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By Wayne
Clapp
There is probably no scripture
more misunderstood than Jesus’ cry from the cross, "My God. My God. Why
hast thou forsaken me?" Did Jesus Christ really utter
these words? Would Jesus have accused his heavenly Father
of such an act of desertion? Did God really abandon His
only begotten son as he was dying on the cross?
Matthew 27:46:
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?
We understand this verse word by
word except for the foreign words. "Eli" means "my God." Lama,
or lemana means "why" or "for what purpose" and
always introduces a question. It occurs 53 times in the
Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament (#1584) and it
translated "why" 45 times, "what" 5
times, and "for what purpose" 3 times. "Sabachthani" comes
from sebag meaning to leave, forgive, allow, reserve,
or spare.
It does appear from reading this
verse in the King James version that God forsook Jesus
while he endured the agony of the cross. In fact most
of the other Bible versions translate it the same way.
How could a loving heavenly Father do such a thing? A
key question to ask is, "Is
this verse in harmony with the other verses on this same
subject?" If this verse contradicts other scriptures
on this subject it must be suspect because God’s Word
cannot contradictions itself.
Let’s look first at John 16:32.
John 16:32:
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that
ye shall be scattered [Jesus is talking to His apostles.],
every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet
I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Jesus was talking about the time
of His crucifixion and of His death. He said, "the Father is with me." Although
Jesus knew everyone else would forsake him, he took comfort
knowing that his heavenly Father would be with him. He
knew God had always been with him, why would He forsake
him at this crucial hour.
John 8:29:
And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath
not left me alone; for I do always those things that
please him.
Was Jesus pleasing His Father when
he endured the cross? You bet he was. He always did his
Father’s will so
he must have been pleasing God.
John 6:38:
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Whose will was Jesus doing when he was dying on the cross?
he was doing His Father will then, too.
II Corinthians 5:19:
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself....
If God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself
how could He have left him?
John 10:30:
I and my Father are one.
God and Jesus Christ were one in purpose. They were acting
together to accomplish the same purpose. How could God
forsake Jesus and they still be one? Look at what Christ
said at the time He was taken captive.
Matthew 26:53:
Thinketh thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions
of angels?
Twelve legions of angels is 72,000
angels. The Father would have given Jesus 72,000 angels.
When God brought His people out of Egypt it said an angel
went before them to keep them in the way -- an angel.
What could Jesus have done with 72,000? Jesus could have
walked right out from among this group of men if He had
wanted to. But he didn’t.
Why? Let’s look at the next verse.
Matthew 26:54:
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled,
that thus it must be?
Jesus asked this rhetorical question
to confront their thinking. He told Peter to put his
sword away because he knew what the Word said. Jesus
was more concerned about the scriptures being fulfilled
than that he be tortured and die. Jesus’ desire was to do God’s
will. He wanted the scriptures fulfilled. He always did
the Father's will, so he must have been doing God's will
when He was dying upon the cross.
In John 18:11 when the soldiers
came to take Jesus he asked a similar question, "The cup which my Father
hath given me, shall I not drink it?" Again Jesus
asks this rhetorical question to confront Peter’s
thinking. Jesus had spent some agonizing time in prayer
in the garden of Gethsemane when he had asked the Father
three times "O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matthew
26:39) Jesus did not want to endure the torture and death
he saw ahead of him, and asked God if there were some other
way. When he knew there was no other way he submitted to
the will of his Father, making God’s will his will.
Yet Matthew 27:46 says, "Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This verse
contradicts the rest of the Word on this subject. God did
not forsake Jesus. He was in him reconciling the world
unto Himself. Jesus knew what his Father’s will was,
and he was determined that it be fulfilled. He was carrying
out his Father’s purpose, and God was with him throughout
this horrendous experience.
People teach that Jesus became
sin, and God can’t
stand sin. Therefore He had to forsake His son in his hour
of need. If God forsook Jesus Christ because of sin, what
chance do you or I have. God never forsook Jesus. How could
we ever believe Hebrews 13:5 where it says, "I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee," if, in fact,
He forsook Jesus at any point. Remembering those other
clear scriptures that are not in harmony with this one
stops us from wrongly dividing this scripture.
