"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (11)

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (11)

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?"(15:34)

Psalm 22 represents the suffering of innocent people. Jesus’ cry comes out from here which says, “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? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.” (Psalm 22:1,2)

We can imagine the heart of the author of Psalm 22. He was in trouble that he thought he had been forsaken by God. God did not help him and nor listened to his groaning nor answered for his cry for help. He experienced the same intensity of suffering Jesus had on the cross.

The Psalmist further appeals saying, “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads： ‘He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’” (Psalm 22:6-8)

People take pleasure in mocking the man who is placed in a miserable situation in which he looks like someone forsaken by God. They say, “Let the Lord recue him?” This is the statement which is unbearable for the Psalmist to hear. In a way, the psalmist would not mind if they mocked at him along. It could be considered as something normal for there has been no generation that recognized a true prophet. However, the situation in which God is mocked is absolutely unnatural and ironical.

On the cross, while he was being mocked at, did Jesus think that God was being mocked at rather than him? For those who believe in God, there is no other more desperate incident than such thing that had happened to Jesus which impelled him to utter, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"