zzzMy God, My God with reference code
(I) Section I
(II) Section II
(III) Section III
(IV) Section IV
(V) Section V
(VI) Section VI
(VII) Section VII
(VIII) Section VIII
(IX) Section IX
(X) Section X
(XI) Section XI
(XII) Section XII
(XIII) Section XIII
(XIV) Section XIV
(XV) Section XV
(XVI) Section XVI
(XVII) Section XVII
Section I
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” is found in Matt.27:46, Mark 15:34; both quoted from Psalms 22:1.
The words spoken by the Lord shortly before He died at a place called Calvary. Jesus had faced false witnesses, harsh interrogation, and false accusations. He was beaten, spit on, tied up, brought before Pontius Pilate, humiliated by Roman soldiers, had a crown of thorns driven into His head, beaten again with reeds, whipped, nailed to a cross, struggled to breathe until He died of suffocation, and blood loss.
What is generally taught, concerning these words, “My God, my God,” is that, He was speaking to His Father.
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I have many doubts concerning this teaching. You may ask, who else could He have been speaking to? Well there are several possibilities. I believe my doubts have Scriptural support.
1.Could He have been speaking to those who had denied Him = (the Jews)?
2.Could He have been quoting Ps.22:1, in response to what the people had unknowingly shouted to Him, they quoting Ps.22:8, spoken in Matt.27:43.
3. Or it could have been a combination of the two.
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Lets examine this topic a bit closer, and try to gain further insight into the events that let up to Christ agonizing expression. Certain facts need to be underlined, and understood about the Lord in order to come to a correct conclusion.
Jesus said in John 10:18, “No man taketh it = (His life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” You mean that Jesus laid down His own life, and the army of Jews, and Romans had no power in the matter? This seems to be what the verse is saying.
As the Christ = (Messiah), Jesus said that He is acting upon the Divine will of His Father. He volunteered to die this was His choice, the situation had no power over Him, but He had power over the events. No other person could ever make this claim.
He surrendered His life and yet His assertion to His right to life was still in His power. He laid down His life of His own free will, and because He is God, He raised Himself = (the resurrection), so the will of the Father was fulfilled. “This commandment have I received of my Father.”
Take the following test; then examine them against what the Scriptures teach. The correct Biblical answers will show us that Jesus could not have been speaking to His Father.
- Do you believe that Jesus is the God of the Bible?
- Did God the Father send His Son?
- Did Jesus, of His own free will, leave heaven, come to earth, take on the form of a man, this in order to finish His Father’s work?
- Was Jesus aware of the death He was to suffer before it had taken place?
- Did Jesus die for any sin that He had committed? Yes No
- Was Jesus a man, and yet God?
- From eternity past to eternity present, has Jesus ever changed?
- Would the Father send His Son to finish His work, knowing the results of what was to happen on the cross, and then abandon Him?
- If you as a parent had to send your son or daughter on a mission, and that mission had the possibility of failure, a failure that would result in their death, would you abandon him or her?
If you answered No, then why would the Father abandon His only begotten Son?
Let us say the Father did forsake His Son. What kind of an example would this be for us? If the Father did forsake His only Son, whom He had sent, then why, and how could I trust Him?
Jesus said in Heb.13:5, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He also said, “when you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” and that He is “the brightness of His = ( Father’s) glory, and the express image of His = (the Father’s) person.”
Heb.1:3 How then could we trust what Jesus said, “I will never leave thee = (Christians), nor forsake thee.” Because He is the exact image and likeness of His Father, like Father like Son, than Jesus could forsake us. He only does what the Father does, and the Father will do no more than what His Son does, this because they are of one purpose. Think about it. What a poor example that would be for you and me.
From the Bible evidence, I could never believe that God the Father had forsaken His Son, even for one split second. And why would He? If God the Father abandoned, or had forsaken His Son, that would be like saying He abandoned Himself.
Also, if we said the Father had abandoned His Son, would this not play into the hands of his accusers, and of the Satan himself? Jesus claimed to come from the Father, to do the Father’s will, and to finish His work. Now before his persecutors, He asks His Father, “why have you forsaken me?”
As a persecutor standing before Him, as He hung from His cross, they would have said, “see, if He was God’s Son, and God had sent Him, God would never have forsaken Him.” His own words prove Him to be a liar. This is another strong reason why I can’t believe Jesus was speaking to His Father.
