I want to express my gratitude to everyone who came to the “Ask Father Aaron” event at IHM. It was a good conversation, and I left with some things to think about. While most of our conversation was about the future of our parish and what can help us come together as one community and help people meet Jesus, we did have two questions about the Bible. So I’m going to share those with everyone today! (We also had a great question about the Apostles’ Creed; I’ll share that next week.)

Why did Jesus say on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God doesn’t forsake anyone! Why would Jesus say that?

You are right to say that God does not forsake (abandon) anyone who trusts in him. The Bible teaches us to praise God’s faithfulness: “You never forsake those who seek you, LORD” (Psalm 9:11). But even though by faith we know God doesn’t forsake anyone who seeks him, sometimes we feel forsaken by God. The Son of God became a real human being; he feels what we feel. On the cross, Jesus knew that God had not forsaken him, but he felt like God had forsaken him. His prayer tells us that we can be honest with God about how we feel, even when our emotions are mixed up, troubled, or off-target. Jesus prayed honestly, telling his Father how he felt: forsaken.

And the prayer he chose meant something else, too. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” are the first words of Psalm 22. It’s a psalm written for people who feel forsaken by God. Jesus prayed it on the cross. Here’s how the prayer ends:

I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the assembly I will praise you: “You who fear the LORD, give praise! All descendants of Jacob, give honor; show reverence, all descendants of Israel!” For he has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch, did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out. … All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of nations will bow low before him. For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; all who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. (Ps 22:23-25, 28-32)
When Jesus felt forsaken, he chose to start a prayer whose end is different from its start. It ends expressing trust his Father would hear him, confidence that God gives life to the dead, and prophecy that people not yet born will see how the Lord saves.

In the story of the finding in the Temple, why were Mary and Joseph surprised that Jesus was in his Father’s house?

It might be helpful to read the story as told by the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:41-52). Verses 44 and 48 show us that Mary and Joseph did not know that Jesus had stayed in the Temple. Verse 51 says that after he told them that he had to be in his Father’s house, he didn’t stay in the Temple. Instead, he went back with them and lived in Nazareth again. Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus was the Son of God (see Luke 1:32, Matthew 1:20). If he had told them that he now had to live in the Temple because it was his Father’s house, they would have understood that. But it confused them that he left their family unexpectedly to stay in the Temple. They thought that the plan was for them to take care of him in their family home and Nazareth. And then he confirmed that this was the plan, because he went home with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them! So if staying with them was the plan, why did he suddenly leave them, just for a few days?  That was what surprised them, what they did not understand (see Luke 2:50).