World Council of Churches General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shares an Easter message of hope and renewal, reflecting on the moment when Jesus Christ, on the cross cries: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Pillay notes that Jesus expresses the pain and suffering of His impending death.
“This is the cry of displaced people, refugees on the move, abused women and children, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, the neglected, oppressed, and downtrodden,” he writes. “Their plights are so unbearable that they often think that governments, friends, family, and even God has abandoned them.”
In today’s world, many people feel a sense of abandonment and despair, Pillay reflects.
“Jesus gave up his last breath and died, but he rose again from the dead,” Pillay writes. “Thus, when we are tempted in the midst of brokenness, pain, suffering, wars and death to ask why God has forsaken us, let us stop and be assured that in Christ, the Father makes all things new!”
Pillay reminds us that God is present with us in all things, through all things, and at all times.
“This assurance then must, instead of making us feel forsaken, stir and steer us into becoming agents and instruments of hope and light to the world,” the Easter message concludes. “It should give us the energy and desire to continue to work toward God’s justice, peace, reconciliation and unity, enabling a better world for all creation!”