The difficulty with Matthew 26:47
is due to an error in translation. "Forsaken" is the wrong choice for
the translation in this verse. The Greek word translated "forsaken," enkataleipô can
mean "to leave" in the sense of forsaking and
abandoning, or "to leave" in the sense of sparing
or allowing to remain. The context determines the meaning.
II Timothy 4:10 and 16:
For Demas hath forsaken (enkataleipô) me,
having loved this present world, and is departed unto
Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook (enkataleipô) me:
I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
Both of these verses use the same Greek word (enkataleipô) in
the sense of forsaking or abandoning. Demas forsook Paul;
he physically left him. All at Paul's first trial forsook
him. This is one usage of this word. However there is a
second usage of this word.
Acts 2:27:
Because thou wilt not leave (enkataleipô) my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One
to see corruption.
Here on the Day of Pentecost Peter
quotes David speaking prophetically of the Messiah. God
didn’t allow his
soul to remain in the grave. God raised him from the dead. Enkataleipô is
used here in the sense of allowing it to remain.
Romans 9:29:
And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of
Sabaoth had left (enkataleipô) us
a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto
Gomorrha.
God didn’t forsake or abandon a seed, He spared one.
They weren’t forsaken; they still remained. Had they
not been spared we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
This too is an example of enkataleipô used
in the second manner, meaning to spare or to allow to remain.
The Lord spared us a seed or allowed a seed to remain for
us.
Similarly the Aramaic word sebaq has the same two
meanings. It occurs in II Timothy 4:10 and 16 as did the
Greek word enkataleipô with the first usage.
It also is used with the second meaning.
Acts 24:27:
But after two years Porcius Festus came into
Felix' room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left (sebaq) Paul
bound.
The word "left" in Act 24:27 doesn’t
mean Felix forsook Paul. Rather he left him in prison.
Paul remained bound as a favor to the Judeans.
Romans 11:4:
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have
reserved (sebaq) to myself seven thousand men,
who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
The word "reserved" in
Romans 11:4 is sebaq. Here
it carries the second meaning also. These seven
thousand men were not forsaken, they were left after the
rest succumbed to the pressure to worship Baal. These seven
thousand remained. They were reserved or spared because
they didn’t bow the knee to the image of Baal.
Jesus Christ's life was a fulfillment
of many Old Testament prophecies. In his final hours
on the cross, his mind was most certainly encouraged
by the Psalmist who remained faithful to God through
the torturing pressures of life. Jesus’ Cry of Triumph
was a quotation of Psalm 22:1.
Psalm 22:1:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?...
The words "hast forsaken" in
this verse is the Hebrew, azab. This word also
has these same two meanings. It also is used of forsaking
or abandoning, and it is used of remaining, reserving,
or sparing. Let’s
look at some other examples.
Psalm 27:10:
When my father and my mother forsake (azab) me,
then the LORD will take me up.
Note azab is used here in the sense of forsake
or abandon. The Psalmist says that father and mother could
forsake him, but he knew the Lord would take him up. Even
the dearest most loving of people could forsake or abandon
us, but not our loving heavenly Father.
Psalm 37:25:
I have been young, and now am old; yet
have I not seen the righteous forsaken (azab),
nor his seed begging bread.
Here again, azab is used
in the sense of "forsake" or "abandon." Here
the Psalmist says he has not seen the righteous forsaken.
Don’t you think Jesus qualified. God would not have
forsaken His son.
Psalm 37:28:
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh (azab) not
his saints; they are preserved for ever...
This should establish the truth
that God doesn’t
forsake or abandon his saints. He didn’t forsake David
in Psalm 22 and He didn’t forsake Jesus on the cross
either. Azab also carries the second meaning.
Leviticus 19:10:
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither
shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave (azab) them
for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
God instructed them to leave or
reserve some of the grapes for the poor and the stranger.
They were to leave some; to let some remain on the vine.
The word "leave" in
Leviticus 19:10 means leave in the sense of reserving or
sparing. It is also used in Ruth in the same way.
