(34) Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do..." (Luke 23:33-34 KJV)
(See also Mark 15:27-28.)
―And he was numbered with the transgressors; and bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors". (Isaiah 53:12 KJV)
―And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46 KJV)
Death:
Death is an experience that no person can totally share with another. Each must pass from this life to death
unaccompanied by friends or loved ones. Death is the most lonely and solitary experience that anyone can
experience.
Although there were many people watching the crucifixion, Y‘shua was totally alone in his innermost
thoughts; there was no one with whom he could share his pain, his agony, or his thoughts – he was totally
alone in his moment of death.
Y‘shua had always had the comfort of knowing that he had access to the Father; he could always call upon
the limitless power of the Holy Spirit as he performed his ministry and he could command the angels to
defend and protect him. But now, because He had committed to giving His life in exchange for the
forgiveness of sin, He was as any other human; He was without the power to stop the progression of events
that would lead to his death. Y‘shua was going to die alone just like any other human.
As His physical pain increased and the realisation that He was totally alone sank deep within His
consciousness, Y‘shua felt the overpowering emotion of being alone. In this moment of great need of comfort
and support, He cried out to his Father for encouragement:
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Yes, the Father had forsaken Him in the moment of his death. Not even YHWH the Father can accompany a
person in death (Matt 22:32). The Father could not reach down in this moment of His Son's greatest need
and save Him. If he had done this, Y‘shua would not have suffered death as other humans suffer it and he
would not have totally understood the human experience. But Y‘shua did die as a human dies; therefore, we
now have a high priest who truly understands us in every way.
(9) ―But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angles for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
(10) For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering". (Heb 2:9-10 NIV)
(14) ―Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he
might destroy him who holds the power of death (that is, the Devil)
(15) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
(16) For surely it is not the angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.
(17) For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the
people".
(Heb 2:14-17 NIV)
―Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted". (Heb
2:18) (See also Heb 5:6-8; Phil 2:5-8.)
The Unbroken Bones:―Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not
want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they ask Pilate to have the legs broken and the
bodies taken down". (John 19:31 NIV)
It is important to understand why the Jews were in a hurry to have the bodies removed and buried.
During that time in history, the Jews believed that it would defile the Sabbath or a festival day to leave a body
unburied on one of these days. Therefore, the Jews were very anxious to remove the bodies and bury them
before sunset, as the very next day was a ̳high holy day‘ – one of the seven high holy Sabbaths that fell in
the mid of the week (will discuss it later on).