The Eternal Word

In great pain and agony hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out his fifth statement, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Many have interpreted this statement as Jesus receiving the sin of mankind on himself, and therefore God could not look upon his son. However, did God really forsake his son, or was Jesus pointing us to Psalm 22 as being the fulfillment of this psalm? At this time the psalms did not have numbers, so Jesus was quoting the first verse of this particular psalm in order to point out that his death was not a haphazard decision but a fulfillment of the Word of God. The Bible establishes Christ as the supreme sacrifice for sin; he was found without sin, and therefore, the right to become the sacrifice for the sin of the world. Jesus took on the penalty of death for the sins of the world.