Wednesday of Judica, 2025

When Jesus cried out, “Eli,” He wasn’t calling for Elijah; He was calling out to God, His Father. “My God!” He cried. “Why have You forsaken Me?” He asks, not pleading, as though from doubt or despair. No, His question is more like a demand for an answer. Because He was without sin, and, furthermore, He knew His Father was a righteous Judge. So, His plea was no mere question. He was storming the gates of heaven, as it were, and demanding of God that His punishment be justified, that it be set right, that what was so incalculably wrong here be fixed. He was innocent and yet was suffering the death of a heinous criminal. His “Why?” here, as nowhere else demanded an answer. 

And it received one. The answer came when the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom the very next moment after He died. Now, how is that an answer? Well, what did the veil hide, and what did its rending reveal? The veil hid the Holy of Holies, that is, the altar of atonement and the mercy seat of God. The veil was torn open at Christ’s death because, with His death—His sacrifice, He had made full atonement for sin; more than that, it was rent in two to reveal the mercy of God. That’s the answer to Jesus’ “Why?”: why God, His Father, forsook Him, the innocent One; why Jesus suffered such a death. The torn veil proclaims—to one and all—that with Jesus’ death, justice has been satisfied, and the sacrifice has been accepted; with His death, the mercy of God is revealed. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:1-8

• Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:21-31

• Holy Gospel: Mark 15:20-47

Sermon: