Why Have You Forsaken Me?
As we read the Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion, we notice Jesus said more than one thing during His time on the cross. In fact, He made seven statements when you add them together from all of the Gospels. Seven represents completion (e.g. a week is 7 days long) and when Jesus says His seventh statement, He dies. His earthly ministry, in His earthly body, is completed.
The seven statements are:
1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. Luke 23:34
2. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43
3. Behold your son: behold your mother. John 19: 26-27
4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22
5. I thirst. John 19: 28 (cf. John 4: 4-26); Psalm 22:15; Psalm 69:21
6. It is finished. John 19:30
7. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Luke 23: 46; Psalm 31:5
The exact order is not known as no one Gospel has them all, although “It is finished” and “Father, into your hands I commend My spirit” are logically the last two. Yet, you could make a case for either being Jesus’s last words.
However, the one which seems to perplex most people is “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” This is the first line in Psalm 22. Unfortunately, most modern-day Christians do not know this. Those who do may have skimmed the psalm and maybe a few might have figured out the psalm is one of the Messianic psalms (the others being Psalms 2, 8, 16, 23, 24, 40, 41, 45, 68, 69, 72, 89, 102, 110 and 118), but very few would understand the significance of Jesus saying this to His mostly Jewish audience who would have learned about it in the weeks, months and years after His crucifixion.
We need to always remind ourselves that while most Jewish men of the First Century were literate to a degree, they did not have books. The only books (mostly scrolls) were held in the synagogue or in very rich people’s homes. This was also true of the Bible at that time (what we now call the Old Testament). That means the information in the Bible had to be memorized and then told and retold so everyone could “read” the words of the God on a continual basis.
By the time a First Century Jewish boy was 12, he had memorized the entirety of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy at the very least. Likely, he also had large portions of the Prophets as well as most of the Book of Psalms memorized. This is totally foreign to us Twenty-First Century Christians who can do an internet search to find anything in the Bible we want.
Why is it important to remember this cultural and historical difference? The ability of even the least Jewish man (and many women) to understand the significance of even one line of scripture and to apply it to other scripture without having to spend time looking it up means Jesus did not have to give a sermon from the cross to get His point understood. He could count on His audience, at that time, getting the point without elaboration. Most of us, however, are lacking in this ability so we need to look at Psalm 22 and see what point or points Jesus was making.
First, it’s always good to read it all the way through as that is how it was written. As you read it, notice how David is sometimes writing as if he were the coming Messiah during His scourging and crucifixion. Some of these verses can be applied to the trials David went through, but not all of them. In other verses, David writes as himself looking forward in time and seeing what will happen after the Crucifixion.
The first five verses of Psalm 22 should sound very familiar if you have read the other psalms of David. David starts by crying out about his trials and then turns around and states his faith and trust in God.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
It is interesting to note, as we read verse 2, that the trial of Jesus began at night after the Last Supper and Jesus did not get any rest before His Crucifixion. He woke up on Thursday morning of Holy Week and did not sleep until He died on the cross about 3:00 PM on Good Friday.
The next set of verses changes tone and you can see David is writing quite differently.
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Now we see David not speaking of himself but as the coming Messiah since most of what is written here, David never went through. David is also writing about 250 years before Isaiah so he does not have the prophecy of the Suffering Servant which Isaiah writes about (Isaiah 53) to utilize.
Jesus was indeed scorned by mankind and despised by the people. While throngs hailed His Triumphal Entry, many of these were not true followers. These people were like the second illustration from the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9 and 13:18-23) where the seed falls on thin soil. The plant springs forth but since its roots are shallow, it quickly withers in the heat. Many of the people who were all for Jesus at first quickly turned when Jesus was going through His trial and punishment.
In verse 11, it says there are none to help. Indeed, all the disciples had run away when Jesus was arrested, tried and punished.
In verse 14 it speaks of a body “poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint.” When a person is severely beaten, muscles and tendons break which leaves the bones no ability to stay in their places. A person would feel as if they have no form and are just like water. Here is a good time to remember another prophecy of the Messiah. In Psalm 34:20 it says – “He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.”
When the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus and the thieves to die quicker, so the bodies could be buried before the Sabbath started at dusk, Pilate ordered the legs of the three broken to hasten death. The thieves’ legs were broken but not those of Jesus as He was already dead (see John 19:31-36).
In verse 15 of Psalm 22 it says “my tongue sticks to my jaws” indicating extreme dehydration. This is when Jesus cries out “I thirst!”
Verse 16 is one of the most specific prophecies regarding Jesus. Crucifixion was unknown at the time of David. It was an invention of the Romans hundreds of years later. So, here David is not writing from anything he has seen or heard of when he talks about hands and feet being pierced.
Then in verse 18 they cast lots for his clothing which is what the Roman soldiers did.
Next we come to the climax of the scene –
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
There is the final cry for help and then the triumphal words “You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!”
Of course, the rescue is not immediate. Jesus dies and lays in the ground for three Biblical days before His resurrection and the fulfillment of verse 21. Remember, even part of a day is considered a whole day in Biblical literature. So, even one hour before dusk (Jews count their day from sundown to sundown not from midnight to midnight like we do) on Friday counts as day one. Saturday is day two. The time from sundown Saturday until morning on Sunday is day three.
After this, the narrative shifts back to David as he talks about what will happen after this great rescue. David not only talks about how he will proclaim the Lord in his day, but also how Jesus will be preached in our day.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
Next, David talks about the End Times and the Kingdom of the future.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
All will bow and proclaim Jesus as Lord only after His second coming.
Then David concludes the psalm by proclaiming that all this shall be accomplished because “He has done it.” Or, as Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished.”
It is this point, “that He has done it,” the writer of Hebrews makes three times in his book (Hebrews 7:27, 9:11-12, and 10:10-14) by saying Jesus had done it “once for all”; meaning there was absolutely nothing else needed other than Jesus dying on the cross for all of our sins for the reconciliation of God and man, for all mankind, for all time – past, present and future – for those who believe (see John 3:16).
Now, cast your mind to Pentecost fifty days later. The Holy Spirit comes down and Peter goes to preach his sermon recorded in Acts chapter 2. Even though it’s not recorded, you know the final words of Jesus were told by the disciples to the new converts and anyone else who would listen in addition to what Peter said.
Therefore, when these Jews, especially the devout Jews mentioned in the Book of Acts, heard that Jesus had said from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”, they would remember the entire psalm since they had it memorized. They would realize the prophecies contained in it and be amazed how these prophecies were fulfilled by what had just happened just fifty days prior. This would serve as wonderful proof that what had just happened had, indeed, been foretold a 1,000 years ago and their faith would immediately increase.
Isn’t it amazing how God sets the table?
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