Ruth 2:15,16:
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded
his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves,
and reproach her not:
And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave (azab) them,
that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
Boaz instructed them to leave, azab, handfuls on
purpose for Ruth to glean. Yes, they were left on purpose;
they were reserved for Ruth; they were spared so Ruth could
glean them. It is not only used of grapes and grain but
also of people. Look also at Ezekiel 24.
Ezekiel 24:21:
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency
of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which
your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom
ye have left (azab) shall fall by
the sword.
"Left" in Ezekiel 24:21 does not means leave
in the sense of forsaking, but in the sense of remaining.
The sons and daughters that had been spared so far were
going to fall my the sword. So in all three of the Biblical
languages we have seen that the words translated "forsaken" could
also be translated "spared," "reserved," or "remaining."
If I knew you were coming and I saved a piece of pie for
you, it would be left. Not in the sense that I abandoned
it, but in the sense of it being reserved or designated
or set aside for you. It was left for a reason or a purpose
-- to bless you. I allowed it to remain. I watched over
it, making sure no one else ate it so that it remained
for you. I reserved it for you.
Jesus was not forsaken rather he
was left on the cross for a purpose. He had to remain
there until His Father’s
business was fully completed. In John 4:34 Jesus said, "My
meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish
his work." When the work was completed, Jesus recognized
it, and said, "It is finished" and he gave up
the ghost. It is interesting to note that the first recorded
words of Jesus in the Bible are found in Luke 2:49 where
he said, "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not
that I must be about my Father's business?" The last
words before he died were "It is finished." He
had finished the work His Father had given him to do. All
the time in between he was about His Father’s business.
There are many prophetic statements
in Psalm 22 that were fulfilled while Jesus hung on the
cross. David spoke these words by revelation of his own
experience and his own circumstance, and not all of Psalm
22 can be said to be prophecy regarding the Messiah,
but much of it is. For example let’s
look at verses one and two again.
Psalm 22:1,2:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why
art thou so far from helping me, and from the
words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season,
and am not silent.
Notice the italics in verse one.
This last phrase could be translated, "Far from
helping me are the
words of my roaring." He cried day and night wondering
if God even heard him. Nothing David said seemed to avail
anything. He knew that only God could bring his deliverance.
These words were true regarding David, but were they true
regarding Jesus Christ? Would Jesus have ever confessed
that his Father didn’t hear him? No! On the contrary
he declared that He always did. Look at John 11 and Jesus’ prayer
for the raising of Lazarus.
John 11:41,42:
Then they took away the stone from the place where
the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes,
and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand
by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus confidently asserted that God always heard him.
Therefore Psalm 22:2 could not have been spoken prophetically
of Jesus. Yes it was true of David. He was not sure that
God heard his cry, but Jesus could have never said that.
David continues to describe his anguish and despair until
verse 19 when he begins to praise and worship God in spite
of the circumstances. In verse 21 David realized and confessed
that God had heard him. David expected God to save him
from this situation as He had done many times previously.
The opening question in Psalm 22:1
could also be translated, "Why
hast thou spared me?" For a while in David’s
life he was on the run, and it seemed like he would go
from one crisis situation to another. It was proverbially
as if he escaped from a lion and a bear met him. Paul could
have asked this same question after he was delivered from
the shipwreck and then bitten by the viper. Why did you
spare from the shipwreck -- so I could die from this viper
bit? David’s heart was asking, "Why did you spare
me from the last trouble? When I find myself in this one?"
This question in Psalm 22:1 is
also rhetorical because David already knows the answer.
He answers the question and states the purpose later
in the Psalm. In verse 22 he says, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren..." In
verse 25 he says, "I will pay my vows..." In
verse 30 he says, "A seed shall serve him..." The
answer is clear. Man has a purpose to live for God although
at times things may appear to be gloomy. This is clearly
stated in Psalm 118.
