Matt. 27:45-46
“My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
In the Gospels we have seven sayings that Jesus uttered on the cross. According to the traditional order, we have:
As you can see, not one Gospel has all seven sayings of Jesus. This should not be viewed as an error or inaccuracy. If the four Gospels recorded the same things, we obviously wouldn’t need all four. Each Gospel provides us with its distinctive presentation of the gospel, bringing to light various facets of Christ’s life and ministry. And from the four Gospels we get all seven sayings of Christ.
Even among the seven sayings of Jesus, each of which has profound
theological significances, the saying that appears in our passage is unique. It
alone is recorded in the Greek transliteration of Hebrew: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” As many of you know, Jesus spoke in
Aramaic, a Hebrew dialect. So all seven sayings of Jesus were
spoken in Aramaic. The Gospels, of course, are written in Greek. That
means that all the words of Jesus were translated into Greek. But here Matthew
decides to preserve the Hebrew. Why? The answer is related to the second unique
feature of this saying: it alone is a direct Scriptural quotation (Ps. 22:1). Can
you see? The Hebrew sound of the Greek transliteration highlights that these
words come to us from the Hebrew Old Testament. Thus a double-emphasis is given
to the fact that Jesus was quoting an Old Testament passage.
This is significant in many levels. Think of the circumstance in which Jesus uttered these words: He was being crucified, dying on the cross, all of His blood and water slowly draining through His pierced head, hands and feet, each heaving of His chest shooting out unspeakable pain throughout His frail body, reigniting the throbbing pain of the nail-pierced wounds all over again and bringing Him closer and closer to death. What would go through your mind in such a condition? Would you be able to think beyond your pain? But Jesus’ most desperate saying on the cross was a Scripture passage. It was precisely in the agony of the most intense pain that Jesus was quoting Ps. 22:1.
This could not happen unless Christ’s mind was filled with Scriptures. Imagine how deeply one has to be immersed in the Word of God to speak the Word of God when all of his body and mind is consumed with an excruciating pain, when he may be going in and out of his consciousness! The Word of God has to be etched firmly at the very foundation, at the very core, of one’s consciousness. That does not come from simply paying lip service to the Word of God, does it? Treating the Bible as a reference book and opening it up only occasionally won’t do. Approaching the Scripture as a burdensome duty won’t do. One must hunger and thirst after it as a deer pants for the water. One must cling on to it with his dear life as if his life meant nothing without it. It must be his first thought and last: it must pervade through every part of his consciousness. This is what God’s righteousness requires of us. Such was the mind of Christ.
What should we think of this? Should we simply say, “Of course, that is what we expect of Jesus! But not us! Jesus was different. He is, after all, God-man and we are only human, fallen sinners. How can we be expected to be just like Jesus?” It is true: our piety can never equal Jesus’. But what if, with us, it is not about piety but about need, our desperate need of God’s Word? We have all the more reason to saturate our mind with the Word of God because we are fallen sinners. We need the Word of God all the more because we are so easily lured away by the Tempter’s seductive words, because we are so impressed by the faulty wisdom of men, because we are so helpless against peer pressure. Because we are so easily blinded by our greed, our ambition, our lust, we need the Word of God to be the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. Because we get so easily lost in this world of deceptions and lies, false advertisements and spins, we need the Word of God to be the compass to direct our journey in wisdom and truth. Because we live in this world of decay and death, because all our paths ultimately lead us to the grave, we need the Word of God to give us the true Life!
Scripture should be more than something we use only when we lecture others about how they ought to live and behave. It should be the foundation of our convictions and thoughts, the lens through which we view the world and life. For the Word of God gives us the divine perspective of the all-knowing, all-wise God. Who of us can make sense of this maze called life while being in it? But God, who is enthroned high above, is not trapped by the maze. In fact, it is He who designed the maze. And He, who is the Way and the Truth and the Life, has given us the truth in His Word. Do we not seek the professional’s expertise in many areas of our life--from investment to interior decoration? What can help us through the adversities and painful losses of life? Who can help us face death with dignity and hope? Should we not seek the wisdom of the Creator, the Lord of life, the Redeemer of our body and soul, if we want to live what our life is meant to be? How blessed is he who has the truth and wisdom of God!
Then do you see the irony of the cross? Here is Jesus, the truly blessed Man, who is hanging on the cursed tree, dying the miserable death of a criminal. Here is the truly righteous Man, from whose lips drips the Word of God even at the moment of His death. Is this a way for such a man to die?
But it is precisely this discrepancy between the kind of man Jesus was and the kind of death He was dying that sheds light into what was truly transpiring on the cross: Jesus was not dying for His own sin; He was dying for the sins of His people. And oh, how dramatically this is demonstrated in this saying of Jesus? Think about what Jesus was quoting at that moment--David’s words of deep lament in Ps. 22:1! Overwhelmed by the woes that plagued his life, David cried out most desperately, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” All his grief, all his bewilderment, all his sorrow, all his fear were embodied in these words! And Jesus spoke these very words on the cross! Was it because Jesus could not come up with His own words of grief and sorrow? No! This was quite intentional.
