"My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?"

“My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?”

Throughout time, Christians have always remembered those words from our Lord and Savior’s lips while He was in our final hour on the Cross: “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” These words no doubt have gripped our hearts and brings us, those who love Christ Jesus, to our knees. Either, we have not really stopped to think about those words because of our deepest sorrow that overwhelms us with His terrible death, or because we fail to really understand why He said what He did. Did He simply say this because He got weak, or perhaps He got angry with God, for what He was going through? Or perhaps, is there much more to it than that?

In Matthew 27:45-46:

“Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (That is): “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?’

We know that Jesus was God, as God is God. But, in this state, Jesus was human, a man. He was no less human than we are. Everything He went through, He felt. Jesus was human, as well as He is God. He did not use His powers while He was on earth.

He trusted totally in His Father to provide for Him. He relied totally on God. His struggle was to stay in that trust.

His struggle stayed connected. He did not have to work on sin, He was sinless. But what He had to work on was staying with God. This is the same with us. We are to stay connected to the Vine. As Jesus cried out on the Cross, He was in darkness, and could no longer see His Father. Jesus died because of our sin. He was filled, and Jesus is the only person on earth that will ever be left without God. In all other cases, God’s wrath, when it is poured out, it is not without measure. What I mean by this is that when Jesus took on all our sins, the world’s sins; He became filled because of our sin to God. God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus in full measure. Without mercy, it was poured out upon Jesus.

Psalms 22:1: which says: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”, is Jesus saying this when He cried out. Now read Psalms 22:11-18:

“Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open wide their mouth at me, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within me. My strength is dried up like potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and Thou dost lay me in the dust of the death. For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots.”

(New Century Version):

“So, do not be far away from me, now trouble is near and there is no one to help. People have surrounded me like angry bulls. Like the strong bulls of Bashan, they are on every side. Like hungry, roaring lions, they open their mouths at me. My strength is gone, like water poured out on the ground, and my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it has melted inside of me. My strength has dried up like a clay pot, and my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth. You laid me in the dust of death. Evil people have surrounded me, like dogs they have trapped me.

They have bitten my arms and legs. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my clothes among them, and they threw lots for my clothing”.

The term “dog” was used by the Jews, to refer to Gentiles. In Matthew 15:21-28. At this time, He would have become dehydrated…”and my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth”. It speaks of piercing His hands and feet and dividing His clothes by casting lots. This is exactly what happens as described in Matthew 27:35. This is the time of His murder.

Psalm 22 was written about a hundred years before Christ was even born. At that time crucifixion had not even been used yet.

Rome borrowed the horrendous act of execution and torture. So, when Rome ruled over Israel, it became their new idea of execution used on the Jews, who they had normally stoned before.

Another Thought:

“He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin in our behalf that we might become the righteous of God, in Him”. (2 Corinthians 5:21). As we know; Jesus Christ died on the Cross. To take on ALL the world’s sin, He laid down His life. He did this so that we (those who would believe) may be saved through His sacrifice. Try to imagine the pain He felt, both physically and emotionally. Now, try to imagine the Father not being able to even look upon His Son, during this time!

God is too pure to even look upon evil, and Jesus was made sin, in our behalf. This is not saying that Jesus sinned, because He never sinned. He became our sin! In Habakkuk 1:13, it tells us that God the Father would not have been able to even look upon His Son during that time. Try to imagine when this plan was laid down, and Jesus knew then that a time would come when He would be totally separated from His Father. He had that to look forward to. Jesus had never been separated from God. Being in total separation from God is sin. The wages of sin are death.

Past, Present and Future Sin

Jesus was carrying in His body, all the world’s sin in the past, the present and in the future. Jesus at that moment, was on His own. Why would He not call out for The Father? (1 Peter 2:24). Even now when we suffer; we are never alone, because Jesus is there for us and with us. God, the Father is not able to look down upon sin, and He could not even stay with Jesus, His own Son. For the first time, Jesus felt, and was totally alone, on that cross. We have no way of really understanding this or appreciating this horrific experience of having the entire world’s in placed upon us. The spiritual pain was even worse than the physical.

Jesus Died for Many

What does this mean? I thought He died for all. Jesus did die for all. But all will not accept His death in their place. It is us that decide if our name shall stay written there! If we choose to not accept the blood of Jesus in our behalf, then we have chosen for our name to be removed from the book of life.

He died for the many that will choose to accept Him as their Lord and Savior. May the hearts of many be now drawn to our Savior Lord Jesus Christ? He has already died for you on the cross. It is your decision to know Him.

Can you see that the Lord is calling you to know Him? He is a breath, a thought away from you, and He is waiting to lift you up to Him, so that He may remain in you as you remain in Him. Please go to John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”