My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

It was Wednesday.

It was also Passover.

The Lamb of God hung willingly upon a cross fashioned from wood.

What a disgrace to die on a tree.

A crowd had gathered beneath a dark sky around the bludgeoned Christ.

They all heard him ask, "Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have forsaken me?"

But, was Jesus actually accusing God of forsaking Him?

No, He wasn't! He was actually testifying to the fulfillment of prophecy.

During Bible times, Jews knew the Bible very well. Unlike today's Christians, to them, the Word of God was like food. They had the scriptures memorized so that they carried them with them everywhere they went. But, back then there were no chapter and verse designations. If a rabbi wanted you to reference a particular passage, He would simply quote the first line of that scripture. The Jews, who could call any scripture to memory, would then begin to recite the scripture in their mind. For instance, if I wanted you to call to memory Psalm 23, I'd say, "The Lord is my Shepherd." You would then begin to think, "I shall not want..."

This is also what Jesus was doing when he uttered, "My God, my god, why have you forsaken me?"

He was quoting the first line of Psalm 22.

Here is Psalm 22, look at what all of the Jews present that day would have began to call to memory:

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him-may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it.

As those who were Jews in the crowd recited that passage in their minds, they could see prophecy being fulfilled in their midst. Jesus was showing them that he was the suffering servant of whom Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 spoke. He, the Passover Lamb created a parenthetical statement by which to show them that He was the Messiah and that He loved them.

Look at verse 31!

He has done it!

What has He done?

By fulfilling the prophecies spoken of about Him in the earlier part of Psalm 22, He accomplished the latter part. He has drawn all generations into His eternal presence.

He closed the parentheses when He said, "it is finished."

The "It" which is finished is the "It" which he has done.(Psalm 22:31).

There is no question that He was and is the Messiah, the Passover Lamb of God. He is the soon coming King. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!