Jesus' Cry

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?" Psalm 22:1

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, E'li, E'li, la'ma sabach'thani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Elo'i, Elo'i, la'ma sabach'thani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Mark 15:34

The first verse of Psalm 22 was written by David many generations before Jesus was ever born into the world. However, these words, written so many years before, are Jesus' exact words of suffering on the cross. The verses listed from Matthew and Mark are the New Testament Gospel accounts of what happened as Jesus was crucified.

Our sin separates us from God. Jesus never committed any sin while He lived on the earth. That is what made Jesus the ultimate, perfect sacrifice for all of mankind. When Jesus cried out these words of suffering on the cross, it was during the time that all sin was placed on His shoulders. Jesus bore every person's sin and God could not look upon that sin.

The psalmist includes the phrase "why art thou so far from helping me" This question for God illustrates the divide that sin creates between man and God. God cannot embrace sin. That is why He sent Jesus to be our sacrificial bridge to Himself. When we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can stand before God forgiven of our sins and righteous in His sight.

This is very powerful. As a Christian we need to be able to reference these kinds of scripture to back up our beliefs with the infallible Word of God. That is why it is so important to read our Bibles. I never knew that Psalm 22 talked about Jesus' crucifixion until I started reading it! I've owned a Bible and gone to church, but owning a Bible and sitting in a pew is not all that God expects of us. We need to have a Bible and we need to go to church, but there is a lot of time in between that we need to fill actively searching the Word of God and seeking the Lord in prayer.