Posted by
Jesse "The Mind" Norman on Monday, October 27, 2008 4:55:00 PM
One of the more puzzling things written in the Bible are during Christ’s last moments when he said “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” For some reason the traditional explanation is that this was Christ’s moment of doubt and pain. If that were the case, then he would have sinned. To accuse God of forsaking them is a sin for anyone. I know some will say “Jesus couldn’t sin”, but that’s foolish. That’s also shortchanging his painstaking life and death to say that he didn’t have the ability to sin. To pay such a heavy price of the sins of our creation, it wouldn’t be right if God cheated and made it to where his Messiah didn’t have the ability to sin. Plus, Satan did tempt Jesus in the desert. Why tempt someone that didn’t have the ability to sin? Why would Satan waste his breath? Satan knew exactly who Jesus was and knew he had the ability to sin. How many of you has he come to and offered all of the kingdoms of the world to? None.
So why wasn’t what Jesus said on the cross a sin? The genius of him saying that, and what he was referring to is beyond amazing. Him saying that was designed to make a wise person ask that question, as long as they aren’t too influenced by the traditional teaching of men. In order for Jesus to be the Messiah, then he had to live his life, from beginning to end without sin. So why wasn’t that a sin? Maybe instead of talking to God, maybe he had something else on his mind. “He said ‘my God, why hast thou forsaken me”, so of course he was talking to God.” Well, actually that isn’t the case at all.
What Jesus did by saying that on the cross was to fulfill scripture. What scripture? Psalm 22. Psalm 22 starts off by saying “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It’s been there the whole time. You read that psalm down to verse 16 and it says “For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.” That is how Christ died. He had his hands and feet pierced, did he not? When were the psalms written? Most, if not all of the psalms were written by King David around 1000 BC. This was written a thousand years before Christ was on the cross. In verse 18 it says his garments were sold, just like what was written in the gospels. What is more amazing is when you really analyze that whole thing, the Jews knew nothing of crucifixion until the Romans came in 76 BC. This was written around nine hundred years before that. Psalm 22 is obviously the prophecy of the Messiah’s last moments. Only the truly blind will say it is not after reading it, which I had one try to tell me not too long ago.
Why Jesus didn’t sin when he said that on the cross was because he wasn’t talking to God at all. He was fulfilling scripture. He was saying Psalm 22 is him. That shows how genius Psalm 22 even is. It’s supposed to, when Jesus repeats it on the cross, make us ask “why wasn’t that a sin?” So it’s up to us to find the answer somewhere.
Not only does it prove Jesus was the Messiah, to which no explanation by an atheist can come up with as a counter, but it also brings the Old and the New Testaments together. It proves there must be a prophetic author. It proves that both books are written by God through the Holy Spirit and out of His elect. Just by that psalm and what Jesus said on the cross proves all of these things beyond any skeptic’s analytical power attempting to tear it down. They can’t do it. Point this out to them and see if they can. Watch them scramble and struggle to find an answer for this.