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“My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” is quoted from Ps.22:1. These words were spoken and written by king David. Another verse is Ps. 22:8, that is quoted in Matt.27:43, by the scribes, chief priests, and elders, reads:
“He trusted in God = (the Father), let him deliver him now, if he will have him.” This verse contains one of many clues that will be considered, in order to come to a correct understanding.
The only difference between the two verses in Ps.22, and Matt.27, is the order. David said in verse 1, “My God, my God” and then in verse 8, “He trusted in God,” etc. In Matthew, the people said, verse 43, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now,” Jesus responded, in verse 46, “My God, my God.”
David as King of the Jewish nation had great reverence for God, and pleads for Divine help on the grounds of his relationship with God. This for the following reasons.
1. Because God had always been good to His people.
2. Because God encourages hope in His people.
3. And because David and the nation were in imminent danger.
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From the time of Christ’s death, the people, and the nation of Israel have been in great distress. They have cried unto God, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken us.
In their blindness, to this very day, they do not understand, it was they who had forsaken God. God never gave them up. I believe the cry of Jesus, was to be the lamentation of the people and the nation of the Jews for the past 2000 years.
David’s cry “why hast thou forsaken me” was a cry to God, for himself and the people that he ruled over. David felt that he was not being heard, yet cried out again and again. The danger facing him was both present and future. David fully understood that God was their only chance to survive.
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In Jesus time, the Jews felt that God was on their side, and that Jesus was sent by Satan. Jesus as the rejected King, cried out the words of king David, knowing the horrors that were to come upon the people and nation of the Jews.
They rejected their own King and Saviour, therefore God pulled away His saving grace, until a future time. Today, Jews pray at the Wailing Wall in Israel, for peace, safety, and for Messiah to come. Jesus cry, “Why hast thou forsaken me,” this was the cry of a rejected King Jesus, to His people.
The wailing of the people will one day turn to shouts of joy. In this same Psalm, we read in verse 22, “I will declare thy name = (Jesus) unto my brethren = (the Jews): in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” Quoted in Heb.2:12.
Ps.22, we read of the grief of the people, then the victory and glory of God’s deliverance that follow. This is yet future, it will come to pass, because God said it.
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Let us begin to answer the above questions.
Question 1. Is Jesus God?
A. John 1:1 and 1:14. These two verses speak of Jesus. John tells us that Jesus is called the “Word of God. Verse 14, declares that, “The Word = (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Verse 1 also tells us that, “the Word was God.” So God = (Jesus), dwelt among His people.
B. 1 Tim.3:16, “God was manifest = (came) in the flesh.” It was Jesus who was manifest in the flesh. Again, Jesus must be God.
C. Isa.9:6, Isaiah the prophet writes, For unto us a child is born = (Jesus), unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Remember, Isaiah was a Jew who believed in one God, and declared, the child to come will be God, manifest in the flesh.
D. John 20:28, The apostle Thomas doubted the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In verse 28, when he finally understood who it was that was standing before him, Thomas cried out to Jesus, ” My Lord and my God.” If Jesus was not God, this would have been considered blasphemy.
The above verses declare Jesus as the supreme, Jehovah, God. So the answer to question one is, Yes
E. See also Rom.9:5, Heb. 1:8, 1 John 5:20. compare Rev.19:17, and verse 7.
Rev.22:6, Phil.2:6, etc. These verses give further proof that Jesus is the God of the Bible, to the glory of His Father.
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Question 2. Did the Father send His Son Jesus?
1. John 6:38, Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him = (the Father) that sent me.” This verse speaks for itself.
2. John 5:30, Jesus said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
3. Matt.26:39, “Jesus said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
The word “wilt” in Greek is “thelo, or ethelo.” It means to have in mind, to purpose, to intend, to please. So we get the idea, that Jesus came to earth in order to fulfill the purpose, and intent of the Father.
4. John 4:34, Jesus said, “My meat = (food) is to do the will of Him = (the Father) that sent me, and to finish His work.”
From the above verses we can conclude that Jesus was sent by the Father, to complete the work of the Father. So the correct answer to question two is, Yes.
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Question 3. Did Jesus come of His own free will?
1. John 14:31, Jesus said, “but that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.”
2. John 5:36, Jesus said, “For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
3. John 6:38, Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven,”
4. John 3:13, Jesus said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
5. John 6:58, Jesus said, “This is that bread which came down from heaven.”
The answer to question three is Yes, Jesus came down from heaven of His own free will, to do the work of His Father.
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Question 4. Was Jesus aware of the death He was to suffer before it happened?
The book of Isaiah and others, foretell of the events that would befall our Lord Jesus in His earthly life. Jesus knowing the Old Testament text, quoting it many times.
