Preparing for Good Friday – Part II

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

Yesterday I presented you with information from an article I read a few years ago in reference to Jesus’ words as recorded by Matthew in chapter 27:46 “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?”  I have challenged you to consider that Jesus may have been referencing all of Psalm 22 as it was the custom in the times of Jesus for the Jewish people to say just a few words from a chapter to reference the entire chapter.  This literary device was called remez.

Today let us read and consider the rest of Psalm 22: 22-30.

22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

Psalm 22 is David’s Psalm prophesying Jesus’ death on the Cross.  When Jesus said “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me”, in a likely faint, weakened voice, was He speaking for the benefit of you and me?  Was Matthew prompted by the Holy Spirit to record it for future generations?  Was Jesus making a point that He is the fulfillment of Psalm 22 in its entirety?

Perhaps Jesus was not acknowledging any notions of abandonment by the Lord, but rather the Psalmists’ hope and trust in God’s ultimate deliverance and victory in the midst of the suffering.  God allowed His Son to fall into the hands of His enemies so as to accomplish His purpose.

A debt was paid that we could never have paid.  Because of His perfect sacrifice we can live.  Our Lord will never leave us or forsake us (Deut. 31:6).  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Patricia Wenzel
WOC Graduate
Information from: A Passion Week Reflection #312 from PBT – “Forsaken or Abandoned?
by Doug Greenwold, 2012, preservingbibletimes.org