The Gospel According to Matthew highlights Jesus’ life and
ministry as the fulfillment of “what the Lord had spoken by the prophet(s)”
(Matt.
Think about the sacrificial system in the Old Testament.
Think about what the people of
But while the sacrificial system communicated the principle of substitution, it could not deliver the true substitution. As the Hebrews writer says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). Why? Because the life of an animal could not be an appropriate replacement for the life of a sinner. The sacrificial animal could not be the proper substitution for man. How can a man be substituted by an animal? So the sacrificial system pointed beyond itself to a better sacrifice that can bring actual atonement for sin--the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Substitute. Since He came as the God-man, He could take our place and die. Since He was the God-man, He could pay for all the sins of His people once for all.
Do you see how this principle of substitution is demonstrated in this saying of Jesus? When He uttered the words that David once uttered, it was as though Jesus stepped into David’s shoes and took upon Himself all that the words expressed and embodied--all the grief and sorrow, all the wilderment and fear David experienced!
But surely that was not all that Jesus experienced on the cross! When Jesus took upon His lips the desperate cry of David, all the pain and agony that the words embodied were intensified beyond measure. Whatever grief David experienced was but a shadow compared to the grief Jesus experienced on the cross. Whatever pain David endured was but a faint reflection of the pain Jesus experienced on the cross. When David cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” was he really forsaken by God? So immense was the affliction of his life at that time that he felt as though he were forsaken. But did God ever forsake him? David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, his loyal subject, to cover up his guilt. Did God forsake him then? God chastised him but did He forsake him? Never! At the end of his life, he angered the Lord greatly by taking the census. But did God forsake him even then? No! Chastised him God did! But forsake him God never did!
Oh, how often we mistake God’s chastisement for His abandonment! Does God hate us when He rebukes us? Does God abhor us when He disciplines us? No! “[H]ave you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives’…. If you are left without discipline…, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:5-6, 8).
Even when David felt like he was forsaken by God, he was never actually abandoned by God. But what was happening when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Did He just feel like He was forsaken by God? No! He was actually and truly forsaken by His heavenly Father! When Jesus hung on the cross, bearing our sins as our Substitute, He became the object of God’s infinite, unreserved wrath. If hell is to be abandoned by God forever, Jesus experienced the grief of the Father’s eternal abandonment all bundled up into a moment of utter, infinite grief. If hell is to burn forever in the scalding hatred of a just God, Jesus experienced the pain of God’s eternal hatred all wrapped into one unthinkable blow. No one can even begin to imagine what that is like. But Jesus knew. That is why He prayed, not just once, not just twice but three times (!) that His Father might remove this cup of curse--He who was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief, He who fasted for forty days and nights and still resisted Satan’s temptation! It could not have been the physical pain of the cross that He feared. For the cup He had to drink was the essence and fullness of hell!
If David could sin as he did and was not forsaken by God, it was because he had Jesus Christ as his Substitute. If we sin as we do and are not forsaken by God, it is because we have Jesus Christ as our Substitute. He was forsaken in our place so that we may never be forsaken by God. Do you believe this? Do you realize the ramifications of what you believe?
We feel so abandoned at times, don’t we? We feel so terribly alone, having no one to turn to. Some of us are so bewildered and exhausted by the unceasing waves of afflictions that we want to cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” But before you do, consider what took place on the cross, when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” By taking David’s words and putting them upon His lips, Jesus silenced David’s cry of lamentation forever. And He did the same thing for all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. Because He cried this cry in our place, we no longer need to cry out in despair, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” We may feel like it at times but we know, when we look upon the cross of Jesus Christ, that it is just a feeling, contrary to the reality of God’s eternal love for us.
But what about the grief we feel when people around us leave us and forsake us? Jesus knows it, too. He knew what it felt like to be falsely accused by the religious leaders. He knew what it felt like to hear His countrymen turn against Him and shout, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” And these were the people He had been teaching and healing. He knew what it felt like to be betrayed by His own disciple, to be denied and abandoned by His disciples. Difficult to bear is the pain of abandonment and loss. But God allows it in our lives. Why? To make us see the limitation of human love and the frailty of human loyalty. It is not just the people of malicious intent, who abandon us. Even those who love us dearly must leave us when their time comes. When people leave us, we are reminded of the One who will never leave us or forsake us, not only in this life but through all eternity. And this abiding love of God enables us not to be bitter and resentful when people do leave us. Their departure can only drive us closer to God.
We are so thankful for the cross of Jesus Christ, aren’t we? Because of His sacrifice, “ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness” (Henry F. Lyte, “Abide with me: Fast Falls the Eventide”). But sadly we still have ills; we still shed tears in this life. While we live in this world, joy seeks us through pain; we trace the rainbow through the rain (George Matheson, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go”). But we do not despair. We cannot grow weary. For God has appointed a day for us when “earth’s vain shadows” will be no more, when ills and tears will disappear forever! We shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, basking in the warmth of the Father’s love through all eternity. And it is the Word of God, which testifies to this wonderful gospel reality. Let us then saturate our mind with the Word of God and live in the abundance riches of God’s promises until that glorious day. Amen.
© Copyright 2007 by Jeong Woo "James" Lee
All Rights Reserved.