Auxano Ministry
By the grace of God I am what I am:
1 Cor. 15:10a
"My God, My God…" The Truth!
Father's come with a multitude of attitudes and a variety of issues. Some are very permissive like King David with his sons, and it cost the sons dearly. Some are absentee fathers, either spiritually or physically, like Timothy's. Isaac was a father who picked a favorite and in so doing did no favor for Esau. Saul was an abusive and domineering father which simply demonstrated his selfishness. Eli abdicated his responsibilities as a father and the children paid the price of his neglect.
Jarius was a caring and loving father that understood where to go to receive help in time of need. Jehonadab stood for God before his children, giving them an example that they could follow and respect. Abraham lived as a father that taught his children about God.
Genesis 18:19
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
A man name Joseph accepted his responsibility before God Almighty to raise and teach God's only begotten son. The best father to child relationship will impart godly knowledge, and godly wisdom, and godly understanding. The best child to father relationship will learn obedience to Truth and a walk in love.
God's Word gives us many examples of the father-child relationship, some are good examples and some are not. We are also given one perfect example of the father-child relationship, that being the relationship between Jesus and his Heavenly Father.
No matter what situation Jesus encountered; no matter what thoughts Jesus entertained on a personal level; no matter what level of frustration Jesus personally endured; all were set aside once God’s Will was known.
Luke 22:42
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.
It is from this relationship that God's children of today can see and learn that they can trust and have confidence in their Heavenly Father's ability to care for their every need. It is from this relationship that God's children of today can see and learn of their Heavenly Father's unending and unwavering love and commitment toward them. It is from this relationship that God's children of today can see and learn that their Heavenly Father will never harm them or abandon them to walk alone in this world.
It is all the more heart breaking then to hear what Christianity has taught concerning the actions of God when His only begotten son was carrying out His will by hanging on the cross. This doctrine of abandonment has presented to God's children not only a wrong view of their Heavenly Father but also a devilish mindset that produces the wrong way of believing.
Matthew 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?
We have been taught that God forsook His only begotten son because he became sin and sin cannot be in the presence of God.
As workmen of God's Word, we never work or study a teaching. If a teaching motivates us to study, then we are to study the subject in God's Word, not the teaching. It is God's Word that is Truth. A teaching, at best, will only contain part or an aspect of the Truth.
Abandonment is our first problem. If God abandoned Jesus Christ in his time of agony and overwhelming pain, a time of great mental stress and anxiety, then how can we trust God to stand with us when we are pressured or attacked by the world? If God walked out, even for a split second, on the only person who totally and completely obeyed His every word, what happens to me who have been less than obedient on more than a few occasions?
Do you see what this logic is building in our hearts and minds?
Do you see the damage inflicted upon our desire to trust and believe God?
Our second problem is the reason given for God's abandonment, the presence of sin. The rationalization that Jesus became sin and therefore God left because He cannot allow sin in His presence demonstrates a blindness of God's Word and God's heart.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden God is right there to work with them, to reestablish fellowship with them. When their son Cain sinned God talks with him and teaches him what is required to reestablish fellowship. All have inherited a sin nature from Adam and each has produced much fruit from that corrupted nature!
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he (God) hath made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin (a sin offering) for us, who (Jesus Christ) knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
God did not make Jesus Christ to be sin, Jesus Christ was our sin offering. The sin offering of the Old Testament, the Passover sacrifice, never became sin, it was an offering for sin.
The phrase "to be sin" is the figure of speech metonymy of subject whereby sin is put for sin-offering. The same figure of speech is used in Genesis 4:7 in reference to Cain and the sin offering. Sin did not lay at the door where Cain lived but rather an offering for sin.
Genesis 4:7
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin (a sin offering) lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
"Sin lieth at the door" is better translated, " at your entrance, [a male] is lying, a sin offering." God had provided an animal for Cain's sin offering.
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
Jesus was our offering for sin, not sin itself.
Acts 2:22-23
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Jesus Christ, the perfect man who lived a completely sinless life, was hanging on that cross by "the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God". Jesus had spoken to God just prior to his arrest, in the garden, and asked his Father if there was a plan B. God told him there was only one way to redeem mankind from the bondage of the Devil, then Jesus carried out that plan as he hung on that cross.
No moment in the life of Jesus Christ was harder or more difficult then when he approached the ninth hour of that day when he was hanging on that cross. Facing the crowds that wanted to king him; standing nose to nose with the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin from day to day; being spiritually confronted by devil spirits on almost a daily basis; all pale in comparison to those final minutes of the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus was exhausted, he was drained, he was in intense pain, and he still needed to make sure he had not missed one jot or title from the Word of God. Yet some teachers want us to believe that God chose those moments to take a break from His son because He could not stand to be in the presence of His sin burdened child!
