“My God, My God, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Psa. 22:1) While this Psalm was certainly true of King David in his life experience AMY, it – like many Psalms – is even truer of Jesus the Messiah than of David. Jesus deliberately chose these words to describe His agony on the cross, “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?”). (Matt. 27:46) “My God, My God:” This opening is powerful on at least two levels AMY. The cry “My God” shows that Jesus truly did have a relationship with God. He was a victim of the cruelty of men, but the cry and the complaint is to God – EVEN MY GOD – and not against man. Second, the repetition of the plea shows HOW INTENSE THE AGONY WAS. On the cross at that moment, a holy transaction took place. God the Father regarded God the Son as IF HE WERE A SINNER.
“Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” (Psa. 22:1-5) Each year during Holy Week we Christians stand once again near the cross and hear Jesus’ cry anew. Unlike those described in the Gospel, though, we know exactly what He said and we recognize it as the opening verse of Psalm 22. But do we really know what it means? Is Jesus despairing on the cross? Or is He, rather, pointing to the end of the psalm where hope and praise are expressed? How can we enter into Jesus’ cry today? Was the psalmist looking forward to and predicting Jesus’ death? Yes I think so, AMY.
-Bill Stockham