Thoughts on Passion Week 2009

As I grow older, one thing that's continually humbling is learning how much I don't know. I've been in the faith for most of my life, and yet this morning's sermon taught me something I certainly should have known, but didn't. I'm sharing this because I think it's really a pretty fundamental piece of the whole redemption puzzle.

On the cross, Christ's final prayer is this, "My God, my God - why have You forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) Now, the astute (in this case, the pastor's daughter) may ask, "Why did Jesus ask this question? Didn't he know what was coming?" I mean, if Christ is truly God in man, this crucifixion thing shouldn't have taken him by surprise, right?

As pastor Brett LaShelle pointed out this morning, the answer is both simple and obvious - but it's something I've missed my entire life.

While the phrase is presented as a question, it really isn't a question at all - instead, Jesus is making direct reference to Psalm 22. At the time of Christ, folks weren't walking around with the NIV tucked under an arm. No - scripture existed only on scrolls, and those scrolls were typically available only in the synagogue. In addition, there was no chapter/verse system - that's a classification mechanism that we've imposed in translation to make it easier to break things up into digestible chunks. So a reference to a Psalm was made by simply quoting its first line - in the case of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" So Christ wasn't asking God why, he was making reference to a Psalm that tells us why. You can read the Psalm here.

With this understanding, Christ's 'question' in Matthew 27:46 goes from strange query to intentional invocation. Right up to the end Jesus is connecting the dots, showing the Jews (and us) how he fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament.

If you're a believer, I hope you have a happy and blessed Easter. And if you're not, I hope you also have a great passover week and Easter weekend!