How then can I trust God to stand with me, a consummate sinner, who is probably in trouble because once again I have failed to believe and obey God? I am a sinner, and only by God's grace and mercy can I stand before Him in righteousness. But Jesus Christ earned his way into the presence of God for he lived a completely sinless life. Remember Judas saying, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
I said we had two problems with a normal Christian understanding of Matthew 27:46. The problem of Jesus becoming sin and now we can see from God’s Word that he did not become sin but rather was the sin offering. Now we need to consider the problem of God forsaking, or abandoning Jesus when he was on the cross.
To understand what takes place in Matthew 27 we need to go back to the book of Psalms and gain an understanding of what David is saying when he wrote, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me." Jesus is quoting the 22nd Psalm while hanging on the cross. Why did Jesus choose to quote this specific passage?
Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm. By that I mean it is speaking of things that will happen specifically to the Messiah. Many times, God, in His written Word, will use a real event in the present to declare a spiritual Truth concerning the past, present, or future. The events covered in the 22nd Psalm are prophecy concerning the Messiah but have roots in an actual event that is taking place in real time.
Something is going on in David's life to cause this Psalm to be written. Understanding this event in David’s life can hold great insight for us. When would David have had occasion to feel so forsaken? The answer is in verse 20.
Psalm 22:20
Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog.
Psalm 22:20
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
English Standard Version
Psalm 22:20
Deliver my life from the sword, my only life from the power of these dogs.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Three versions and translated three different ways.
The word translated "power" is the Hebrew word yad and generally means hand but since dogs do not have hands it should be translated paw in this verse.
The Hebrew word yachiyd is translated "my darling" in this verse. Tyndale handles this Hebrew word in this verse as "only begotten son."
Judges 11:34
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
"His only child" is the Hebrew word yachiyd.
Young's Literal Translation handles Psalm 22:20 as follows:
“Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one”.
Therefore Psalm 22 is written by David when he was running from his son Absalom. The account of Absalom's rebellion against David is recorded in 2 Samuel 15-18. In reading the account of Absalom's revolt it is easily seen that David is now old and tired. Rather than fight his son, David chooses to run away.
Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
As David approached the end of his days, his son Absalom rebelled. But why would David think God had forsaken him?
The Hebrew word for forsaken is azab and it means "to forsake, to leave, to abandon". Let's consider some of the other times David used this same Hebrew word in other Psalms.
Psalm 9:10
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalm 27:10
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Psalm 37:28
For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
Psalm 94:14
For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
God does not forsake His people, His children, and David knew this when he was writing the 22nd Psalm. So what is David saying? Who or what is forsaking him since David is fully aware that God does not forsake?
Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
The word translated "God" is the Hebrew word "el" and has mostly been translated accurately as God. But God is not the only meaning of the word "el." El is also translated power, and mighty, and might, and strong. The correct translation is determined from the context.
Genesis 31:29
It is in the power (translated from el) of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Power is the correct translation here; it is not a reference to God.
Psalm 89:6
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty (el) can be likened unto the LORD?
Again, this is not a reference to God and el is accurately translated mighty.
Ezekiel 32:21
The strong (translated from the word el) among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Some theologian desiring to cling to his doctrine of abandonment will read this and say, yes these verses use the word "el" but the majority of times it should be translated God. To that I will whole heartedly agree. But studying God's Word is not about majority rules, it is about allowing God's Word to speak for itself and accurately seeing what God is communicating.
If I asked you to give me a definition for the word ball, what would you say?
Dictionary.com defines ball as, "a spherical or approximately spherical body or shape." Oxford Dictionary defines ball as, "a solid or hollow sphere or ovoid, especially one that is kicked, thrown, or hit in a game."
Most people would agree with that definition. However, that definition is completely wrong when the word ball is placed in a different context.
For example: Your boss gives you a specific assignment and says, "Take the ball and run with it." Does the definition fit this context?
While attending the Inaugural Ball of President Somebody, John was thrilled to dance with the First Lady. How does this context work with the Oxford Dictionary’s definition?
After returning from the park the two boys were asked by their mother how their day went, they responded, "We had a ball."
Context means everything. First, each word must fit within its immediate context. Then it must also fit within the remoter context.
From the more remote context we know that David is fully aware that God does not forsake His people. From the immediate context we see that David is old, he is tired, his strength has left him, "My strength, my strength, has forsaken me" is the more accurate understanding of what Psalm 22:1 is declaring.
