Jesus is speaking to the crowds and to his disciples in Matthew 23. He publicly pronounces "woes" over the scribes and the Pharisees, the legal and religious leaders. According to the Dictionary of Bible Themes, woe can be an exclamation of "judgment on others; misfortune on oneself; of sadness over others". It may also morph into "forgiveness, comfort, and deliverance". He calls them hypocrites. blind guides, blind fools, blind people, whitewashed tombs, snakes, brood of vipers. Jesus's heart is broken by their hearts of stone. He is judging them and He is sad. Then he turns to look over Jerusalem, the city on a hill, the city of God. And He laments over it. He expresses grief, sorrow, regret, misery. The city that has been the heart of Israel, the place of worship for God's chosen people, where the presence of God Himself has dwelled. They have been and ARE His people. He longed to gather them to Himself, He CAME to gather them to Himself, but they would not be gathered.
Psalm 22 is fulfilled on the cross in Matthew 27. It begins with a cry out, to God--"My God, My God why have you abandoned me"--with a list of suffering, then a gift of praise in return for resolution--"I will give praise in the great assembly because of You; I will fulfill my vows before those who who fear You." A true lament according to our template in Deuteronomy.
All of these are great examples of lament. I mean of course they are--it's Jesus!! But the one I want to focus on today is Matthew 26:39. Jesus has celebrated the Passover with His inner circle; He has instituted the first Lord's supper; He has predicted that Judas would betray Him and that Peter would deny Him. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a day, one that the disciples, His closest friends, did not fully understand. He goes to the garden to pray. The events of the day start to weigh heavy on Him, making Him sorrowful and troubled. He tells Peter, James, and John that He is "deeply grieved to the point of death". He goes out alone (reminiscent of Elijah yesterday), and falls facedown. He cries out to God with a list, and an immediate gift of obedience in return. Then He takes a break and prays it again. I lay my head back down Jesus knew the resolution would come; there would be music from His misery. But He wasn't afraid to ask twice for His list of suffering to skip Him.
When we think back to Pastor Colin Smith's statement from day one "For Christians who grew up being taught to look on the bright side, lament can be jarring", this is especially true watching Jesus lament. Jesus is struggling to look on the bright side. Jesus is asking, laying His burden down, then picking it up and asking again. That gives me a sense of freedom to lament! Lament is not a complaint, a gripe, a pout. It's a prayer, brought before the only One who can bring resolution. It's hope--not crossing your fingers and hoping. It's anchoring to the security of the steadfast, stubborn, unwavering, loyal love of God. Every misery, suffering, grief, sorrow is sad. It's heavy. No one is discounting that. Not King David, not Elijah, not King Jesus, and (spoiled alert for tomorrow) not Paul. But when we hinge our complaint to swing back to a gift of praise, it is the brightest side we could ever hope for.
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