Information Related to "Questions and Answers - Jan/Feb 2008"
| Audio/Video |
Question: Why did Jesus say, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" during His last moments of consciousness? Why did God apparently abandon Him?
-A.B.S., Texas
Answer: You are not alone in your bewilderment. Noted British author and journalist Paul Johnson has also found this particular biblical passage somewhat of a puzzle. He wrote: "But what are you to make of Matthew [27], verse 46: 'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?' That is to say, 'Why hast Thou forsaken Me?'. . . Whence this sudden note of anguish, the last words to come from Him, immediately before He yielded up the ghost? . . . I have never found a theologian with a satisfactory explanation of this episode" (The Spectator, Dec. 1, 2007, emphasis added throughout).
To arrive at a reasonable explanation, we need to look at the Bible as a whole, closely examining the context of this particular passage along with tying in other related scriptures. Jesus commanded us to heed every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). The apostle Paul added that we should be "rightly dividing [or correctly sorting out] the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15)-recognizing that all Scripture is by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
First we should understand that Jesus crying out to the Father on this occasion was a direct fulfillment of a prophecy recorded in a psalm of King David (see Psalm 22:1). Christ's fulfillment of many prophetic aspects of this psalm is one of the proofs of His Messiahship.
We should also understand that a comparison of the Gospel accounts shows that these were not the actual last words of Jesus as He was being crucified. Notice verse 50, which occurred moments afterward: "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit."
But He did not simply cry out this second time. Another Gospel account reveals further details, explaining that on His final cry He said His last words to His Father as a human being. Notice what Luke states: "And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice [the final cry referred to in Matthew 27:50], He said: 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last" (Luke 23:46).
The biblical evidence, examined as a whole, indicates that these were Jesus' actual last words-not the cry of anguish shortly before. Just as in the heaviest of temptations in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asked His Father if there could be another way out of this dilemma before quickly submitting Himself to God's will as He always did (see Matthew 26:36-44)-Christ again instantly exerted self-control and submitted to His Father's will just prior to His death. (If only we as Christians would deal with our temptations, minor by comparison, like our Savior did!)
Although the Father totally supported and helped Jesus during His time on earth, dying by means of crucifixion to forgive our sins was something Jesus had to accomplish absolutely alone. The book of Hebrews says, "When He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). Indeed this sacrifice was planned by the Father and the preexistent Word, the One who became Christ, from the beginning.
Our modern age takes sin very lightly, often in a cavalier manner, watering it down to "faults" and "mistakes." But in truth sin is a very serious matter to God. It is the transgression of His holy, spiritual law (1 John 3:4). To atone for it required the precious life of the very Son of God in a humiliating and painful death by crucifixion.
Our Savior's words on this occasion help us understand just how serious sin is in God's sight. Isaiah 59:2 explains that sin cuts us off from God: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
Sin is deadly serious. To be our sacrifice for sin, Jesus took on Himself all the sins the human race had ever committed or ever would commit. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, God the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us." Hebrews 9:26-28 explains that "He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ... so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."
As a well-known prophecy of the crucifixion states: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities . . . And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Because of what Jesus Christ represented for those few brief moments-the sins of all mankind-our Heavenly Father had to justly judge this sin, giving Jesus over to its awful penalty, death (Romans 6:23), in effect turning His back on Him. Thus Jesus cried out, quoting Psalm 22:1, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
In inspiring Psalm 22, the Father and Christ both knew this would happen -but realizing it ahead of time is not the same as actually experiencing it. Jesus, who had been in communion with the Father as a constant companion His whole life, was now cut off-and deeply felt the severance of that contact. His anguished cry was no doubt very real.
Yet through Jesus' perseverance at that very time, the gulf between God and man created by our sins was about to be bridged. As Isaiah 53:11 foretold, "My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities."
Jesus Christ, who alone among mankind lived a sinless life, took our sins on Himself-willingly paying the penalty for our lawless behavior so we could be totally forgiven and reconciled to God and begin a new life of obedience. We had all earned the death penalty for our disobedience. But through His sacrifice we pass "from death into life" (John 5:24).
To understand more about Jesus Christ and His paramount sacrifice, request or download our free booklet .
Question: Surely "Jerusalem above" is the heavenly Jerusalem. So isn't that where Christ will reign, and not from the Jerusalem on earth?
-J.D., Penzance, Britain
Answer: The scriptural record attests to the fact that Christ will return from heaven to this physical earth to reign for 1,000 years on this planet-with the restored and renewed physical city of Jerusalem as its world capital.
Zechariah 14:3-4, for example, states: "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east . . ."
At His ascension to heaven from the Mount of Olives 40 days after His resurrection, two angels told the disciples: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
In Revelation 20:4, John records his vision of the resurrected saints ruling with Jesus Christ: "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them . . . And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Revelation 5:10 says that this takes place on the earth.
But beyond that millennial period and the Great White Throne Judgment, God the Father-bringing the New Jerusalem with Him-will come down to be with Christ and the rest of His divine family, the vast multitude of the saved, who will by this time have been changed into immortal spirit beings (see Revelation 21:1-5). By then, the old physical order will have passed away.
To understand the intriguing details, request or download our free booklet . Chapters 7 and 8 will clarify the order and nature of these future events. Another booklet, , will help show that the Jerusalem of Christ's millennial rule on earth is not in heaven. And to better understand the nature of Christ's coming Kingdom, request or download . All of these are free for the asking.
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@gnmagazine.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@gnmagazine.org. |
|
Related Information:
Table of Contents that includes "Questions and Answers - Jan/Feb 2008"
Origin of article "Questions and Answers - Jan/Feb 2008"
Keywords: new Jerusalem
Jerusalem, future: