In Matthew 27:46 (also recorded in Mark 15 and Luke 23) Jesus utters, from the cross, the words “Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?” which is Aramaic for “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why these words?
There are at least two reasons for asking this question. The first being that this statement quotes Psalm 22:1, a prophetic, Messianic Psalm written by King David. David, you will remember, received the promise from God that a son from his line would sit on the throne forever. Jesus is the final fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. By quoting Psalm 22:1, Jesus is drawing attention to the fact that He is the one of whom the Psalm is speaking. He is drawing attention to the fact that He is the promised Messiah. How many times did He indicate that the OT Scriptures pointed to none other than Himself? Using just one example, in Luke 24:18 He was asked by Cleopas on the Emmaus Road, “Are you the only person in Jerusalem who does not know what has happened there”? After further dialogue He responded (Luke 24:25-27) “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. By “all the Scripture” He clearly refers to the OT, as the NT was still yet to be written. The teaching is plain, the OT points forward to Him.
The event recorded in Matthew 27 during which Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 is His Crucifixion, His very public execution. As Paul later stated to Festus in regards to King Agrippa (Acts 26:26 KJV)
“For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.” The Crucifixion took place during the Passover, a time when thousands of Jewish people would have come to Jerusalem. The location of His Crucifixion was on a hill near a main road into the city. The Scriptures speak of the crowds around Him during the event. (Luke 23:27) And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. (Luke 23:48) And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
(John 19:20) Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. Multitudes witnessed the event. These witnesses were primarily Jewish. Some were Pharisees, some scribes. All would have been familiar with the words of Psalm 22, as the Psalms were liturgical to the Jews and used extensively in Jewish worship in their synagogues. His utterance of the opening verse of Psalm 22 should have taken their minds to the rest of the Psalm, which prophetically speaks of the very events that were playing out before their eyes. Had their blind eyes been open and their hearts unhardened, they would have recognized the piercing of His hands and feet (Ps. 22:16), the casting of lots for His garments (Ps. 22:18, Matt. 27:35), the scorn, laughter, and wagging of heads (Ps. 22:7, Matt. 27:39), and a near direct quote of Ps. 22:8 coming in Matthew 27:43 from the chief priests, scribes and elders. PS.22:8 “ He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him”. Matt:27:43, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him”.
But, the quotation of Ps:22:1 goes much further than that. Think about the words “Why hast thou forsaken me”? Focus on the word “forsaken”. What does it mean to be forsaken by God? God completely withdrawing His presence and goodness from you? There are those who claim they don’t believe God exists. Some say they don’t or can’t know whether or not God exists. Most simply don’t acknowledge His presence in and governance of their lives. They do not understand that the triune God is the absolute and utter sovereign LORD over all creation. This is a fact that cannot be negated by refusal to accept it or believe it. Yet none of them have ever really felt the impact of being forsaken by the one and only sovereign God. They have not felt the impact of it because none of us have. We can’t, while we are biologically alive at least, feel what being forsaken by God truly means. The Bible teaches that all good things come from God, (James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Saved or unsaved, you got up this morning. It is a gift from God. If you have a roof over your head, food on your table, clothes on your back and people you love and care about in your life, it is a gift from God. No matter how good or bad your life is right now, you are alive and that is a gift from God. We cannot know what it means to be forsaken by God in this life. Some of us will never know because we have been saved by God’s grace, but some of us will know exactly what it means to be forsaken by God if stubborn unrepentance remains in your heart and you pass from this life in that state.
Imagine dying in your stubborn refusal to take God at His word and turn to Him in repentance and trust. The Bible, whether you want to believe it or not, teaches that dying in that state means an eternity in hell completely cut off from the goodness of God. You may not think that is a big deal. You may think you will have friends there that you can spend your time socializing with. In our culture, if you think hell exists at all, it has been made to be a caricature of what it really is. Friends used to joke about meeting in hell,having drinks together, and enjoying the time there. What a terrifying misunderstanding that is! What a mockery has been made of the reality of eternal condemnation!
