three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah."
George Lamsa writes that the Aramaic word shbakthani means to keep, reserve, leave, spare, forgive, allow, or permit. The last letter of the word shbakthani indicates first person singular. So Eli, Eli,lmana shbakthani reads, "My God, my God, for this I was kept" or "spared." "It was my destiny to die this kind of death." It does not mean, "why hast thou forsaken me?" as suggested in the King James Version. And there is nothing in what Jesus said to suggest a cry for help. In his prayer in the garden Jesus had overcome all limitations of his body and left the outcome to his Father.
Job also, through all his suffering, had faith in God and knew that his suffering was God’s will. No eastern martyr has ever spoken of God’s desertion in the hour of suffering.
If Jesus had meant he was forsaken by God, he would have used the word taatani or nashatani and the people near the cross would have understood. The Galileans who were present knew he actually meant his destiny was fulfilled. This is why none of the apostles have commented on his saying. If Jesus had meant forsaken, Paul, at least, would not have missed its significance.
The soldiers and the Jews standing near the cross did not understand what he said because Jesus spoke Galilean Aramaic. If Jesus meant God had forsaken him, the Jews would have made an issue out of it and declared he was a condemned sinner. The Jews thought he was calling on Elijah because in Aramaic the word for Elijah is Elia and for God, it is Eli. They thought Jesus was appealing to Elijah for help. The Jews could not have conceived Jesus would have said God had forsaken him because Easterners believe the manner of a man’s death is predestined and when death comes, they believe God is closer to them.
This is in accordance with the teaching of Jesus. For three years he had preached that God is a loving Father, aware of the fall of the sparrow. Jesus always felt God was with him. Even when he spoke of his death, he predicted his disciples would forsake him but his Father would stand by. (John 16:32) "You will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me." On the journey to Jerusalem he said that (Matthew 20:18-19) "the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised." Again, he said to Pilate, (John 18:37) "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth."
How could Jesus have contradicted all his teaching and shattered the truth and hope of his Gospel followers? God was assuredly with him in this hour of agony. Even his enemies who watched him die exclaimed, (Matthew 27:43) "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to.' " In the garden Jesus assured his disciples he could ask angels to come down and fight for him but his death on the cross was inevitable. He had to drink the cup because it was God’s will. These words are not a confession of defeat, despair or failure but of victory and triumph. His mission was fulfilled when he courageously defied the authorities of his day and went to the cross.
When Jesus was on the cross, the Jews reviled him and called him names because in their eyes he was dying as one who had blasphemed God. Instead of replying to the insults of the excited crowd, his exclamation was just like that of any Easterner today when he is dying an unjust death, "My God, my God, this was my destiny. I was born for this, I know I am innocent. Let the people think what they wish, but to me my death has a different meaning." These words were addressed to God his Father but they were intended to strengthen the shattered faith of his disciples and friends who stood bewildered, watching him die the death of a malefactor. He wanted to remind them once more this was his destiny, that the Messiah had to suffer at the hands of his enemies yet he had confidence in God.
It was this assurance which induced some of his disciples to have faith and remain in Jerusalem when their leader was convicted as a revolutionary and it was this assurance which sealed and fulfilled Old Testament prophecies of a suffering Messiah. These Scriptures could not have been fulfilled nor could he have risen from the dead if he had had the slightest doubt in God. It is interesting to know the Assyrian Church still teaches God was continuously with Jesus on the cross and in the grave because God could not be separated.
If God had forsaken Jesus then he was not divine and his mission would have been a failure. Pagan gods often forget their duties to their people and at times are asleep. Human fathers never forsake their children at the time of their death. Some of them travel hundreds of miles to be with their beloved at such a time. How could Jesus have thought God would forsake him and how could God have forsaken his beloved Son who was dying for the salvation of his children? His last words addressed to his loving Father were "Father, forgive them" and "O, my Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." Throughout his suffering Jesus was conscious God was with him and that he was not deserted. He was not questioning God’s wisdom like Elijah but surrendering to God in uttermost confidence and with the assurance of ultimate victory.
REASON FOR BEING
Each of us was put on this Earth for a purpose. And often when we look back on our lives we can see how ordered it was. So many things have happened in our lives to bring us to this point with just the skills we need. And when we know that we are here for a purpose - AND we learn to trust God - we can live our lives to the utmost and allow them to unravel in the direction God intended.
