“Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?’ which means ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’” Matthew 27:46

The event happened a long time ago when I was a young boy. But the imprint of the memory remains fresh.  We were visiting friends of my parents out of state. Being bored and looking for something to do, I saw a wooden go-kart sitting in their garage. I had no way of knowing it would transport me to a place I would never forget?

I remember sitting in the go-cart on a downhill slope of a driveway. But it wouldn’t roll! When I began to rock back and forth to force it into action, my head hit a corner on the wooden frame. Instantly, blood poured into my eyes and I screamed… mostly out of fear! EVERYONE heard me, and soon we were rushing to a hospital.

I really don’t remember the pain. But when the doctor said I needed stitches, and then pulled out a huge syringe to numb my forehead… I went completely nuts and tried to get off the table. Overpowered and subdued quickly, I was placed on a rolling stretcher headed toward the emergency room. Still trying to get off, they strapped me down to hold me still. Screaming for my dad, I clearly remember them blocking him from coming along with us!

I will never forget my fear and the look on my father’s face, as the doors closed between the both of us. I cried out “Daddy, Daddy… don’t leave me!” But struggling, I could not move! Strapped to the gurney to hold my head still for the needle, the last thing I saw before the doors closed, and my dad was banned, were tears running down my father’s face.

Maundy Thursday is a big day for me, because it forces me to remember my own horrific event. When I think about Jesus and His prayerful agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, He begged His Father to NOT abandon HIM. For the first time ever Jesus, God’s only son, was about to experience separation from His Dad. He was going to have to trust His Father’s will and go it alone!

What if something had gone wrong and the prophecies could not be fulfilled. What if His enemy satan actually got a leg up and His sacrifice wouldn’t be good enough? As He felt His Father backing away, and after remembering the betrayal of Judas, He HAD to wonder. How could He be sure this would all work out if even His own Dad turned his back on Him?  

Back at the hospital, after the stitches were finally in, I was exhausted from crying. I was then rolled into a room where visitors were allowed… and my dad was the first in to see me. We hugged at the reunion and I was overjoyed that he hadn’t abandoned me after all. But we were changed by that event. He preached that experience many times over the years.  

Things have changed in medicine.  Now parents are welcome in the room with their children. I remember sitting with mine for stitches, grateful that they wouldn’t have to endure that sense of abandonment and fear. But I am also strangely grateful for my own experience… because it helps me realize the tremendous price both God, and His Son, HAD to pay FOR ME to be saved. Deep down, I never really FEEL like I’m worth God’s effort! But knowing the cost, and God’s willingness to pay it, makes me love Him all the more.

So on this Maundy Thursday, I ask this… will YOU betray the one who paid so much for YOUR redemption? And after what He did for you… will you turn your back on The Savior? Thank you God for your marvelous gift of Grace. I can’t believe you paid such a great price… for me!   I now realize you HAD to turn your back on Jesus… so I could hop on!