SEVEN UTTERANCES: MATTHEW 27:46

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Seven Utterances 

a) The Seven Utterances of Jesus, while he was dying on the cross, have been a subject of meditation for all Christians. 

b) Here is one of the utterances.

2. “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” 

Matthew 27:46 
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

a) In this utterance we see the faith of Jesus. Many teach that Jesus felt abandoned by God, and some even say that he was. However, I think we quite misunderstand this utterance if we think it expresses despair.

b) It is a direct quote from the beginning of the 22nd Psalm. This is a Messianic psalm. The religious leaders quoted this psalm against Jesus: "Let God rescue him if he delights in him" (Psalms 22:7-8, Matthew 27:41-43).

c) The Psalm contradicts the idea that God turned away from Jesus: "For God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him, but when he cried to him for help, God heard" (Psalms 22:24).

d) Although uttering only the anguished first words of the Psalm, Jesus was drawing upon the spirit of the whole Psalm: "In you our fathers trusted; they trusted and you delivered them; to you they cried out and were delivered; in you they trusted and were not disappointed" (Psalms 22:4-5). 


The End ...

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