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John 18:6: Difference between revisions
→On the cross - Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34
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:''And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mk 15:34.</ref> | :''And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mk 15:34.</ref> | ||
But these passages do not convey that Jesus died on the cross as a man. They do not say that God turned his back on Jesus. | But these passages do not convey that Jesus died on the cross as a man. They do not say that God turned his back on Jesus. | ||
Jesus had the ability in a few words to convey such deep thought that multiple books could be written on a single phrase. And Jesus' cry on the cross is one of these. | |||
This was not a cry of abandonment. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22: | |||
:''My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? <ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 22:1.</ref> | |||
Why was Jesus quoting Psalm 22? | |||
Psalm 22 ends in a proclamation of triumph, and since the Jews sometimes cited an opening line to represent an entire psalm, the cry is actually a cry of victory. | |||
In Psalm 22, the one who is afflicted moves from death to life, and the psalm concludes: | |||
:''All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, | |||
:''and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, | |||
:''for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. | |||
:''All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; | |||
:''all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— | |||
:''those who cannot keep themselves alive. | |||
:''Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. | |||
:''They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: | |||
:''He has done it! <ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 22:27–31.</ref> | |||
Jesus was proclaiming to those standing around the cross, his mother and his disciples, that his crucifixion signified not the end of hope for the one afflicted but the beginning of hope for the nations.<ref>Thomas E. Schmidt, “Cry of Dereliction or Cry of Judgment? Mark 15:34 in Context,” ed. Bruce Chilton, Bulletin for Biblical Research, Vol. 4, 1994, 149-150.</ref> . Jesus was stating that although he was encircled by enemies who are imaged as strong bulls, roaring lions and dogs, God would triumphantly raise Jesus-the representative and true Israelite-from the dead and places his enemies under his feet.<ref>Leland Ryken et al., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 237.</ref> | |||
Jesus was not crying that God had forsaken him, he was proclaiming that victory was imminent. | |||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||