Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

I like everything to be neat and tidy; to have a clear explanation. I think this comes from my computer engineering background. Perhaps contrary to experience, computers do exactly what you tell them to do. (The problem is us humans — we tell them to do the wrong things!) Computers are black and white, 1 or 0. There is always cause and effect, an explanation, a reason.

However, this digital computing world is very different to our analog lives. We want to know why everything happens. We want a reason for every event. Yet, often, there is no answer, no explanation or reason. Why has the world been brought to a halt with the coronavirus? Why are so many people suffering and dying? When is it going to end? Or perhaps something more personal: Why do I suffer in this particular way? Why aren’t I the person I want to be? Why do I find this or that so hard? Why did my parent/partner/child/friend die? Why? Why? Why?

Jesus cries out “Why?!” on the cross. ‘Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ (Matthew 27:46). Why am I crushed for these sins which aren’t mine? Why am I hurting? Why am I alone? Why is the world broken?

Good Friday is an important day of the church year because we are invited to cry out with Jesus “Why?!” Yet we cry out knowing there is no answer. There is no explanation — at least that we can understand. But if there’s no answer, why bother asking the question?! We bother because the very act of crying out does something. This practice is called lament. Lament is a passionate, faithful expression of grief, typically voiced in song or loud moaning. Lament has an important place for the people of God: King David laments in Psalm 13, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a whole book (called Lamentations) which laments the destruction of Jerusalem, and Jesus cries out in lament on the cross (reciting Psalm 22). But you don’t engage in lament to get answers. You lament because it’s the only possible response to pain and suffering.

So what does lament do, if not get answers?

(1) Lament addresses God. As he cried out, Jesus addressed God. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Lament is the beginning of a conversation with God. And because lament is addressed to God, it’s not an act of doubt, but an act of faith — you have to have faith in God to cry out to him for help.

(2) Lament gives new definition to the situation. As we put our pain in words, as we voice our suffering, we see things in a new light. In Psalm 22, the psalmist uses vivid images: the people hurl insults at him, he is surrounded by vicious animals (bulls, lions, dogs). Then we get to the point (repeated twice): “Do not be far from me.” (Psalm 22:11, 19). Jesus felt this isolation and loneliness acutely as he prayed Psalm 22 on the cross.

(3) Lament gives hope for a new future. In Psalm 22, the practice of lament leads the psalmist to spiritual truths which give a new orientation, hope for a new future. “Do not be far from me. Lord, you are enthroned as the Holy One. Dominion is yours and you rule. Our ancestors put their trust in you, and you helped them. You brought me out of my mother’s womb. You are my strength.”

God is not distant, leaving us alone and isolated. Rather, through Jesus on the cross, God has come near. He has entered into the pain and suffering of this world. He has entered your pain and suffering. He adds his voice to the cry. Yet, because Jesus is the Son of God, God listens and will answer. God will not leave either his Son or us dead in the tomb, but will raise us to new life. He will mend what is broken, and wipe away all our tears. This is the hope we have, even on this dark day.

I encourage you to try lament as an act of faith. Read aloud Psalm 13 or 22. Perhaps write your own lament. Here’s a lament I wrote this week:

What on earth are you doing, Lord?

Are you asleep?

Wake up and see the hurt!

People are lonely, isolated, jobless.

Schools are closed and the kids are at each other’s throats.

Hospitals are overrun.

Economies collapsing.

I’m barely holding it together.

My world is shaking, teetering on the edge.

What on earth are you doing, Lord?!

You created me. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Now you want to throw me to the dogs, like a scrap?

Take care of your masterpiece.

You helped our ancestors. And thus far have you helped us.

Do not forsake us now!

For Jesus’ sake, guide us along right paths.

Lead us to still waters.

And grant us your peace.

And the peace of God, which transcends human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.