My God why have you forsaken me? [Matt 27c]*

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Matthew 27:27-61
Key verse - Matthew 27:46

Through the two trials described in Matthew, we can see that the Jewish people as a whole prescribed Jesus’ crucifixion to his being convicted on two charges: his false claims to be the Son of God and King of the Jews. However, at the heart of the issue, was their blasphemy and rebellion. Jesus was handed over to the soldiers to be crucified; from that point on, they were free to do anything to Jesus because he had no power, no authority, and was worthy of all kinds of abuses and punishment, ended only by death on the cross. Also, whatever they did to him would bear no consequences for them, so they continued unrestrained in their cruelty against a sinner for whom death was due. Whatever insults they uttered, whether they were corporal or verbal, were not just meaningless insults against Jesus’ person, but also the due punishment for the sins he had committed of blasphemy and rebellion. How did the soldiers carry out their judgment on Jesus?

1.    Men delivered their verdict and discharged all of their judgment against Jesus.

The Soldiers.

The Roman soldiers’ minds were well-sensitized and obedient to authority. At the top of the chain of authority, was their king. In such a mindset, these soldiers took Jesus, as the one who had lost power and authority as the King of Jews. What did they do? They took Jesus inside the governor’s residence and put three things on him: a scarlet robe, a crown of thorns on his head, and a staff in his right hand. In this way, they made him look like a king, and showed their homage to this self-claimed king; they knelt before him and mocked him, saying ‘Hail king of the Jews!’ (Matthew 27:29c). They also spit on him and struck him on his head again and again. In this way, they mocked what he truly was - his kingship as the King of Jews, and as the real King. His kingship was put down in contempt and disdain. These soldiers’ actions stemmed from their arrogance and willful rejection of God’s love; it was a demand of the sinful nature. In their minds, the real king must be strong and able to defend himself as well as the nation, but this man, Jesus, could never be a man worthy of being a king. Yet this was the true and genuine aspect of the King of the Jews, the Savior King.

Matthew 27:32-38 provides a description of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Jesus was already extremely exhausted and could not carry the cross to Golgotha, so the soldiers forced a man named Simon to carry it. They offered Jesus a drink, vinegar mixed with gall, but Jesus refused it. They crucified him and kept watch over him, dividing up his clothes by casting lots. Jesus was almost naked. There was a written charge hung at the top of the cross: the King of the Jews. Two rebels were crucified on either side of him.

The Passersby.

“You boasted that you can destroy the temple and build it in three days. If you are so powerful, then come down from the cross—to show yourself truly powerful son of God.” (Matthew 27:40).  

The Chief Priests, Teachers of the Law, and Elders.

In their opinion, Jesus saved others, but he  could not save himself; they said that if the King of the Jews came down, then they would believe in him. He said he was the Son of God; they wanted to see if God could save him. All these leaders were not happy; even with such suffering on the cross, they continued to hurl insults on Jesus. Their sinfulness did not stop until they saw his death.

2.    Jesus gave everything and accepted the final payment of sin.

a.    His life was given wholly over to sinful men.

Jesus was extremely exhausted already when he carried the cross to Golgotha. He was stripped of all of his clothes so that he was naked. His honor as the Son, his dignity, his pride, his power, and his being were all drained and poured out; he received all of their insults and chose not to come down, even though he had the power to do so. He absorbed all of this in his body, his spirit, and his will; he did it in obedience to God the Father and His will to save mankind. He literally gave his life for them; his blood and his flesh were all given as payment for their sins.

b.    His life was given as a sin offering to God

Life was given up and Jesus faced death; he was cut off from God as he was totally deserted by his Father. This pain was so awful that he cried out twice:

“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).

Jesus called out to God the Father twice; why had the Father forsaken His son! He was in utter despair, sorrow, and pain.

In Matthew 27:50, Jesus cried out again in a loud voice. The pain and sorrow he was experiencing were far too painful to bear; its’ intensity is expressed ‘quadrupled’ because it bore all of man’s sin and its ultimate consequences, including being cut off from God.

“And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 31:17 NIV).

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.” (Psalm 22:1-3).

These two verses are the context of understanding for Jesus’ last words.

3.    Christ’s Crucifixion, an emblem of men’s sin and God’s grace.

Crucifixion was the worst form of execution, and was used frequently by the Romans. There were many other forms of execution, such as hanging, decapitation,  medication, slaying, killing by animals, killing by fire, and so on.

·         Crucifixion made one’s death a more prominent display than all of the other execution methods.

·         It rendered the condemned man powerless by nailing him to a cross, while keeping him conscious and intact.

·         It frequently served to showcase the punishment for rebellion against Roman authority. The message of crucifixion was that, when one rebels or challenges the authority of Rome, his power of rebellion will be neutralized by crucifixion. So controlling rebellion was the theme of crucifixion.

