The Hidden Message in Jesus' Words on the Cross

In this episode of The Church We Dream Of, Kia Gutierrez explores how the American church has lost the ancient practice of reading scripture as interconnected whole texts—and why reclaiming this art is essential for our faith. Through an examination of Jesus' last words on the cross, Kia reveals what happens when we read the Bible in fragments instead of as the complete, layered masterpiece it was designed to be.Jewish tradition: Celebrating passages you don't understand as "gifts" to unwrap through studyThe original practice of memorizing entire passages and connecting texts through opening linesHow scripture was preserved orally and through scrolls before becoming a bookWhy reading isolated verses strips away the essential context and meaningWestern approach: Emphasis on certainty, correct interpretation, and verse-by-verse studyHow American church culture shifted from holistic understanding to fragmented readingThe cost of treating scripture as isolated sentences with beginnings and endingsWhy we've become uncomfortable with mystery and incomplete understandingTraditional Western interpretation: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" as a single statement of abandonmentThe complete picture: Jesus invoking ALL of Psalm 22 through its opening lineHow scrolls worked and why opening lines served as "titles" that invoked entire textsWhat the original audience would have immediately understood—and what we've missedThe complete context of what Jesus was actually communicating from the crossThe full arc from suffering to victory that Jesus wanted people to rememberProphetic details matching the crucifixion, written centuries earlier by DavidThe message of hope, not defeat: God has NOT turned His face awayThe promise to "a people yet unborn"—usChallenges the idea that sin separates us so completely that God must turn awayReframes the crucifixion as declaration of victory, not defeatQuestions power dynamics: Can humans create something (sin) that's untouchable by God?How well-intentioned simplification has led to generational loss of biblical literacyThe difference between teaching scripture directly vs. teaching interpretations of scriptureThe "recipe" analogy: how churches have drifted from the original ingredientsWhy adding to the recipe means subtracting from its original intentionModern technology and resources make ancient reading practices accessible to everyoneIt's no longer a luxury—it's a responsibilityThe joy of discovering that everything in scripture is connectedWhy incomplete understanding is a gift, not a failureKey Quotes: "When Jewish scholars would come across these presents, these places of a lack of understanding in their text, they saw it as a present from God to them that they would now get to go on a journey to unwrap together.""Jesus is not saying, 'I want you to notice a scripture.' He's saying, 'Remember the book. Remember all of Psalm 22.'""Because the sin is so great and so heavy, we cry out and that doesn't make him turn away. It makes him turn towards.""Whenever we step away from reading scripture and teaching scripture directly... we are now offering an interpretation of scripture and not scripture itself.""Everything is connected. And if we don't see the connection, it's just because we haven't found it yet. It's not because it's not there.""We are the people yet unborn. We are the generation that gets the New Testament.""The Bible is the ultimate Easter egg. Everything is so deliberate and precise. It's such an exquisite gift."What does whole Bible reading actually look like in practice?A tableSome foodA BibleCommunityA lifetime commitmentComing UpThe next three episodes will feature conversations on marriage, parenting, and church systems through the lens of relationship, followed by a synthesis episode tying it all together.Host: Kia Gutierrez, Marriage and Family Therapist and Church LeaderPodcast: The Church We Dream Of