At our prayer group on Thursday 4th August, one of the readings was about the Crucifixion of Christ and the Crucifixion of the Mystical Body of Christ. This reading reminded Donna of something – a revelation she was once given to understand.
She said ” Do you know what? I want to share something. I don’t know if I’ve told you before…?: ‘My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?’ – that doesn’t mean what you think it means. It means so much more. We don’t need to wonder what Jesus meant. We can know.
Imagine if I was dying and in agony. If I said aloud “Our Father Who art in heaven…“- you would know what I meant.
It’s a prayer and you would assume that I was praying that prayer, even if I did not finish the words out loud. You might even finish praying it for me…The same can be said of many common prayers we share; we only need two words or so to know what that person means and is praying.
Well, that’s what Jesus was doing. Just before He died, when He cried out those words. He wasn’t asking God a question.
He was praying a psalm– and every Jew there, within earshot, would have known the words and would have known who He was quoting. They knew the end of it. It was a sign for them and for us.
You have to read the whole prayer to know what Jesus meant– what He indicated or signified. It changes everything. It uses the words of the prophet Isaiah. It’s in one of the psalms,” finished Donna.
I was thinking – “Which one? – There are 150 of them.” One of our other members immediately got a bible and opened it up and found it almost immediately! It was Psalm 22. It is reproduced below. We know that the New Testament is the completion of the Covenant of the Old Testament.
Jesus was reciting one of David’s psalms, which quoted Isaiah. If you read to the end, we find that it is a prayer of Hope, and Faith and Victory. It shows Jesus to be the Messiah, Who has perfectly fulfilled the prophecies made by Isaiah.
Psalm 22
2. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from my call for help,
from my cries of anguish?
3.My God, I call by day, but You do not answer;
by night, but I have no relief.
4.Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
You are the glory of Israel.
5.In You our fathers trusted;
they trusted and You rescued them.
6.To You they cried out and they escaped;
in You they trusted and were not disappointed.
7. But I am a worm, not a man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.
8.All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me:
9.“He relied on the LORD—let Him deliver him;
if he loves him, let Him rescue him.”
10. For you drew me forth from the womb,
made me safe at my mother’s breasts.
11. Upon you I was thrust from the womb;
since my mother bore me you are my God.
12. Do not stay far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
II
13. Many bulls surround me;
fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me.
14. They open their mouths against me,
lions that rend and roar.
15. Like water my life drains away;
all my bones are disjointed.
My heart has become like wax,
it melts away within me.
16. As dry as a potsherd is my throat;
my tongue cleaves to my palate;
you lay me in the dust of death
17. Dogs surround me;
a pack of evildoers closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet
18. I can count all my bones.
They stare at me and gloat;
19. they divide my garments among them;
for my clothing they cast lots.
20. But You, LORD, do not stay far off;
My strength, come quickly to help Me.
21. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of the dog.
22. Save me from the lion’s mouth,
my poor life from the horns of wild bulls.
III
23. Then I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the assembly I will praise you:
24. “You who fear the LORD, give praise!
All descendants of Jacob, give honor;
show reverence, all descendants of Israel!
25. For he has not spurned or disdained
the misery of this poor wretch,
Did not turn away from me,
but heard me when I cried out.
26. I will offer praise in the great assembly;
my vows I will fulfill before those who fear Him.
27. The poor * will eat their fill;
those who seek the LORD will offer praise.
May your hearts enjoy life forever!”
IV
28. All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of nations
will bow low before Him.
29. For kingship belongs to the LORD,
the ruler over the nations.
30 * All who sleep in the earth
will bow low before God;
All who have gone down into the dust
will kneel in homage.
31.And I will live for the LORD;
my descendants will serve you.
32. The generation to come will be told of the Lord,
that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn
the deliverance You have brought.
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