Psalm 22 Comes Alive – Psalm 22:1-18, Mat 27:45-50

In Matthew's account of the cross, Jesus lifts His voice only twice. These utterances are recorded in our passage today. The last sound we hear is a loud cry piercing the premature darkness as He yields up His spirit – sovereignly offering up His own body as our once-for-all sacrifice. Apart from this final moment we have only four words spoken by our Lord from the cross to consider from Matthew: “Eli, eli, lema sabachthani”. This appears in the text as a greek transliteration of the Aramaic spoken by Jesus from calvary which translates: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words signal a direct citation and fulfillment of Psalm 22. Verse one opens this messianic Psalm of David anticipating the very words and work of the author's messiah/son to come. Verses 1-18 of Ps 22 prefigure the redemptive work of Calvary while verses 19-31 celebrate and proclaim the resurrection and effects of the gospel. May this comparative study remind us today of the supernatural power of the word and work of almighty God!