Dear Family and Friends,

Many of us know that Jesus often quoted from the Old Testament. Researchers estimate that ten percent of Jesus’ recorded words were quotations from the Old Testament.

For example, when Satan tempted Jesus with bread in Matthew 4, Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 (NIV), “It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’”

When Satan told Jesus to jump from the top of the Temple, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 (NIV): “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

And when Satan told Jesus to worship him, Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 6:13 (NIV), “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

If you ever wondered why Jesus’ quotes were not always word-for-word, remember there are language differences. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, whereas the language of the New Testament is Greek.

And His intent was to convey the meaning of the scriptures.

Let’s spend our time today on one of the utterances Jesus made on the cross, which happens to be another passage from the Old Testament.

“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).” Matthew 27:46 NIV

Sabachthani is Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. It means to have been abandoned, deserted, left behind for a reason.

Jesus crying out to His Father is one of the most painful verses in the Bible to read.

Did it have to be this way? Picturing God turning His face away from Jesus, and the response of hopelessness from Jesus is so heart wrenching…

But did God really abandon Jesus?

Let’s take a closer look at the passage Jesus quoted – Psalm 22:1 (NIV).

“1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

As the psalms were not numbered until centuries later, it was customary in ancient Jewish times to refer to a book or a psalm by the first verse.

That said, Jesus was not just borrowing a pithy line from a psalm, He was reminding those present (and us as well) of the entirety of the psalm.

Let’s take a look at a few other verses from Psalm 22.

“6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

Jesus quoted this prophetic psalm, written a thousand years before that fateful Friday, to reaffirm His identity as the Messiah.

The psalm continues.

“23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”

Jesus was assuring us that His Father did not abandon Him – as we may have initially thought.

The psalm then ends with these surprising verses.

“25From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him—may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!”

In closing, our hearts go out to Jesus for enduring what He did.

And for using His remaining strength to point us to what we now call Psalm 22.

To make clear that He was the Messiah. To assure us that the Father had not turned away from Him. And to declare that He had done what He set out to do – conquer sin and death!

In love always,