His Final Words: “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

by David Chadwick

Jesus is the Word. Made flesh. Who dwelled among humanity (John 1:14). His words will go down for all of time as the most significant words ever spoken. They perfectly reflect the divine heart of God for the world.

Here is another example of some of Jesus’s final words on the cross. In Matthew 27:46, he said, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus was quoting from Psalm 22, a Messianic psalm. Many scholars believe that as a rabbi, Jesus may very well have quoted, at least under his breath, the entire psalm. Much of what happened to him on the cross was prophesied in Psalm 22. While we don’t know for certainty if the entire psalm was quoted, we do know that the first verse was stated, making a clear claim that he was the long awaited Messiah.

If we are to use the Word of God as a sword (Ephesians 6:17), how profound for Jesus to live by example and to quote the Word as he carried out his mission on earth.

There was another even more significant meaning to these final words on the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before he went to the cross, Jesus asked God if there was any other way to avoid having the drink of the Father’s cup.

In the Old Testament, drinking from the cup was always a reference to God’s judgment being poured out on his enemies. Jesus knew that when he drank from the cup of God’s judgment, he would absorb all sin upon himself, something too terrifying to comprehend. From eternity past up until that moment, the Son always had a perfect relationship with the Father. But when all the world’s sin came upon him, he knew the Father would have to abandon his Son, if even for a moment.

This is the reason Jesus stated this sentence of feeling forsaken. At that moment, all the world’s sins came upon him and the Father could no longer have union life and perfect fellowship with his Son.

But that was the price both the Father and the Son were willing to pay for our sins to be forgiven! What a glorious grace! It cost Jesus everything to perform this act of forgiveness and love. Because Jesus was forsaken, we are now forgiven! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

What great love and grace Jesus displayed for us on the cross!