Every time I struggle with a scripture or a particular doctrine of the church, I cannot let go of it until I get an answer. Every time I have a question concerning the written word of God, He answers me. Sometimes He answers right away and sometimes it is years before I hear from Him. He is faithful to His word in Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. My twin sister once said to me, “I never think to ask Him questions like you do.” Please brethren, ask Father, He loves questions! He will answer.
Here are the scriptures I struggled with perhaps more than any others.
Matthew 27:46: And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemans shabakthani! My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father into my hands I commend my spirit, and having said that, he gave up the ghost.
Does it make sense to you that Jesus would have said the above if He thought His Father had forsaken him? Well, the reason it does not make sense is that His Father had not left him, as we shall see.
These scriptures left me uneasy every time I heard them explained or read them for myself. I would struggle with my Father’s character over them, and they would just not go down the way it was being taught. How many times I heard… “well, it was just his humanity showing” or “God couldn’t look upon sin.” (Jesus did NOT become sin, but we will leave that for another article.)
Anyhow, I would think to myself: Doesn’t the word say He will never leave us nor forsake us? How could I tie that together? Since He forsook Jesus, will He forsake me? If Jesus said that, wouldn’t that be unbelief and therefore sin, therefore exempting him as a spotless lamb? See the confusion!!!
In my early years as a believer, I began to think God was schizophrenic from such false notions. I would cry out, “God, please help me, this isn’t making any sense.” I discovered the reason that it didn’t make any sense to me was because it was not true!
I was in a bible bookstore when it happened…….
Our Father gave me the answer I was looking for. I picked up a Lamsa bible from the Peshitta text and read the introduction. The Author was a man who lived with the Aramaic speaking people. He knew their customs and their idioms. He wrote concerning the bible: Discrepancies between various versions have been the cause of contentions and divisions among sincere men and women who are earnestly seeking to understand the word of God. They are bewildered at scriptures like “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” The Old Testament in many instances states that God does not forsake the righteous nor those who trust in Him. Jesus was the Son of God and entrusted his spirit to God. Jesus could not have contradicted himself. The Peshitta text reads: My God My God, for this I was spared. (End Quote) Lamsa has a footnote to “I was spared” that reads, “This was my destiny.”
Whew, there it was. An exact answer to my exact questions concerning this particular issue in my heart. No more fear of Father abandoning us, no more unbelief in His undying love for us!
Jesus did not say, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!!!
Thank you Father, that you remain faithful to answer our questions when we sincerely want to know.
You can get a copy of the Lamsa bible in most bible bookstores or on Amazon. He has 5 pages of “Words Resembling Each Other”… well worth your money.
I SURE HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE
Not sure about this. Lamsa’s interpretations of many things can be questionable at best. His personal theology and beliefs, affecting his translation, often do not seem to meet the criteria of “scriptural Christianity”. I personally wouldn’t accept this interpretation at face value without further testing.
Bonnie – I had the same distress over Jesus’ last words on the cross. I thought perhaps the world’s sins were blinding Him to Father’s presence. Later I too found Lamsa. And then He gave me a second witness, II Cor 5:19, that God was IN CHRIST reconciling the world unto Himself. And when did that happen? On the cross, at/in His death. Now there is no question left in my mind. He is faithful to answer our questions, address our fears In His time Amen!
Dear John and Bonnie,
Hey, I beat you to this understanding of Matthew 27: 46…by about 60 years! I’ve been teaching for years that God could never have abandoned Jesus since He was “in Jesus” reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5: 19); how could God abandon Himself? How could God separate Himself from anything in all creation?
An even more accurate rendering might be: “God, for this specific purpose and time, You have often spared me from death.”
For example, God spared Him from death when Holy Spirit warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus when Jesus was a small child, when Jesus supernaturally walked through the crowd that wanted to toss Him off a cliff, when Satan tempted Him to jump off the Temple so angels could catch Him,, when the soldiers in the garden might have killed Jesus, etc.
Anyhow, Ha, Ha, I beat you to it, so I get the credit…
I’m at home recuperating after just getting out of the hospital after I fell and seriously cracked 3 ribs. I don’t recommend rib-cracking (except for barbecued spare ribs!): it hurts!
In Jesus,
Bill
Hi Bill,
Funny how Father always thinks the same no matter who is seeking Him.
I love it. Sometimes I get so high on the word of God, I think I will bust.
If He is handing out trophies, I’m sure you will be at the top of the list. I
have gained so much from knowing you. But, I am so thankful for personal
revelations or I don’t think I would know Him very well.
He never works in dark corners and He is so faithful to give confirmations.
Thank you for this one.
Stay safe you silly goon.
💞We Love you,
Bonnie