Psalm 118:17,18:
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works
of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
As Jesus hung on the cross he found strength in Psalm
22. Jesus understood that many of the statements in this
Psalm spoke prophetically of him. His Cry of Triumph showed
his recognition that he was fulfilling this Word of God
as he laid down his life. Verse 8 are the exact words the
religious leaders cast at Jesus as they passed by the cross.
Psalm 22:8:
He trusted on the Lord that he would
deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted
in him.
In verse 15 the Psalmist described
the dryness of his mouth saying, "and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
and thou hast brought me into the dust of death." Jesus'
next words after this Cry of Triumph were, "I thirst." He
had refused other drinks offered him that day, but requested
this one. Verse 16 says, "They pierced my hands and
my feet." This was literally true of Jesus that day.
Verse 18 is cited in the Gospels in reference to the soldiers
gambling for his clothes after he was crucified.
Psalm 22:18:
They part my garments among them, and cast lots
upon my vesture.
The final words in the King James
translation of Psalm 22:31 are "that he hath done this." The
Hebrew words used here may be translated, "It is done." or "It
is finished." These were Jesus' final words from the
cross. Salvation and redemption were finished. For what
purpose was he spared? To finish the work God sent him
to do; to die for all mankind; to be the Passover lamb.
Therefore since God’s forsaking his only begotten
son at that moment would contradict not only God’s
loving nature, but also many other scriptures. The question
from the cross was not "My God, My God, Why hast thou
forsaken me?" Rather, it was "My God, My God,
Why did you spare me?" Or, "My God, My God, For
what purpose have you left me here?" But why was the
question asked? Didn’t Jesus know the answer? Yes,
he did.
John 12:27:
Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came
I unto this hour.
The question mark in this verse
is wrongly placed after "say." It
should appear after "hour." The question. should
read, "What shall I say, Father save me from this
hour?" The New American Standard Version does just
that:
John 12:27:
Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall
I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this
purpose I came to this hour.
This question was posed a few days
before his crucifixion, and he immediately answered it: "...for this cause
or purpose came I unto this hour." That was the answer
to the question then and it was still the answer to the
question a few days later when he hung on the cross. Therefore,
the question on the cross in Matthew 27:46 is a rhetorical
question.
The answer was obvious. "My God, My God, for what
purpose have you spared me? For this purpose have I come
to this hour!" His purpose was to finish his Father’s
business. Jesus Christ as the Passover lamb was sacrificed
for us. His purpose was to suffer and die for all mankind.
He paid the price for us. His was not a cry of despair,
but a cry of triumph, in that he was fulfilling his whole
purpose, shedding his blood as the Passover lamb. Others
forsook Jesus, but not his Father.
Jesus knew the literal answer to
his question, "For
this purpose you spared me!" He said it in the form
of a rhetorical question for emphasis. He knew why! He
wanted the others to ask the same question? He was confronting
their thinking so they too would consider why he was there.
It was put in the form of a question not to obtain information
or to seek a reply, but to cause those that were present
and heard him to think and to consider the matter. Remember
Jesus’ statement in John 11?
John 11:41,42:
Then they took away the stone from the place where
the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes,
and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
That’s the same reason Jesus made his Cry of Triumph.
He cried with a "loud voice." There was great
intensity in his voice and he spoke with great effort.
Not because he wanted God to tell him the purpose for which
he was spared and allowed to remain on the cross, but rather
so those who were there would believe that God had sent
him and that he was fulfilling God’s Word while remaining
on the cross.
Jesus frequently used rhetorical
question to encourage people to think and consider things
more indepthly. We already looked at two rhetorical questions
he spoke to Peter when the soldiers came to take him.
He asked, "But
how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it
must be?" and "The cup which my Father hath given
me, shall I not drink it? In Matthew 8:26 when his disciples
came to him when they were in the midst of a storm at sea
he asked, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" In
Matthew 14:31 after Peter had walked on the water he saw
the sea boisterous became afraid and began to sink when
Jesus caught him and asked, "O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?" In Matthew 26:50 when
Judas came with the soldiers to betray Jesus, Jesus asked, "Friend,
wherefore art thou come? Jesus was not seeking information.
