"My God, My God, Why hast Thou Forsaken Me?", "I Thirst"

• My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? - We read 1 Pet 1:18-20 that the Lord Jesus Christ offered his soul, or life, as payment for the sins of every child of God and is ordained even before He created this universe. He had to physically enter time and space to actually suffer the equivalent of spending eternity in Hell for each one of His elect. Lord Jesus Christ started to suffer God’s wrath in Garden of Gethsemane. In Hebrew “Gethsemane” means “winepress”, and Christ began to endure eternal damnation for His people as He was being spiritually crushed. Jesus stood before Pilate for judgment at a place called “Gabbatha”.  Pilate, the Roman governor (who typified God the Father) was authorized to pass judgment on God the Son, Who stood apparently innocent before him. Though Jesus had no sin of His Own, He had become sin for all the elect. Thus, He was found guilty by His beloved Father, and was required to suffer the penalty of everlasting Hell. In order to be the Savior of His people, the Lord Jesus had to become a curse, as symbolized by the shame of spiritual nakedness on Cross. Isa 53:3-5 depicts the greatest spiritual shame and humiliation that only God the Son could possibly endure. The Cross was situated on a hill called “Golgotha”, meaning “the place of a skull”. Although Christ’s spiritual agony started in the Garden of Gethsemane as the Father poured out the “cup” of His wrath upon the Son, our Lord’s suffering reached full pitch when on the cross He cried out with a loud voice "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", as we read in Mark 15:34. It’s very difficult for human beings to fully comprehend the wrath of God, which is eternal.  How could God forsake God? Because Jesus Christ never ceased to be Eternal God, Who is “omniscient” (or “all knowing”), He obviously knew the reason “why” He was experiencing God’s rejection. But He quoted the question “Why hast thou forsaken me?” from Psa 22:1 to emphasize that the full extent of His spiritual suffering in the Atonement which is impossible for us finite human beings to comprehend. In what way was the Lord Jesus “forsaken”?  We find the answer in Isa 54:7-8 and Psa 16:10, which is also quoted in Acts 2:27. We learn from these verses, that God the Father forsook only until the atonement is finished but did not leave God the Son, Jesus Christ, in Hell, which is to be under the eternal wrath of God, forever. God the Father had promised His Son that His soul would not be abandoned or forsaken in Hell and that His body would not decay, which was unlike the bodies of every other human being that has died. Because Hell is presently a condition (John 3:36) and not a place, nobody except Christ has ever had to experience its gruesome reality to this point in time. The future nature of a place called Hell is explained in Rev 14:10.

1 Pet 1:18-20  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world: but was manifest in these last times for you.”

Luke 22:42 ,44 “… Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done... And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Isa 63:3,5 “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me… 5And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation.”

John 19:13 “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha”.

John 19:11 “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”

John 19:17 “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

Isa 53:3-5 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Deu 21:23 “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”

Gal 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

Heb 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Psa 22:1 [Messianic] “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”

Mat 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

2 Sam 22:5-7 [Messianic] “When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.”

Jon 2:2-6 [Messianic] “I [Jonah typifying Christ] cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.”

Matt 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth [belly of hell].”

Acts 2:27,31 (which quotes Psa 16:10) “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption….31 He [David] seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”

Isa 54:7-8 “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.”

John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Rev 14:10 “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”

Mat 25:41 “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand [who do not have Lord Jesus paid the penalty], Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

• I thirst - These two words on Cross "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", "I Thirst" shows us the suffering of Christ under God's wrath, the atoning work of Christ. We have to keep in mind that Jesus, at this point in history and at this point in time, is bearing the sins of His people.  He has taken the sins of all His elect and now God is judging Him. The Father is pouring out God’s wrath upon the Son, and Jesus is going through the equivalent of an eternity in Hell as we see in Isa 53:10-12.  In the parable of rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is cast into Hell and what does the rich man desire? What is the one thing that he requests from Abraham (typifying God)? We can see that the rich man desires just the tip of the beggar’s finger dipped in water, a little bit of hope, a little tiny bit of mercy, then it could cool the tongue!  We know that God has “judgment without mercy” when God casts a sinner into Hell. God’s Mercy is available only before we die. Lord Jesus Christ has taken the sins of His people upon Himself, so He stands as a sinner in the sight of God before the Father, guilty. God forsook him. The language of thirsting has to do with desiring salvation/deliverance from God, as we see in Psa 42:1-2, thirsting after God’s Righteousness and God’s Mercy. We know that God develops this thirst in His people and that He will lead His people to the “still waters”. He will lead His people to that place where they can quench their thirst and where they will drink of the truth of the Word of God; they will hear the Gospel and become saved (Matt 5:6). Lord Jesus Christ who is the “living water” had to “thirst” for you and I so we never have to “thirst” again, and have everlasting life, as seen in Rev 7.

John 19:28 “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”

Psa 69:21 "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

Isa 53:10-12 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Acts 2:25-28 [Psalm 16:10] “For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”

Luke 16:23-24 “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Psa 42:1-2 “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Matt 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Revelation 7:14-17 “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”