“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?””
This passage of scripture in Matthew 27 has been debated for over 2,000 years and everyone seems to have their own idea as to what Jesus means when He said “Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani.”
This is the only phrase in the New Testament I have found that has not been translated from the language Jesus originally spoke it. We must understand how those surrounding Jesus on the Cross would have understood Him when He said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.”
I don’t believe in Jesus saying “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” was Him interpreting “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.” As I’ve prayed and asked the Holy Spirit, I believe it’s a secondary phrase by which Jesus is also pointing them to Psalms 22. They did not have chapter/verse markings in the scripture back then. They identified an entire Psalm based off the first words of it. Which Psalms 22:1 says, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?”
This Psalms reveals Jesus on the Cross as He was in that exact moment, as well as His second coming and the full establishment of His Kingdom. So He was saying “hey you all that Psalm David wrote, that’s what you are seeing right before your eyes, as well as what will be seen in the future, I Am the fulfillment”.
We also see right in the midst of this Psalm in verse 24 “For He (the Father) has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He (the Father) hidden His face (the Father) from Him (Jesus); But when He (Jesus) cried to Him (the Father), He (the Father) heard.”
Paul even says in 2 Corinthians, “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19), so how would He who was within have forsaken or turned His face from Jesus?
So what does the phrase Jesus spoke translate to? Jesus and His disciples were from the Northern part of Israel, Galilee, where they spoke a Northern dialect of Aramaic. So Jesus would have spoken with a Northern accent and sometimes what He said might not be clear to the people speaking a Southern dialect. This is probably why some thought He was calling for Elijah (Matthew 27:47)
For much time it was believed by scholars that the Northern dialect of Aramaic or the Old Galilean dialect was a dead language. However, linguist found a tribe in Northern Iraq that still speak this dialect and scholars from Oxford descended upon these people to learn some of the finer points of this dialect.
In the Old Galilean lama sabachthani means, “this is why I have been kept” or “this is my destiny.” In fact, scholars have discovered this phrase still in use in that tribe who still speaks Old Galilean. They use it in the context of “this is my destiny.” So, the Lord Jesus was not speaking this to the Father, but to those who were mourning His death, those who understood His dialect. So in Jesus’ last breath what He could have been saying is, “Listen to my heart, this is my destiny.” Jesus was telling those who were in sorrow over His soon death, “Listen to my heart, this is my destiny This is why I came to earth in human form and that is to die to give you eternal life.”
To think God could not look upon sin would be completely against Jesus even coming in the flesh as He came down right into the midst of sin, that is mankind missing the mark of who He created them to be!
Jesus came to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life!!!