He knew why Judas was there. When asked at the last supper
who it was who would betray him he answered "He...to
whom I give a sop." He later gave it to Judas and
told him "that thou doest, do quickly." When
Judas came to Jesus in the garden to betray him with a
kiss Jesus knew what he was doing, but he asked a rhetorical
question to confront Judas’ thinking to get him to
consider what he was doing. Jesus knew, and he wanted Judas
to think about it
However, not only was this cry
a rhetorical question, but it was also a gnome, a quotation
from the Old Testament. As a gnome it directed their
thinking to the appropriate Word of God that would allow
them to come to the correct conclusion. Surely this Cry
of Triumph brought to their remembrance this familiar
Psalm. Then they would see that the mocking of the chief
priests, the scribes, and the elders was foretold by
God. Instead of causing doubt, this mocking should have
helped them to realize that this was transpiring in fulfillment
of God’s Word. The parting
of the garments and the casting of lots for his vesture
further documented the truth that he was the Messiah. The
combination of these two figures of speech was a most emphatic
presentation of the truth. "For this cause or purpose
had he come to this hour."
It was about the ninth hour, three
o'clock in the afternoon, when Jesus spoke these words
from the cross, "Eli,
Eli, Lama Sabachthani." By this time Jesus had gone
through nearly forty hours of interrogation, mockery, beatings,
and suffering without so much as murmuring one complaint.
Why, would he accuse God now? He didn’t. His was not
a cry of despair implicating God as an irresponsible and
uncaring Father. Rather this was a Cry of Triumph. This
was the culmination of his purpose and the consummation
of the work the Father had given him to do. Jesus knew
he was drinking the cup his father had prepared for him.
He knew he was doing his Father’s will, dying as the
Passover lamb.
Jesus endured this agony and suffering
to fulfill the Word of God. He took our place. He was
our substitute for sin. He paid the price of his innocent
blood to redeem you and me. It wasn’t the rope tied around his midriff
or the nails driven through his hands and feet that kept
him on that cross. Rather, it was his uncompromising and
relentless love for His Father and His Word. He delighted
to do God’s will (Psalms 40:8), and for the joy that
was set before him, he endured the cross despising the
shame (Hebrews 12:2). He could have walked off the cross
if he wanted, with twelve legions of angels at his command.
Why did Jesus keep hanging on that cross. Because he loved
us. They didn’t take his life that day. He so loved
us that he gave himself for us. Through every moment of
this agonizing death God was with him providing him strength
and comfort. What was the joy that was set before him?
He knew that he was fulfilling his Father’s plan of
salvation that would pay the price for the sin of all mankind.
Jesus knew his purpose and the
culmination and consummation of his Father’s business. He could have literally
said, "For this purpose you spared me!" "This
is why I came unto this hour!" But, because he wanted
those present to also see his triumph (Colossians 2:14,15),
he put this declaration in the form of a question which
brought the minds of the people present back to God’s
wonderful Word in Psalm 22. He knew the agony he was enduring
was the fulfillment of the scriptures, and he wanted those
present to also see and understand what was transpiring
before their eyes. With his "tongue cleaving to his
jaw being brought to the dust of death," he asked
for a drink After receiving that drink he mustered his
strength and declared "It Is Finished!" What
was finished? Your redemption and mine. Jesus Christ had
given His own life. He who knew no sin had become sin so
that you and I might become the righteousness of God in
Him. All his life he had been about his Father’s business
and finally he had finished it. Then he gave up the ghost.
They didn’t take his life, he laid it down for you
and me.
God like any loving parent stayed
with His Son. This was not only their triumphal hour,
but ours also. For it was at this point that Jesus Christ,
the second Adam, fulfilled all the legal requirements
for our redemption and salvation. This was Christ's purpose.
Jesus' cry did not implicate God as an irresponsible
and uncaring Father. Rather, it declared Jesus Christ's
faithfulness to God's plan of redemption and his concern
for all mankind. Now we have an accurate translation
of Matthew 27:46, one of the most difficult verses of
Scripture in the King James version, "My
God, My God, Why did you spare me? For people who have
eyes to see and ears to hear the answer is obvious.
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