Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Why did Jesus say on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Part One of Two)

A:  There are a couple of reasons I know of for Jesus’ statement about being forsaken by God, both of them are incredibly profound. In fact, it’s going to take two articles to explain it all! The first thing Jesus was doing by His statement was employing a common rabbinic teaching method. Through the Synagogues (Jewish religious schools), all Jews were instructed in a common body of teaching from an early age. Most Jewish men (and many of the women) knew the Old Testament so well that a rabbi could call up an entire Psalm or subject of Scripture in their minds simply by quoting a key phrase. We see Jesus using this method in Matthew 5:21-48; the key phrases he quoted from the rabbis (see the phrase, “you have heard it said…”) brought up a particular body of teaching which He proceeded to expound upon.

      The phrase, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is the first verse of Psalm 22. In this Psalm, David felt abandoned by God in a moment of extreme danger. The tone and imagery of the Psalm gives us a sense of the terror David was experiencing; he felt absolutely alone. Despite David’s faith in God, he felt his life had been allowed to approach the threshold of death. Surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies; he felt lost and confused as to why his faithful and loving God would forsake him to be overcome by his powerful foes.

By evoking this Psalm, Jesus was showing His disciples (and us) that the cross was a way for Him to experience those feelings on our behalf. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus is totally able to sympathize with us because He went through everything we go through in life. If we ever feel alone and abandoned, both Psalm 22 and Jesus’ experience on the Cross reassures us that God works in even the most hopeless situations. It also assures us that Jesus gets what we’re feeling, because He felt it too!

Psalm 22:21-31 records the end of the story for David. God swooped in at the last possible moment and snatched him out of danger; reinforcing David’s faith and resulting in heartfelt worship. Even though Jesus was allowed to die, God still rescued His Son by raising Him from the dead. God promises to always rescue the righteous (Psalm 37:25; Proverbs 10:30; 24:16). The bleaker the situation looks, the more powerful and inspiring His salvation is when it appears!

Believe it or not, the other reason is even more amazing. I’ll tell you about it next week!

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