Did Jesus Fail Part 2
In Part 1 we commented briefly upon Albert Schweitzer’s claim that Jesus dying words (My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?) demonstrated that our Lord died in despair, believing Jehovah had failed Him. Schweitzer asserted that this is the only possible explanation for our Lord’s citation of Psalm 22:1 in those last agonizing minutes upon the cross. He was wrong.
A leading scholar of Rabbinic Judaism, the late Anthony J Saldarini helps us place Jesus’ words in context in his comment upon Matthew 27:46. The late professor informs us:
Since the citation of a first verse often implies the recitation of the whole passage in ancient literature, the author probably alludes to the whole psalm. Jesus’ cry for help should not be interpreted as a sign of despair, but, like the psalm itself, as an expression of his deep suffering and human fear before death and of his continuing reliance on God to save him.
If Schweitzer had read the whole psalm with this understanding, he would not have mistaken a cry of victory for a groan of defeat. In the midst of pain, the psalmist calls upon all who fear Jehovah to praise Him (v22), to glorify Him (v 23) and to stand in awe of Him (v 23). Far from fearing that God has deserted Him, the psalmist is confident that Jehovah “has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted” (v24). He urges those who seek Him: “let your heart live forever” (v 26). These are the words of triumph not despair.
Rex
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