Mother Tongue
Jesus hung on the cross for six hours. (Time was measured from sunrise and so Jesus was crucified at the 3rd hour (about 9AM))At the 6th hour (about midday) darkness covered the land until the 9th hour. This darkness represented the time in which Jesus experienced separation from God. This was the penalty for my sin and yours. God's wrath is complete separation from Him.
Imagine what that was like for Jesus. As part of the Trinity, He had experienced eternal and perfect love and communion with the Father and Spirit. Now on the cross, He is separated from the Spirit and the Father.
In this gut-and-heart-wrenching moment Jesus does two incredible things.
Firstly he quotes from Psalm 22 which starts "My God my God why have you forsaken me..." If someone on their deathbed says "Our Father who art in heaven..." we would say they prayed the Lord's prayer on their deathbed. If someone says "The Lord is my shepherd..." we would say that they recited Psalm 23. Jesus, by quoting the first line of Ps.22, is therefore connecting to the whole of the Psalm which is an exploration of the pain of unjust suffering and God's ultimate deliverance. If we ever wondered whether God understands our pain, this Psalm and the fact that Jesus had it on His lips on the cross should cancel all our doubts.
Secondly, Jesus quotes the Psalm in Aramaic. This is His "mother tongue" - the language He was first taught as a child and the language He grew up with. When we are pushed to the limits of our humanity, we go back to our earliest memories and language. We tend to talk about the cross as though it was a tea-party. Jesus, in this moment of intense pain and suffering, is pushed back to his "mother tongue". It should fill us with incredible awe and wonder that we would be loved SO much.
It's important to note that Jesus isn't surprised or caught off guard here. It's not as though He didn't know what was going to happen. Some interpret "Why have you forsaken me?" as a moment of desperate pain. Although the pain takes Jesus back to "mother tongue", He is not surprised or "out of His mind with pain". He deliberately alludes to Psalm 22 and faces separation with the clear hope that God will deliver him.
Psalm 22 ends with "They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it.
Jesus at the 9th hours says "It is FINISHED!" (I have done it).
HALLELUJAH!!!
(I've included the full Psalm 22 below...)
| At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark15:33-34) |
PS 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him--
may your hearts live forever!
27 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,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 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.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn--
for he has done it.
