Words From the Cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”.
Matthew 27:46
We come to what I believe are the most heartbreaking words that Jesus utters from his cross. These words flow from the heart of Jesus as the wrath and judgment of God for our sins are being poured out on him. What do we learn about the heart of Christ from this tragic moment? Even in his immense pain, the beauty of Jesus is on full display.
What had Jesus experienced up until this point? His friend had betrayed him and handed him over to be tortured and crucified. His disciples had abandoned him. His religious community had despised and rejected him. The court of justice had failed him. Everyone had fled. Jesus seemed to handle all of this betrayal in stride. He focused on those around him, warning them to flee the coming judgment, forgiving them and inviting them into his kingdom. He seemed resigned, focused and almost calm. Until we get to this verse.
The Greek word used here is intense. Jesus did not calmly and serenely speak these words. He lifted up his voice and cried out in anguish. In one sermon on this passage, Tim Keller comments that it would be appropriate to translate this verse as, “And about the ninth hour Jesus shrieked, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”. Matthew tells us that right before he cried out, the sun had darkened, even though it was in the middle of the day. Something shifted in Jesus, because he alone understood what was actually happening.
Amos 8 holds the key. The book of Amos is a prophesy of judgment on the people of God for their sins of injustice. They had oppressed the poor, sold their fellow man into slavery, taken the clothes off of the backs of the debtors and made themselves fat off of the starvation of the children of the poor. The justice heart of God could take it no longer. Through his prophet he declared this coming judgment over his people:
“And on that day [of judgment]” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.” (Amos 8:9-10)
The people of God waited in fear for this day to come. But this day never came for them, when the sun went down at noon, when God called in the debt they owed, and every family grieved as if they had lost the lives of their only sons. Yes, Israel experienced God’s discipline and judgment in part, but never to this extent. Why not? Because that day was going to come, but never for the children of God.
As the sun darkened at noon, Jesus understood that the day of judgment prophesied by Amos had arrived. The cup of wrath that all of our sins have earned would be poured out. The judgment would be complete. The justice of God would be satisfied. But it would not be us who paid that terrible price. The loving Father would give his only Son to pay the debt that we owed. Jesus knew that the moment for which he had been born had come. It was time.
In his agony, in his pain, Jesus cried out from the depths of his soul. To express his sorrow, Jesus quoted from Psalm 22. In this Psalm, David grieved before God, crying out that he felt abandoned and forsaken–that God felt far off from him in his pain. He was not expressing a lack of faith or that he had given up on his relationship with God (after all, he was praying to him). This cry from David’s heart was “a cry of disorientation as God’s familiar, protective presence is withdrawn…and the enemy closes in.” (Kidner) Even though David felt abandoned that day, this psalm was never ultimately about him. David was restored to God’s presence and saved from his enemies.
This psalm was always about Jesus.
As the Father’s familiar, protective presence was withdrawn from Jesus, as his enemies surrounded him to pierce his hands and feet, Jesus cried out. He shrieked as he lost what was most precious to him—the loving face of his Abba. This Son who had only ever known what it is to be fully loved, fully known, fully embraced, fully accepted, was now abandoned and forsaken. His heart broke from this immense loss.
How can this be? Why would this happen to such a perfect man, such an obedient Son? Because God has set his heart on us. For some reason, one that I will never fully understand, God loves us. Before he laid the foundations of the world, he chose us. (Eph. 1:4) Knowing that we would betray him, knowing that we would break the world by our sin, knowing what it would cost to pay our debt and bring us back home, he set his heart on us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit love us. They were willing to pay this price to bring us back.
Beloved child of God, this is what you are worth to your Father! This is the extent to which Jesus loves you! As one author puts it, “you are worth the blood of Jesus”. If you struggle to believe this, ask the Spirit to help you. It is his joy to inundate your heart with an understanding of the immeasurable love of God. (Rom. 5:5) This Lenten season, would you be willing to stand at the foot of the cross? Would you look up to behold the love that hangs there? Would you listen to the Spirit, as he whispers to your hurting heart, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)
No matter who betrays or abandons you in this life, this is what is true about you: You are God’s child. The Father set his heart on you. The Son left his perfect home to come and find you and save you. The Holy Spirit testifies to your doubting heart of the unfathomable love of God for you. You are fully loved, fully known, fully embraced, and fully accepted by God. Let the cry of Jesus move you to love your God all the more, as you behold his love for you.