Episode 190 – Out of Context Pt 6: My God, My God (Matthew 27:46)
Key Passage(s): Matthew 27:45-46; Psalm 22; John 19:30; Luke 23:46
During Holy Week, people all over the world remember Jesus’s words on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Did God really abandon Jesus on the cross? Or was Jesus quoting these specific words at this specific moment for a specific reason? In this final episode of “Out of Context,” we unpack Jesus’s use of a rabbinic technique called “remez” to make a bold claim about his supreme confidence in God’s faithfulness. Once you understand the context of these powerful words, you’ll be inspired by the knowledge that even in our darkest moments, God doesn’t leave us or abandon us!
Discussion Questions
- What was your biggest takeaway from the teaching?
- In Jesus’s darkest hour, he grounded himself in the Text. Are there any passages of Scripture you cling to when life gets tough? (What are they? How do these passages bring you comfort and hope?)
- God didn’t abandon Jesus in his darkest hour, and He doesn’t abandon us in ours either. How have you experienced God’s Presence in some of your darkest hours? What did that look like?
- By quoting Psalm 22 on the cross, Jesus suffered faithfully and with confidence. How have you seen others suffer with faithfulness and confidence?
- How will you begin living out the truths of this teaching this week?
For Further Study
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Great teaching. Thanks, Brad for sharing this critically important message with so many!
WOW!
So, so good. And amen.
Also, something else that came to mind as I was listening to this, Brad, is how the Temple curtain was torn in two upon Jesus’ death. That is exactly like a Jewish father, as you well know, rending his garment when his son has died. Why rend the garment if the relationship is not still—and always has been, and always will be—in tact.
So appreciate your teachings. Our Franklin-based study group just finished Jesus in Galilee together. Great study! Thanks for helping us walk out the Word in our lives.
Amen, Jesus had to empty Himself out of His pure blood in order to recieve the sins of the world. And at that time, yes, God turned His back on Him because He cannot look upon sin.
Praising God!!
Thank you Brad.
Knowing a portion of a portion, is like knowing the whole portion. That is a wonderful learning tool. Reading and learning God’s word is so full and deep, a forever wonderful place to dwell.
Thank you again for your commitment to helping us grow and understand God’s word. From Holland Michigan.
Appreciated the timing of this teaching! I had just heard podcast by Tim Keller which included a strong teaching about why Christ’s garden agony came on so “suddenly” : the look into the darkness and torment ahead surely, BUT emphasis on the retreating presence of God – so unfamiliar and terrifying a reality for the beloved Son!! Your “context” corrected lesson – so heart-felt and strongly delivered (thank you!) was a GREAT repeat and expanded message I had heard from you previously! My (Messianic) sisters will SO understand your teaching and the impact of the scripture (and totally “get” the Remez!!) Baruch HaShem!
So kind of you Faith. Thanks for sharing!
Yes the video is fantastic I love every video and teaching just wanted to point something out in this last video of out of context is you reference Luke 23-46 to psalms 31-6 but the verse is psalms 31-5 according to my NIV version
My walk was full of misunderstandings and out of context teaching. I have a passion to learn and live from context.
What, if any, significance is the fact that the Psalms were songs? I can remember lyrics to songs and hymns I haven’t heard in decades…Give me the starting line and I can take it from there…
There is definitely significance to Psalms as songs, though I’m not sure that features as significantly in this text. Certain groups of Psalms—called the Hallel (praise)—were sung during pilgrim feasts. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel and recount God’s saving activity during the Exodus. These songs had a special significance during Passover. Jewish pilgrims sang these songs on their way to the Temple in Jerusalem. Imagine Jesus’s triumphal entry, and everyone’s singing the Hallel, anticipating the Messiah who’s going to do it again! Stick it to the Romans the way you did to Pharaoh! Those songs set a crucial backdrop for understanding Jesus’s triumphal entry and how he came as a different kind of king than the one they were expecting.
With regard to Jesus’s cry, people are probably more familiar with the words simply because they are steeped in the Scriptures, having much of it committed to memory. As Jewish meditation literature, people studied, memorized, argued over, meditated upon, etc. They carried these texts in their bones. Recognizing a portion of the Text would’ve triggered recognition of the larger context simply because of their memory and deep devotion to it.
Excellent. Again very helpful.
Thanks Sheila!
I would like to see a series on the book of revelation.