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Words from the Cross (Part I)
Words from the Cross (Part I)
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
Translated from the Aramaic, it means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Much has been said about the words Jesus said on the cross so few short minutes before his death from Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon of that fateful day that Jesus shouts these words. An inexplicable darkness had just engulfed the land since noon and there was a crowd around Him watching all these events happen and making commentary, mocking Jesus.
They call out, “This man is calling Elijah.” Jesus’ words were misunderstood that He was calling out for God to save Him, as if he were helpless. Whomever shouted this would have distracted the crowd, redirecting their thoughts to the prophecy from Malachi 4:5-6 which, on a cold read, says that Elijah will come on the day of the Lord and will turn the hearts of the people. Was Jesus calling out for Elijah to save Him? No. Jesus has remarkable control of the situation as we can see in an analytical study of the events written in the gospels and in secular writings of the day. Instead, what is Jesus saying?
Without looking at the context, there are some in the religious world who say this is a moment of Jesus in pure agony. That, at this moment, His cry saying that God has forsaken Him is Him feeling what it is like to sin for the first time, despite He never having had sinned. They say that like the offerings of the Law of Moses, the sins of man were now being placed upon Him and He is feeling the guilt of the sins of all men, past and present, and the separation from God as God forsakes the sinner. This is the justification for many to say that salvation is given to all men if they simply accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior since their sins are already forgiven as they were heaped upon Jesus on the cross. Like the one in the crowd who said He was calling for Elijah, this is also a misunderstanding.
To understand Jesus’ words, we must listen to His words in the context. This was not an outburst of selfishness crying out to God a question of forsaking Him. Jesus knew everything that was happening to Him and why. He was fulfilling God’s will being hung on the cross, not being forsaken. It is important to note something seemingly unrelated to the topic: chapters and verses were not added to the bible until the mid-sixteenth century. In the time of Jesus, people would read from the scrolls of their bible equivalent, and they would all sing the Psalms in their Sabbath worship services. As is still the case in many hymnals today, it is often the very first words of the verse which are recited to remind the congregates of the song they were about to sing. It is important to note that the beginning of Psalm 22 reads: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Does this sound familiar?
In a moment, the listeners should have been reminded of the Psalm they would sing at Synagogue which describes in detail everything Jesus is going through in front of their eyes. All which was happening to Him was prophesied, and described generations before He was born to this world and described in the words sung in the Psalm. Was Jesus in agony for the sins of the world? Was Jesus crying out to God because He was forsaken? Was Jesus just delirious before swooning? The answer to all these questions is no. Jesus was doing what He always did when in front of a crowd. He was teaching, trying to make all around see what He was doing was for all their souls and that He is the Messiah for which they were all searching.
Lance Byers
5/31/2024
- Words_from_the_Cross_5-31-24.pdf (39.84 kB)
