4/6
Matthew 27:45-46
45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"窶努hich means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus was crucified around the time of the morning sacrifice, 9 A.M. At noon there was a strange darkness. It lasted until the afternoon sacrifice, 3 P.M. It is reminiscent of the plague of darkness that covered the land of Egypt. In the area that Israel lived, there was light, but the rest of Egypt was covered with a thick darkness. God is light. In Him is no darkness at all. Hell unleashed upon the Savior in those three hours because our sins were laid upon Him.
Toward the end of the three hours, Jesus cried out in a loud voice the beginning of Psalm 22. It is not likely that He could have said the whole phrase at once. Each painful breath had to be drawn while pulling against the nails in His wrists and pushing against those in His ankles. These few words had to say volumes. In that psalm, David prophesied the very details of what was taking place. He predicted Jesus' anguish, His thirst, the lots cast for His clothing, and even the nails in His hands and feet. Many have taken this to be a voice of despair. I see it more as a battle cry against the darkness. Read the rest of the psalm and you will see Jesus' thoughts are toward the victory He is achieving for those He loves. He was turning His disciples' minds to the Word of God. It was one way, with the limited strength He had left, that He could explain that this was all predicted and would end in a glorious outcome.
I encourage you to read the whole psalm to understand the fullness of where Jesus was pointing the disciples. Here are the last two verses. Psalms 22:30-31 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn窶 for he has done it.
Consider: He has done it, for you and me! "It is finished!" We are a part of those future generations declaring the victory won on the cross.