Look at your history - it was a perfect way to get you here. So trust that God is in charge of your future and that it, too, will unfold perfectly. You may never know how many times you affect others positively. It may be something you say, or something you do, or it may be that your prayers raise the consciousness of the world.
You don’t have to be crucified to have a purpose on this Earth, you just have to be all that God intended you to be. Your purpose may be to bring a child into this experience who will discover an amazing cure to disease. Your purpose may be to bring light into your own neighborhood. Just live your life to its fullest, your purpose will be revealed at the right time.
STRANGER TODAY, SAVIOR TOMORROW
I would like to read an article written by Ramnath Subramanian called Stranger Today, Savior Tomorrow. He writes:
On a train ride from Calcutta to Kharagpur, I found myself ensconced in a third-class compartment with a man who, on account of his attire and deportment, gave the impression of an educated man.
Being just 19 years of age, naturally, I shied away from any conversation. The man, however, did not share my taciturnity and soon we were engaged in a lively conversation which took us into the realms of literature, philosophy and religion.
At one point, while the man was expounding his views on destiny, a serious tone crept into his voice as if to exact greater attentiveness from me. "Never discount the importance of any man's presence," he said. "You never know when or how a stranger's path may intersect your own to change the very essence of your life."
Before establishing this tete a tete, the man had been reading from a book by world-renowned philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy. I wondered if the wisdom he dropped into my lap had come from the book, but I was reticent to explore this avenue of thought. During my freshman year in college, I had tackled Krishnamurthy once, only to abandon him in midstream. His ideas had seemed complex, the language abstruse, and I was not keen on re-establishing a nexus with metaphysics.
How is all this relevant to my current circumstances, and why should my recounting of a brief encounter with a man on a train be of interest to readers? Liviu Librescu was an engineering and math professor at Virginia Tech. On April 16, he used his body to barricade the doorway of his classroom against an insane gunman's rampage. This brave and selfless act bought enough time for his students to flee the classroom, but Librescu himself was shot dead.
The 76-year-old Israeli man had faced evil before in fascist Romania while he lived in the shadow of the Gestapo. He had come out alive from that experience waving the flag of human spirit and dignity. When he faced evil for the second time, he was just as defiant and idealistic in his response. The students may have known about Librescu's past, but they could not have divined that the man who lectured them on science and graded their assignments would one day also save their lives.
It is human folly that presumes to know who one's benefactors and detractors are, while ignoring humanity at unknown coordinates. Albert Ybarra leapt off San Francisco's San Mateo Bridge into the dark and frigid waters below to save the lives of a father and his son. A waitress, Ashley Smith, taken hostage near her home by a killer on the run, befriended him, prepared breakfast, and through a long day's conversation, convinced him to surrender to authorities. Wesley Autrey jumped on to subway tracks and kept a boy, who seemed to be having a seizure, pinned down in a drainage area between the rails as cars passed over their heads.
"A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity," wrote Emily Dickinson.
Like the collision of molecules in the air that call forth a joyous season, surprising encounters in unexpected places alter the human landscape and bring it to the portals of grace.
LIVIU LIBRESCU
Liviu Librescu was a Holocaust survivor and the day of his death coincided with Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day. Strange coincidence! He lived his life to the fullest. He was a professor in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department. He was known for his research of high strength, lightweight materials used in airplanes and boats. He had written many research papers and authored many books.
There were 32 people murdered on that day. The only possible response to a horror of this scale is to remember the victims of this tragedy with love, to use their lives as an example for our own, and to continue to pursue a better world in their memory.
Philip C. Selz wrote a wonderful tribute to Liviu Librescu. I would like to close with this. He wrote:
In the darkest times we've seen, I was sent into the camps
As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone
Survival was my only thought; I knew I must come through
But I didn't know the reason that my living must go on
And when the war had ended, liberation finally came
And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife
And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could
And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life
Then a teaching job came to me in America one day
And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me
So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start
And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free
Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there
And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight
So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students, "Run!"
And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight
And in these final moments as my life is seeping out
I think back over 60 years and finally understand
My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live
I was saved that day to save this day; I've finally made my stand.
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 27:46-47; John 16:32; Matthew 20:18-19; John 18:37; Matthew 27:43
REFERENCE: Gospel Light by George M. Lamsa; El Paso Times article Stranger today, savior tomorrow by Ramnath Subramanian, a 6th grade teacher ramnath10@aol.com
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Last updated
May 6, 2007