·         It was also used frequently for non-Roman citizens. In this crucifixion, they assigned Jesus to be crucified with a rebel on each side. Since the people of Israel prescribed crucifixion, they counted Jesus as worse than the ‘Gentiles’, refusing to count Jesus as one of their own! He was assigned a place with the worst criminals.

·         The rebel suffered the worst pain and agony for a long period of time, until they expired after several hours or even days!

What can we say about crucifixion?

This was the utmost form of discharging all of men’s sinfulness on his fellow man. As for the one who suffered, it was a total deprivation of one’s pride, honor, dignity, clothes, and lastly, their life.  Jesus literally gave all of his blood and his body to pay for the sins of these people; the entirety of his being was given away for the full discharge of mankind’s sinfulness, which could never be satisfied unless it was met with death. In this way, Jesus was subjected fully to the sinfulness of men, took them all upon his body, and did not save himself from death.

4.    How did God react to this [Matthew 27:51-53]?

As soon as Jesus gave up his spirit, three things happened:

·         The temple curtain was torn in two.

·         The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open.

·         The bodies of many holy people were raised to life and appeared to many.

These three things could not have happened simultaneously if they had occurred by chance. Also, these events coincided with the moment of Jesus’ death. In this way, God made it clear that they were His works in response to what Jesus had done.

The temple curtain was torn in two.

The temple had four compartments - a women’s court, a men’s court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. Inside the temple, there were two curtains, one dividing the men’s court and the Holy Place, and the other separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

The Most Holy Place could only be accessed once a year and only by the high priest bringing a sacrificial lamb. In the Holy Place, the high priest had daily access for presenting offerings and sacrifices. So most likely, the curtain here was the one between the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place. By the fact that God, in His power, opened the curtain by splitting it from top to bottom, we can assume that He was willingly and freely welcoming men into the Most Holy Place. Before this, no one dared to enter the Most Holy Place, except for the high priest once a year with the blood of a lamb; but, just as the high priest had daily access to the Holy Place, now he could also enter the Most Holy Place every day. This seen in Hebrews 9:

 “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.” (Hebrews 9:12-13).

God was fully honored by Jesus’ death serving as payment for men’ sins, so He is now willing to accept and welcome men into the Most Holy Place and into His presence.  

Jesus’ death was the final and everlasting offering to God, symbolizing that the temple and its sacrifices would become obsolete. Jesus said this to a Samaritan woman during the early years of his ministry:

"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." (John 4:21-24 NIV).

The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open.

Along with the darkness that came over the land, the earthquake, and other associated events, these were God’s demonstration of His feelings about Jesus’ death. It was not just the death of a mere man, but the death of His own Son.

The bodies of many holy people were raised to life and appeared to many people.

It seems that, at the time of the earthquake and the consequent splitting of rocks and opening of tombs, many dead saints were also raised to life. God reinforced the meaning and power of Jesus’ death on behalf of believing sinners, whose bodies had been in tombs but were then released to come back to life. It was an expression of God’s joy over what Jesus did and also signals of the coming resurrection for those who believed through Jesus’ suffering and death.

5.    What did the people who did not relinquish their faith in Jesus do?

a.    The centurion confessed that Jesus was the Son of God.

It is interesting that the centurion, who had no particular prior knowledge of God, confessed such faith, as he witnessed the penetrating truth about Jesus. What did he see that made him believe that Jesus was the Son of God? Most likely, his confession was based on his belief that Jesus demonstrated God’s righteousness, seeking solely His vindication instead of his own righteousness. This is exactly what Jesus did to obey His Father. If this is true in the centurion’s case, then it has profound application for us as well. It is not what we can do with our own abilities that help people see God, but it is how we obey in submission to God’s righteousness that helps people see Him at work through our lives.

b.    Joseph buried Jesus in a tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea came forward, a once-hidden believer who was now openly allegiant to Jesus, a condemned criminal. To him, Jesus was the Son of God who dared to stand in the truth and trusted God, even to the point of death. Standing in and for the truth and loving even to the point of death, is what makes a man worthy to be followed.

c.    Mary and the other women watched carefully to see where Jesus was laid.

For them, there were two questions that needed to be answered. Why did Jesus not exercise his power and authority? Why did he have to or choose to die? Why did God not do anything about men’s atrocity? Though they could not answer any of these questions, they kept their trust in Jesus as the Son of God, despite the fact that Jesus was crucified for blasphemy and rebellion. The bond they had with Jesus carried them on, regardless of the accusations and the evidence that seemed to support these claims.

They kept an eye on Jesus’ body until he was buried in the tomb. His love and truth had not dissipated at all in their minds, even though none of the facts of his horrific death could be explained.