Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani

My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me

Matthew 27: 46

Jesus quotes Psalm 22:1

The conventional interpretation is that Jesus became sin and therefore the Father could not look upon him.

Table Of Contents

  • Read topic titled Lamb Of God.
  • Consider the Oral Tradition
  • Consider His physical condition
  • Consider the use of linking NT with OT
  • Is there more to consider?

Psalm 22:1-5

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

  • David feels forsaken
  • He is not heard by God
  • God is holy
  • God delivered his fathers

Psalm 22:6-31

There is a transition in the message at this point.  We now see evidence of the messianic prophesy.  Can we connect the statements David makes in this psalm with the events taking place on the cross?

  • Let's examine each verse closely
  • Compare to Matthew 26
  • Compare to Mark 15

Psalm 22:6

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

  • So the word “tola’ath” in Psalm 22:6 denotes not only a worm but also identifies it as a crimson or scarlet worm that is common to the Middle East, and predominantly in Israel.
  • A reflection of His torn body, covered with His blood.

Psalm 22:7-8

All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.


  • Ridiculed by the people.
  • He trusted in the Lord.
  • He delighted in Him.
  • He did deliver him from the grave.
  • See Matthew 27:43

Psalm 22:14

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

  • Extreme agony.
  • Only a God-Man could endure this.
  • A near death proclamation.

Psalm 22:15

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

  • I thirst!
  • The Father has brought Jesus to this point in His life.
  • Do we see the plan of the Father?  Also, Jesus' willingness to fulfill it? 

Psalm 22:16

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

  • Surrounded by the wicked
  • They pierced my hands and feet?
  • A clear picture of Jesus on the cross.
  • See Matthew 27:35

Psalm 22:17

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

  • A beating so severe, they could see his bones.
  • They stare in shock!

Psalm 22:18

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

  • They cast lots for his clothes.
  • See Matthew 27:35

Psalm 22:19

But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

  • Jesus calls to the Father for help.

Psalm 22:21

Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

  • The Lion is Satan.
  • Jesus says the Father hears Him.

Psalm 22:24

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

  • The Father does not despise the afflicted.
  • See Isaiah 53:10-12
  • He does not hide is face!
  • When you cry out to Him, He hears!

Psalm 22:25

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

  • Despite the suffering, Jesus continues to praise the Father.

Psalm 22:27

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

  • This is the outcome of the plan for salvation.
  • All nations shall worship God.

Psalm 22:28

For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.

  • The kingdom belongs to Jesus.
  • King of kings, Lord of lords

Psalm 22:29


All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

  • The righteous will worship the Lord.
  • The unrighteous will bow down before Him.

Psalm 22:31

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

  • The Great Commission!

What The Word Of God Teaches


John
Chapter 16

32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

Isaiah
Chapter 53

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


Jesus Spoke Aramaic


Matthew
Chapter 27:46 

Source:  Peshita

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God for this I was spared!   Footnote: This was my destiny.

Matthew
Chapter 27:46 

Source:  Peshita

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! which means My God, my God for this I was spared!   Footnote: "which means" used by Mark to explain translation from one Aramaic dialect to another. 


An Aramaic Understanding of  "Forsaken"

When we think of forsaken, we think of an uncaring abandonment.  

If Jesus said he felt forsaken in terms of being abandoned by the Father, he would have used the word "nashatani" which means lost or abandoned, not "shabakthani".

The word "shabakthani" carries with it meaning of being left for a purpose.  In other words, to be kept, destined or born for.  

This phrase in Aramaic means, "My God, My God, for this I was kept [this was my destiny, or I was born for this]"

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