New Interpretation

I find it remarkable that I have heard the stories from the Bible my whole life yet I am still learning new things about those stories.

Every Good Friday I have heard about how Jesus suffered and died on the cross. I know it by heart. I know the WORDS by heart. But the true meaning behind those words hasn’t always been obvious to me and each year, I learn something newer and deeper about what Jesus went through for all of us.

This weekend, I learned something new about something that happened during the crucifixion. After Jesus said “Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”), someone offered him some wine vinegar on a sponge as a way to comfort him. Then others said “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him”.

I have always heard that to be a mocking or sarcastic thing to say. As in….He is calling on Elijah, let’s see if he will rescue him. But Friday night, during the part of the meditation I read at church, it was interpreted to be a misunderstanding of a legend that the Jews believed. They believed that Elijah would come down and rescue the righteous in the time of need. It wasn’t said in a sarcastic manner but it was said as a sign of belief in an old and ancient legend.

I’m not sure if my former interpretation of this came from the way the Bible verses were read to me as a child or if it is how I grew to understand it. But, either way, it was a wrong interpretation. Not everyone standing around the cross were there to mock him. I mean, not all the strangers were there to mock him. I know some of his family and friends were there but I always thought the others, the strangers, were just there to make fun. But some were there not to make fun but to observe and then to try to help.

The Bible is a long, complex and deep collection of stories, proverbs, psalms and letters. It is, without doubt, the Word of God. But God didn’t make it simple because He is not simple. It takes interpretation and an open heart and mind to discern what God is saying to us. Even though I was born Lutheran and have read the Bible and gone to church most of my life, I am still learning what God is saying to me. As I grow in faith, He is revealing more and more to me.

It is a rather exciting prospect….to understand that I don’t know all there is to know about the Bible but God will continue to reveal His thoughts to me as I grow older in faith and devotion to Him. It’s exciting to think about what I don’t understand yet but will sometime in the future. Until that future understanding comes, I will dwell and contemplate what I already know about God and the Bible and I will be open to a deeper knowledge of old familiar stories. Because one never knows when or where new enlightenment may come. I certainly didn’t expect it on this particular Good Friday while studying a meditation that I needed to read during the service. But there it was and now I know. Isn’t that just remarkable and exciting?