1. Isa.53:3, He = (Jesus) is despised and rejected of men.” In the Hebrew, “rejected” is “cha-dal.” It means discontinued, left off, ended, abandoned, forsaken, as of, or, by men. Isaiah writes that the coming Messiah would be forsaken by men.
2. Isa.53:3, Jesus would be, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we = (the Jews) hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” This word esteem implies a negative contempt for the Messiah. The people were going to weave and fabricated their evil plot, in order to serve their father the devil.
3. Isa.53:4, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we = (the Jew) did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
The leaders and the people of Israel, esteemed Jesus as stricken. This was judicially. It came in the form of their legal justice. Death was the sentence they had declared upon Him. Did the Father send His Son to be killed for any sin He had committed? Was Jesus a sinner before His Father? No to both questions.
The charge of being a sinner was leveled against Jesus by men. As leprosy was a direct judgement by God for sin, so the anger of men was kindled against Jesus, for they considered Him to be a leper. So therefore being forsaken by His own people, He departed, went to glory, only to return again in glory.
Rev.13:8, Jesus was “the Lamb = (Jesus) slain from the foundation of the world.” This had been ordained by God, before the foundation of the world had been laid. Of course Jesus knew how, and when He was to die. He wrote the book.
4. John 13:1, “Now before the feast of passover, Jesus knew that his hour was come, and that he would depart out of this world to the Father.” Again events concerning His death was known to Him.
5. Matt.26:2, Jesus said, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.” So the answer to question Four is yes.
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Section XII
Question 5. Did Jesus die with any sin?
1. 1 Pet.1:19, “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
The Greek word for “blemish” is “amomos.” It means, blameless, irreprehenisible. It is seen in Phil.2:15, 2 Pet.3:14, Phil.1:10, 1 Thess.3:13. and 1 Thes.5:23.
The Greek word for “spot” is “aspilos.” It speaks of a victim, typically of Christ, spotless, without blemish.
2. Heb.9:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit = (Holy Spirit) offered himself without spot to God = (the Father) .”
3. Heb.4:15, Speaks of Jesus, “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus died without sin, without complaint, He was the perfect sacrifice. The answer to question Five is No.
Question 6. Was Jesus in His flesh, both man and God?
1. Col.2:9, “For in him = (Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” The Greek word for “Godhead” is “theotes.” It is applied to deity. It is the divine nature and perfections of God. This is what Jesus was and is.
2. As God, He forgave sin, predicted future events, knew men’s thoughts, and their hearts. He knew His betrayer beforehand, knew of His coming death, healed those who believed, etc. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58. He came from eternity, and went back into eternity. His nature never changes. Therefore even in His flesh, He had the fulness of the Godhead indwelling Him fully.
3. As a man; He was born of a woman, worked, played, learned, felt both joy and sorrow, suffered, prayed, etc. Yes, He was both man and God.
So the answer to question six is Yes.
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Question 7. From eternity past to eternity future, did Jesus ever change?
1. Heb.13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Translated, it means, Jesus is the same unto the ages. “Jesus Christ,” both His proper name = (Jesus) and His office = (Christ), are given. Who He is, and what His office = (Messiah) is. This have never and will never change.
2. Heb.12:2, “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;” As the author, He is the Prince, the Leader. He come from eternity, goes before us as the Originator of the faith, and is the unmatched example for us to follow.
As the finisher of our faith, Jesus is perfect.
The answer to question seven, is No. Jesus is God, and God never changes.
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Question 8. Would the Father ever abandon His Son? The answer is no.
So, who was Jesus speaking to? and do we have Scriptural proof as to who did forsake Him?
The Greek word for “forsake” is “egkatalelpo.” It means to leave behind in any place or state. To leave out on a lurch, to desert, to abandon. Lets begin in Matthew.
Before His crucifixion, Jesus said in Matt.26:31, to His disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd = (Jesus), and the sheep = (the apostles, disciples and others) of the flock shall be scattered abroad.”
The word offended, means in a moral sense, to be a stumbling-block to anyone, to give or cause offence. So Jesus is saying to His disciples, that in my hour of pain and death, I will become a stumbling-block and will be an offence to you. You will be scattered, because of the fear of death, or the outward rejection of Messiah.
When Jesus was taken prisoner in Matt.26:56, His words are fulfilled, “Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” Not one student remained with their teacher. Not one went to the cross to be martyred along side their Master. They all fled in fear, having forsaken their Lord; The sheep of the flock were scattered.
Matt.27:41, “Likewise the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.”
