Seven Sayings of Jesus on the Cross #4

“My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” — Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34

The context of the fourth saying of Jesus on the cross is as follows: “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, ‘Look, He is calling for Elijah!’ Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, ‘Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down’” (Mark 15:29-36a).

Three Jesus’ last sayings are prayers. This saying is a direct quote from Psalm 22. It also represents his only question.

What does it mean to be “forsaken?” “Forsake” means to abandon or leave helpless. It speaks of a painful experience, such as, a husband forsaken by his wife or a child by his mother. The worst case is to be forsaken by God. Note that “have” is second aorist, therefore, it is past tense. God has already forsaken Jesus.

Forsaken by Family and Neighbors

Jesus’ life was one of being forsaken. According to Luke 4, even his neighbors in His hometown of Nazareth tried to kill Him. Worse still is the fact that his own family would not support His ministry. “But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind” (Mark 3:21). His brothers were unbelieving until after His Resurrection.

Forsaken By His Disciples

Jesus’ disciples “all forsook Him and fled.” when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only John and a few women were with Him at the cross. After the feeding of the 5000, many of the multitude forsook Him (John 6).

Forsaken By Mankind

Jesus was mocked by the masses with their mob mentality. Even those who passed by the cross mocked Jesus. The Roman soldiers, the rulers, and even the criminals being executed with Him mistreated and maligned Jesus. The crowd was so blinded by their hate and caught up in their reviling rants they thought Jesus was calling out for Elijah. This was also made a derision.

When Rembrandt painted this scene, himself a well-known artist of his own time, he placed himself in the crowd who were jeering Jesus. His message was that we all are part of that hurtful and hateful crowd. Mankind in its sin, has forsaken the Son of God to die shamefully upon the cross.

Forsaken By Nature

As a graphic metaphor illustrating Jesus being forsaken, the sun forsook the earth for three hours making it midnight at midday. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land” (Matt. 27:45). This was not an eclipse. They last several minutes, never three hours. Furthermore, they only darken a small strip of terra ferma at a time. Darkness is always associated with the judgment of God for great sin.

Forsaken By God

Just what does it mean that God had forsaken Jesus? It was not just a saying spoken in a state of delirium or an exclamation motivated by pain. It was not that Jesus gave up His deity at that moment (Phil. 2:6). It was not just a verbalization of a feeling.

The saying explains Jesus’ utter loneliness and feelings of abandonment. Psalm 22 begins with the complaint of one who suffers torment unjustly at the hand of the wicked. He has cried out to God night and day, but God has remained silent. Where is God when unjust suffering happens?

Forsaken for a Reason

▸ Expression of Prayer

Arthur W. Pink wrote, “This was a cry of distress but not of distrust. “God had withdrawn from Him, but mark how His soul still cleaves to God.” His questioning God in prayer is an act of faith. We all pray this way from time to time.

▸ Fulfillment of Prophecy

Jesus did not just quote this psalm; He screamed it out. The 22nd Psalm was well known. He was bringing to the minds of the crowd a Psalm filled with prophecies about His sufferings on the cross. “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them” (Ps. 22:16-18).

▸ Demonstration of His Humanity

As the Son of man, Jesus is seen as fully human as well. Men understand the feelings of abandonment and so did Jesus. A defeated Gideon asks, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this befallen us?” (Judges 6:13). Job queries, “Why was I born?”

▸ God’s Justice

Christ died to demonstrate God’s justice and mercy. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Sin is the perfect paymaster. God’s law has been broken in sinning. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Since mankind is unable to pay the penalty for sin, Jesus bore it all.

The cross was part of Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6).

▸ Bearing the Penalty of Sin

Jesus chose to suffer the punishment for sin. “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:4-5; see 9-10 and 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). He tasted the consequences of sin: separation from God (Isa 59:1-2).

▸ Sacrifice for Sin

The sinless one was “made [as if He was guilty of] sin for us.” When the priest received the scapegoat on the day of Atonement he said, “The sins of the people be upon you.” He is then carried to the edge of the wilderness and released. The people are relieved. God is appeased. The scapegoat is the sin-bearer creature that was cast out from the camp, carrying all the guilt of the people. Christ’s death was a “sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savior” (Eph. 5:2).

Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin. Forsaken like a scapegoat in the wilderness when He is sent to the cross. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

Jesus suffered hell on earth in going to the cross for our sins. We rejoice on earth that we are going to be free from sin and going to Heaven. Those who are in hell should cry, “Why have you forsaken me?” Heaven shall remain silent. Paul has warned, “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:9). At Judgment, Jesus “will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matt. 7:23).

– Daniel R. Vess