Matthew 27:46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) This verse has been one of the more highly discussed quotes of Jesus on the cross. The big question is what does this mean? Why does Jesus accuse God of forsaking him? Some have suggested that Jesus looked into heaven and for the first time he couldnt see the Father. Others have suggested that in this moment, Jesus himself begins to doubt. So what is this verse all about? One of the things weve discussed is the people of Jesus world were very familiar with the Scriptures. In fact, many had the Old Testament committed to memory. We have to begin by asking whether this quote is found anywhere in the Old Testament. A quick Google search will show us that Psalm 22 begins with My God, my God why have you forsaken me. This raises an interesting question, why does Jesus quote THIS verse here? What is the significance of this verse that he would choose to recite it in this moment? What we need to understand is Psalm 22 is known as the Death Psalm, it was the goal of a religious Jew to die with Scripture on their lips and this particular Psalm was the Psalm of choice. In fact history records that many of the ancient Rabbis died quoting this particular Psalm upon their death. (Note: The Shema was another common piece of Scripture quoted upon death). So part of this is Jesus dying a death that honors God, with the very Word of God on his lips. But notice how Psalm 22 ends, God wins. In spite of all the bad things that are happening, no matter how overwhelming the Psalmist feels, in the end God wins. And so in this moment, this Psalm turns out to be the perfect Psalm for Jesus to quote because he understands while this may seem like the end and there is no way out, that God is ultimately in control and will have the victory
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 22:37:42 +0000
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