“Why have you forsaken me?” – The Rest of the Story

In the Passion Narratives, Jesus Christ, ever the Divine Prophet, utters these words:

“My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46).

There has been much questioning of this line.  Is Jesus feeling abandoned?  Does He really think that God has left Him?  

In a word, no.  (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church – 603).

What He said would not be lost on some Jews.  And with the passage of time, the amazing prophecy of Jesus’ words becomes clear.

Paul Harvey, the iconic radio host, used to say that you just needed to know “The Rest of the Story”.

Jesus is quoting the first line of Psalm 22: “My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

The “rest of the story” of Psalm 22 comes at the end:

[27] All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
[28] For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
[29] Yea, to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and he who cannot keep himself alive.
[30] Posterity shall serve him;
men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation,
[31] and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
that he has wrought it.

What Jesus is doing is leaving a mysterious prophesy for the future.  Consider:

• “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord” – Today, Christianity is the by far the largest religion.
• “All the families of the nations shall worship before him.” – The Church is global; in every nation.
• “The proud of the earth will bow down” – Starting with Constantine, and continuing through our day, many of those with high status bow down to Him.  The unrepentant and non-believesrs bow to His judgment at the end of their lives.
• “All men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation” – True.  The world has been evangelized…and will continue to be so for each new generation.
• “Proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn that he has wrought it.”  The Gospel of Jesus continues to be preached to future generations, until time ends.

And now you know the rest of the story.