"Has forsaken me" is the figure of speech erotesis. It is the asking of a question but not asking for an answer, therefore it can be handled in its translation as making a statement. So rather than saying, why hast thou forsaken me, it should be translated, "has forsaken me", making a statement rather than asking a question.
The words "why hast thou" are not in any text, they were added by a translator to make the one doing the forsaking God.
In David's situation his strength was gone, it had forsaken him. In Jesus Christ's situation he could feel his life draining out of him, he knew his time was at hand, his strength was gone.
Psalm 22:16-17
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
Mark 15:25
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
The third hour correlates to nine in the morning our time. Jesus Christ was arrested Monday evening while in the garden of Gethsemane. He is put on the cross Wednesday morning at nine in the morning. In between he has endured forty hours of brutal, sadistic punishment at the hands of men who fought hand to hand combat for a living. He has been beaten so badly that Isaiah describes him as beyond human recognition. This is the man they nailed to a stake that Wednesday morning.
The cross was not a T-shaped object but a stake straight up and down. He was nailed through the wrists with his arms stretched out over his head and his feet nailed just above the ankle. In this position it was almost impossible to breath, the rib cage would be completely visible (you can tell my bones from Psalm 22:17) and pulled taut against the lungs, compressing them. In order to breath a person would have to pull up on the nails in the wrists and push up on the nails in the ankles causing extreme pain, just to relax the rib cage and free the lungs to take one breath of air.
They offered him a pain killer right after nailing him to the stake but he refused.
Matthew 27:34
They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
He endured the pain; he endured the ridicule and vicious taunts of the people. His day was going to be cruelly long as the Passover lamb was not sacrificed until three in the afternoon. He would hang on that stake for six long hours.
Psalm 22:6-8
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
While David was running away from his son, he encountered relatives of King Saul.
2 Samuel 16:5-8
And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.
The kingdom lined up behind Absalom, David's end seemed to be at hand. Absalom desired to kill his father.
Matthew 27:39-43
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Where are the thousands he had fed? Where are those he healed; the lame who walked, the blind who saw, the lepers who were cleansed? What happened to all those who cried Hosanna when he entered Jerusalem just a short time ago?
Psalm 22:14-15
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
The life of Jesus is draining away; he is poured out like water; all of his joints are dislocated by the crucifixion yet he must still push up and pull up on the nails to breath; he can feel his organs shutting down; his strength is dried up like a broken clay pot; his tongue is stuck in his mouth because it has no moisture; he is on the verge of death.
Matthew 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?
It is just before three on Wednesday afternoon when Jesus utters the cry from Psalm 22. He is tired, he can feel the life draining out of him, he is personally out of strength but his time is not yet, he needs to hold on just a little bit longer.
His mind would be working, scriptures running through his mind, is everything accomplished, is there anything else I need to do? He is going through the 22nd Psalm in his mind, like David he is relying upon God to see him through.
Psalm 22:4-5
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Jesus knows he can trust God to deliver him. Deliver him from what? From the grave, from death.
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (pistis - the accomplished or complete believing of Jesus Christ); 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.
What was the joy that was set before him? The resurrection from the dead was set before him, he knew, he trusted God to deliver him.
Psalm 16 entered his mind.
Psalm 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
So, Jesus cried with a loud voice "My strength, my strength has forsaken me".
Jesus knows the 22nd Psalm details his death and crucifixion. He sees there is only one thing left to do according to the 22nd Psalm but before he allows his life to end, he concludes his ministry the way he began his ministry.
Luke 4:16-21
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
He opens his ministry with, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." He ends with crying out the beginning of the 22nd Psalm and in essence saying, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." He doesn't quote the whole Psalm, the pain of breathing wouldn't allow for such a declaration. Speaking at that point would have been incredibly painful and more than a little challenging with the lack of moisture in his mouth. His life is ending, it is almost three o'clock, time for the Passover sacrifice.
We learned when Lazarus was raised from the dead that Jesus was fully aware he didn't need to speak out loud to be heard by God.
John 11:41-42
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus cried out loud from the cross for the people who were standing there, so that they could know the 22nd Psalm had been fulfilled. Jesus never would have even considered that God would forsake or leave him.
Then following the words of Psalm 69 Jesus declared, "I thirst." After they had given him to drink, he concludes Psalm 22 and proclaims, "It is finished."
John 19:28-30
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Where was God while Jesus was hanging on that stake? He was right there with His beloved son.
John 8:28-29
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Where was God when Jesus was doing the will of God by hanging on that stake?
Now you know the answer to that question.
He was standing right there with His beloved son.
© Auxano Ministry 2017