To mock someone, is to scoff at, have derision or contemptuous ridicule of someone, or to be the object of ridicule. Even after all the wonderful works and miracles done by the Lord which these men had witnessed, they asked to see further miracles, they shouted, “come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
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These were the religious leaders, those who were to keep the oracles of God, those who were to represent God. They were to keep and teach the law, to maintain the temple, give sacrifices for the people, and to be the leaders of the people.
Yet they knew not the written word. Then with hatred in their hearts, they raged against the Son of God, sending him without cause to His death. They had forsaken God’s Son.
Matt.27:55-56, “And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.”
These women showed more courage than the disciples. The disciples had promised to die for him, rather than forsake him. Yet these women stood at a distance. The phrase “afar off” in Greek means, from a distance. These women stood at a distance for a couple of reasons.
1. Fear of death or prison, and
2. Those who were crucified, were done so naked.
Matt.21:7-8-9, Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on the back of a colt. The Jewish people spread their garments before Him, cutting branches from trees, and spreading them before him. They cried, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest.” High praise, Yes. Yet within days, this praise turned to hatred.
Matt.21:9 is quoted from Ps.118:26. “Blessed be he = (Jesus) that cometh in the name of the LORD = (the Father).” These same people were now at the cross, screaming at Him, shaking their fingers at him, doubting him, shouting, “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Traitors, deceived by the lies of men. This was utter contempt by the Jewish people for their Saviour. They had forsaken their Lord.
Matt.27:44, “The thieves also which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” One of the thieves blasphemed against the Lord, and the other repented. The one thief had accused Jesus saying in Luke 23:39, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” This thief, who was guilty as charged, now accuses Jesus who was completely innocent.
Is this not what many people do today? They always point the finger at someone else, this in order to take the spotlight of guilt off themselves. The guilty sometimes say, “Why does God let this happen to me?” or, “what about them?” or “They made me do it.” or “everyone else does it.” Ignorant people, cowards, not willing to take responsibility for their actions. So even the guilty thief rejects the only one who could have saved him.
The chief priests of the Jews, went to Pilate, and asked that the sign above Jesus head be removed and changed. They had requested that it read, “he said, I am King of the Jews.” What had been put up by Pilate was, “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” This was not a mistake by men, but the will of God. The words, Jesus, Nazareth, King, Jews, when you take the first letters of each word, they spell out the Hebrew name of God’s most Holy name, (JHVH). These Jews had it right. Today we spell it Jehovah, this by adding vowels.
David as king, spoke for the people. God loved David, for he said of him, that David was a man of His = (God’s) own heart. So Also Jesus. He as King of kings, spoke for a fallen race, and nation on the brink of destruction. Matt.23:37, Jesus said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”
Ps.91:4, He = (God) shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust:”
Ps.17:8, “Keep me = (The Jewish nation) as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”
2 Chr. 24:20, “because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.” 2 Chr. 36:16, “they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.”
In summary, we see that the apostiles, the Jewish religious leaders, the general population of people, Jesus friends, family, and the criminals, all rejected and ran from their Messiah. After Jesus spoke these words, “My God, my God,” He said three things which I believe lend further proof to us, that He was not speaking to His Father.
1. Jesus asked for water, and received vinegar. This fulfilled the prophesy in Ps.69:21, “in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Jesus was still aware of His physical needs.
His words and their actions fulfilled the Scriptures, giving further proof to the religious leaders. Notice also it reads, “they gave (me) vinegar.” The personal pronoun me, gives proof that it was Jesus that gave king David this message of prophesy, 1000 years before the event occurred.
2. One thief acknowledged him as Lord, and Jesus responded, “Verily I say unto thee = (the thief), to day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This shows that Jesus was acknowledging the resurrection of His physical body. He knew that He was to be the first fruit of the resurrection. Does this sound like a person who had been rejected by His Father, or was out of his mind with pain?
3. Jesus with His last physical breath cried out, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Again, does this sound as if He thought the Father had forsaken Him?
Critics say that Jesus could have been insane with pain. But we read in John 19:26-27, that He spoke these words to John and His mother Mary. “Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” This does not sound like a man out of his mind.
John 19:30, Jesus said, “It is finished.” He knew the Old Testament promises of God to both Jew and Gentile were now finished. Salvation to the whole of the human race. The Father’s will, His great work of salvation, finished. He had broken Satan’s hold on man, setting us free.
If you believe on this wonderful work, repent, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and today your eternity begins, you will not suffer the second death. Rev.22:20, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
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