Think that through with a biblical perspective. Hell is a place created for the devil and his angels, (Matthew 25:41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Break this verse down. 1). Depart – in the Greek it means to go away from, to leave, and it can mean die! Think about it in those terms…:Die, ye cursed”! 2). Cursed – or those being cursed – meaning doomed. 3). Everlasting – age-long, practically eternal, unending, lasting forever. Forever. 4). Fire – fire, strife, trials. Put this another way. Go away from me those who are doomed to unending fire, strife and trials. That is the essence of what Jesus says to those who refuse Him. Hell is a place of everlasting torment, a place where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48). Hell is a place devoid of the presence of God and, as such, it is bereft of all the good things God gives. The only thing you will have in hell is you and the torment of sin’s just punishment. Remember Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, being in Hell and torment, cried to Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in cool water and bring a drop to cool his burning tongue. You, in your unrepentance, will be your own rich man with no one to cry out to. There will be no one to hear your cries. This is what it means to be forsaken by God. You will know it, feel it, and understand that, because of your sin and refusal to repent, you deserve it. You will not question that you rightfully belong there, but you also will not question that you will be there for eternity. The question now becomes, do you want to risk that to hang onto the false belief that YOU are the master of your own life? You may think yourself the master, but are you really? Have not the last few weeks shown you that you have no real control over anything? Do YOU want to gamble on your etenity when you don’t need to, when you don’t have to?
The good news is that on the cross Jesus, who lived a perfectly righteous life before God that not one of us can ever accomplish, suffered being forsaken by God so you don’t have to. He took your punishment and mine so that, by repentance and faith in Him we can be justified, made righteous, before a holy God. He took our place so we, who like the thief on the cross next to Him can rightly say (Luke 23:40-41) “we are under the same sentence of condemnation and indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds”, can be made righteous by turning from our sin and trusting in His atoning sacrifice.
Jesus Christ, the man who never sinned, the only Son of God, was crushed for your sin and mine. Take a look at (Isaiah 53:4-5) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. There are several words in these 2 verses to focus on. Stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded and bruised. All of these apply to Christ on the cross. Individually they each give us a picture of His suffering there. Collectively they paint a vivid picture of the extent of His suffering.
1. Stricken – Hebrew naga- to touch, reach, or strike. The word as used conveys a violent act. Its origins are in the word(s) for punish, defeat and destroy.
2. Smitten – Hebrew nakah- to smite. Again a word that is used in a violent context. It’s usage includes beat, give wound, kill, slaughter, punish.
3. Afflicted – Hebrew anah – to be bowed down. Not used in as violent a context, but still conveys the idea of suffering. It’s usage includes chasten or chastise, deal hardly with, exercise force on.
4. Wounded – Hebrew chalal- to bore, pierce, break. Again, this is a word that conveys violence.
5. Bruised – Hebrew daka – to crush, crumble, break, beat to pieces, destroy. This word conveys the image of extreme violence.
Verse 5 of Isaiah 53 states “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him”. This verse could also be translated “the chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him”. In context clearly we are talking about peace with God and not just a general feeling of calmness. It is our sin, or iniquities, that put us in a state of enmity toward God and it is those iniquities that must be resolved before we can be in a state of peace with God. This peace is a lack of warfare with God, not a state of calmness with God. His chastisement, or His musar (His discipline, correction) is what ended our warfare with God. He was punished in our place to bring us out of warfare and into peace with God the Father. Our guilt before a holy God deserved punishment. That punishment was carried out upon Christ. His wounds (stripes) have restored (healed) our relationship to God. It had to be so. Born separated from God by sin, no human being can even approach God, nor can he heal his own relationship to God. It is God’s own action through Jesus Christ that does that. Jesus knew this was what it would take to reconcile man to God before He ever came in the flesh. This was the plan from before the foundation of the world. The temporary forsaking of Christ by God was absolutely necessary to accomplish man’s redemption. Christ knew it beforehand. This is why He prayed in Matthew 26:38-39 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” What was “this cup” He spoke of? It was the full measure of God’s wrath and His forsaking of humanity because of sin. “This cup” is the cup of God’s wrath against human sin and Christ drank it to the dregs. Before He died on the cross He said “It is finished”. It is finished. God’s just wrath has been satisfied. Christ satisfied it according to the plan of God so that through Him you and I can be reconciled to God. There is no other way. You can try all you want, but apart from putting you trust in Christ alone, you will remain separated from God and face eternal judgement that includes the crushing effects of being forsaken by God.
Those of you who have been saved, think about your conversion. Did you not feel conviction? Do you remember the heaviness of that conviction, the weight of your guilt in a palpable sense? You had a small taste of what Christ felt in those forsaken moments. You had a sense of what you faced if you remained unsaved. Do you remember what it felt like when that weight was lifted? How sweet the feeling of peace! How sweet knowing, without doubt, your undeserved pardon! Because of Christ, all because of Christ.
There is no other way. Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” You can try any or all of the other world religions, human philosophies, mental health programs, physical health programs, self-help techniques, etc., etc., etc. All of them have some good qualities. All of them may help you live a better life for a time. But none of them offer help in what really matters. They cannot and do not help man where he cannot and will not help himself. Only the Gospel can help man where nothing else can or will.