Sabbath Thought – Passover and Psalm 22

This evening, the baptized members of the Church of God will partake of the Passover. This evening is the most sobering evening of the year for God’s people, as we ponder and remember what Jesus Christ did for each of us (and eventually for all of man­kind) in being our Passover sacrifice. Because we have repented of our sins, exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ, been baptized and received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, we are no longer under the penalty of death for our sins. We can, therefore, embrace the promise and hope of eternal life. 

Those who have come to baptism understand this because they looked at their sins and realized that unless they repented of their sins and exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ they were going to die being cut off from God. But despite knowing this, have you ever felt cut off from God? Humanly, we might say, “No, I have never felt removed from God’s pres­ence.” But I am sure that there have been times in each of our lives when it felt like we were cut off from God. How can I say that? Because in Isaiah 59:2 we are told that our iniquities separate us from God. This is a sobering thought to consider.

If we truly understand our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ, we should desire to never be separated from God. But one does not have to remain dis­couraged by feeling that they can be separated from God. Here’s why. In Isaiah 59:1 we are also told that “…the Lord’s hand is not shortened...” The word “shortened” here is not an adjective—it is not describing length—it is an adverb describing an emotion. The Hebrew word means to “be short” as in impatient. A secondary meaning can mean to “cut off” as in harvesting or as in docking an animal’s tail. 

As we consider the question of whether we have ever felt like we were cut off from God, let’s consider the answer we might give as we look at Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Was Christ ever separated from the Father? 

Jesus Christ was human, and the fact that He lived in the flesh shows us that He has a deep understanding of what we go through in overcoming sin. It also shows us that He experienced things He had never experienced before because He had never been human. For example, being separated from God just before the moment of His death. 

During the Passover of 31 AD, Jesus instituted new symbols for the service and afterwards spoke to the disciples regarding many things on His mind in terms of what His desire was for them, why He came to be our Passover, and His deep desire to be restored to His glory. Nonetheless, Christ was taken and illegally tried overnight, and by morn­ing was scourged by the Roman authorities. Around 3 p.m., as Christ was dying on the cross, when He was about to take on the role of the Passover lamb to atone for the sins of mankind. After hours of scourging, and then hours and hours of excruciating pain on the cross, Jesus called out to the Father, “…why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). This statement is also recorded in Psalm 22:1. 

The word “forsaken” there in Matthew 27:46 means to be “left behind, deserted, or abandoned.” As was mentioned earlier, Jesus had told His disciples in Mat­thew 26:53 that He could call on legions of angels if He wanted, so why could He not call on God at that point? Could Jesus not call on the power and strength of God, as He had throughout His life? In His greatest hours of need, why was He alone? 

When Jesus Christ cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani!” in Matthew 27:46, He was not merely quoting Psalm 22:1, He was living it. Jesus Christ was forsaken by the Father at the moment of His death because He became sin for us. That was the plan of God and the Word from the foundation of the world (Philippians 2:5-8; Revelation 13:8). The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 

For now, the world is still in its sins, but we know that all can be granted forgiveness through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Ro­mans 5:6-11). He became the perfect Lamb for the “passing over” of our sin (1 Corinthians 5:7). We no longer partake of the meal God instructed ancient Israel to eat. We don’t put lamb’s blood on our doorposts. We now partake of the “blood” of Christ through the symbol of the wine on Passover evening. Christ is to live in us (2 Corinthians 13:4-5). 

When sin is present in our lives, we can confess our sins and be forgiven through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We know the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus died to pay for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16). For this reason, the Father would not intervene for His only begotten Son at the moment He became sin for humankind. 

As Jesus Christ hung dying on that cross, He knew that He bore, through His death, the sins of the world. He also knew He would bear them alone. This is why the Father strengthened Christ before He was crucified (Luke 22:43). Christ had lived His life drawing on the strength of His Father. Throughout the scourging and the crucifixion, He continued to do the same. He went through all that He did because of the joy in knowing what His death would accomplish (Hebrews 12:2). But He had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death alone. 

There was no other option for God. If sin separates humankind (cuts us off) from God, and if Jesus became sin for us, then God had to forsake Him and allow Him to die. But God did not forsake His only begotten Son forever. The Father raised Jesus from the dead and now He sits on the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us in His role as high priest (Acts 2:29-33; Hebrews 7:25-26). Our sin does not separate us from God unless we refuse to repent and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

Through His sinless sacrifice, Jesus Christ became our merciful High Priest (He­brews 2:17; 7:26). Christ can now intercede for us before the Father with far more meaning and fervor than He could before His human death. He knows firsthand what it is like to be tempted (Hebrews 4:15). He also learned even deeper obedience to the Father through suffering as He experienced death on the cross (Hebrews 5:8). 

Jesus Christ is the One who inspired David to write Psalm 22. He knew these words as He hung on that cross. Jesus Christ was not just quoting words that He remembered—He was fulfilling prophecy. He knew He would face death alone, but He also knew that He would not be cut off forever! 

The calling you and I have is a serious calling—however, it is also a hope-filled calling with a promise of eternal life that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His living in us. We need to always remember Psalm 22—it describes the terrible suffering that Jesus endured on the cross, but it also recounts the restoration that we can have through our Savior. And in so doing, we will have a deeper appreciation for the meaning of Passover. May we live up to the sacrifice Christ made for each one of us and never be separated from God because of unrepented sin.

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath and Days of Unleavened Bread,

Dan Dowd

12 April, 2025