Jesus prayed an anguished prayer on the cross. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46). His prayer displayed faith in God. Its vocalization was a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1. Yet, he asked a haunting question that seems almost to be an accusation of the Father. Wayne Jackson explained, “It frequently is the case in Hebrew idiom that the active voice of a verb is used in the passive sense, i.e., what God is said to do, he merely permits to be done” (NT Commentary 71-72).
Why did Jesus not understand that his Father could not save him and provide a means of salvation for lost mankind? When he gave up heaven to come to earth, he limited himself (see Philippians 2:7; Matthew 8:10; Mark 6:6). Had he have been in heaven, he would have known precisely why his Father could not save him. He walked the earth as a man (Hebrews 2:17-18).
Jesus also prayed a prayer of commitment on the cross. He had fulfilled everything the prophets of old wrote regarding him and prayed a simple prayer, “It is finished” (John 19:28-30). He also said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46). He then died. Our Lord was obviously not a materialist, believing there is only the material world with no spirit world. He knew the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). He also knew the spirit of man lives on (Matthew 22:23-33). Beyond that, Jesus trusted God to save him. That trust was proven to be well-founded when he arose on the third day (Acts 2:32).
May the example of Jesus remind us to go to the Father when we are in anguish. May his example also give us confidence to rely on the Father to raise us up (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
Gary C. Hampton