And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46
In this series we are taking a brief look at each of the seven statements Jesus made while suffering on the cross.
The series began Friday with a look at Jesus desire to see His enemies be forgiven.
On Monday we noticed Jesus’ words of care for His mother.
Yesterday we admired the willingness of Jesus to minister even while in the midst of utter pain.
We come to the fourth statement the Lord made on the cross and the first of three that were quotations from the Psalms.
The words of this statement are, I think, very easily misunderstood. To be blunt, God did not forsake Jesus while He was on the Cross. The very idea is not only blasphemous, it is ignorant of the Old Testament.
It is blasphemous because it implies Jesus became a sinner while on the Cross. Such an idea defeats the entire purpose of the Lord’s death. He died as a sinless Man. If, at any time, Jesus was a sinner, the scheme of redemption dies and man is without hope. Yet some will argue that the Lord became a sinner by virtue of His bearing the sins of man on the cross. Because of that, they say, God turned His back on His own Son, being unable to behold the sin.
While it is absolutely true that God’s holy eyes do not behold sin, it is categorically false that Jesus was a sinner, had sin or in any way spiritually-embodied sin while on the Cross (or any other time for that matter).
Such an idea is ignorant of the Old Testament, specifically with regards to the sin offering that was annually made to God by the children of Israel. When the High Priest offered a lamb, the lamb wasn’t a sinner. The lamb did nothing wrong. THAT WAS THE POINT! The lamb bore the PUNISHMENT for the sins of the men. The MAN sinned, not the LAMB.
In the case of Christ, the Lamb of God (the lamb offered by God), MAN sinned. Jesus died FOR man’s sin. He died, bearing the PUNISHMENT for our sins. He remained sinless, spotless and without sin. THAT’S THE POINT!
The prophet Isaiah foresees the dying Savior and says (Isaiah 53:11) that God would SEE the travail of His soul and be satisfied (legally satisfied; justice is served).
Jesus was born sinless. He lived sinless. He died sinless. Let’s not misunderstand what Jesus did on the cross to the point where we accuse the Holy Father of turning His back on His holy Son.
So then why does Jesus say what He says?
Well consider this, first of all: IF God did turn His back on Jesus, answer these questions:
1) Why was Jesus talking to Him before (“Father forgive them…”) and after (“Father into Thy hands…)?
2) Why is Jesus asking the question? Wouldn’t He know why God was turning His back on Him? Jesus knows why He’s on the cross; so why ask the question?
No matter how you slice it, there must be another explanation for why Jesus says what He says.
Consider…
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Whose words are these? Not the Lord’s. These are the words spoken by David in the opening line of the 22nd Psalm. The poem recounts the agony of the servant of God who is persecuted without cause. He cries out in a way common to Hebrew poetry, asking first “Why have you left me God!?”
But you can’t just stop there. This is a poem; the words continue. And as you progress through the poem, toward the end David’s thoughts turn positive and he expresses happiness that God actually never did leave Him. The opening line was a set up to the line at the end…
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Psalm 22:24
Did God forsake David? No. Did He forsake the Christ?
The entire 22nd Psalm is a prophesy about the Lord. David quotes Him in the opening line, describes Him in the middle portions (describing His pierced hands and feet, the mockers who surrounded him, etc), and illustrates the fellowship with God that was always there (v24).
Jesus on the cross quotes from the opening line, drawing the attention of every Old Testament reader to that text. He is the wounded one of that Psalm. He is the one Who suffered while surrounded by sinners and He is the One Who was never despised nor abhorred by God. He is the One from Whom God never hid His face.
This fourth statement by the Lord is the question “Why?” Beyond it fulfilling a prophesy, it hits each of us in the gut, because the answer to the question is “me.”
“Why” did Jesus have to die?
“Me.”
Think about that,
have a great day!
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