Forsaken - Phil Le Cheminant | Freedom Church Jersey

Matthew 27:46 brings the church to the cry of Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus speaks those words in agony, but those words are not a random cry pulled out of thin air. They are the opening line of Psalm 22, a song his people knew in their bones. Like the first line of a familiar lyric, that cry would have filled the minds of those listening with the whole psalm.

The usual explanation says God is so holy that he cannot look on sin, so the Father turned away from the Son. But the life of Jesus makes that reading sit uncomfortably. The cross either confirms or contradicts everything Jesus has already shown about God. The father in the story of the prodigal son does not stand at a distance with folded arms. He watches the road, hitches up his robes, and runs while the son is still far off. The apology does not even get finished because it is swallowed up in the embrace.

Jesus shows that same God at Zacchaeus’ table. Zacchaeus is not just a “wee little man”; he is a collaborator, a traitor, the wrong sort of person. Jesus does not wait for him to repent first. Jesus says, “I’m coming to your house today.” Jesus shows that same God in the dirt beside the woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders say holiness demands distance. Jesus crouches lower than everyone else and stays when everyone else walks away.

Psalm 22 begins in real darkness. It knows mockery, abandonment, pierced hands and feet, divided garments, and the dust of death. Lament is not faith failing; lament is faith telling the truth. Yet Psalm 22 does not end where it begins. It says God “has not hidden his face” from the afflicted one, but has listened to his cry for help. The psalm travels from Good Friday darkness to Easter Sunday triumph, ending with the declaration, “He has done it.”

The cross, then, is not God moving away. The cross is God going all the way in. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,” not standing off in the corner, not covering his eyes, not holding his nose. Something was forsaken at the cross, but not Jesus. The lie was forsaken: the lie that God keeps his distance, that human mess is too much for him, that anyone could ever be beyond his reach.

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. God runs while sinners are far The father in Jesus’ story is not waiting for the son to get clean, get dignified, or get his apology exactly right. The embrace comes before the speech is finished, which means repentance is met by a love already moving down the road. God’s posture is not folded arms at a distance, but costly, undignified pursuit. [10:45]
• 2. Holiness moves toward human mess Zacchaeus and the woman in the dirt both expose the same religious assumption: sin should make God step back. Jesus does the opposite. His holiness is not fragile avoidance, but fearless nearness that sees fully and stays anyway. [14:46]
• 3. Lament can still be faith Psalm 22 begins with a cry that sounds like abandonment, but that cry belongs inside Israel’s worship, not outside it. Jesus inherits the language of anguish and prays it from the cross. Honest pain is not the collapse of faith; it can be faith refusing to let go in the dark. [18:14]
• 4. The cross is God drawing close The cross is not the Father turning away from the Son, but God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The darkest moment is not divine withdrawal, but divine presence going all the way in. Easter does not cancel the cross; Easter vindicates what the cross reveals about God. [21:12]
• 5. A lie died at Calvary The thing forsaken at the cross is the lie that God keeps his distance. Shame often says God will come close only after everything is sorted out, but Jesus reveals a God already running. The cross kills the idea that any person is beyond his reach. [25:06]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:46] - “My God, My God”
• [01:29] - Finish That Lyric
• [06:49] - Knowing the Whole Song
• [07:26] - Did God Turn Away?
• [08:28] - The Father Who Runs
• [11:35] - Jesus at Zacchaeus’ Table
• [13:07] - Jesus Stays in the Dirt
• [15:29] - Psalm 22 on the Cross
• [18:14] - Lament That Holds On
• [20:45] - God Was in Christ
• [22:26] - God Draws Close Because You Are His
• [24:49] - What Was Really Forsaken
• [26:05] - Closing Prayer

Bible Reading

Matthew 27:46
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” [01:29]

Psalm 22
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!’ Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.” [18:14]

Luke 15:20-24
“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” [10:45]

2 Corinthians 5:19
“that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” [21:12]

Observation questions

1. In Luke 15, what does the father do while the son is still “a long way off,” and what happens to the son’s prepared apology once he arrives? [10:45]
2. In Psalm 22, what details sound especially close to the crucifixion story in Matthew 27?
3. How does Psalm 22 move from its opening cry of abandonment to its later description of God’s response to the afflicted one? [19:11]
4. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, what is God doing “in Christ,” and what does that verse say God is not counting against people? [21:12]

Interpretation questions

1. If Jesus begins Psalm 22 from the cross, what might that suggest about what he wants listeners to hear beyond the first line? [16:32]
2. Psalm 22 says, “he has not hidden his face from him.” How does that shape the way the group understands Jesus’ cry, “Why have you forsaken me?” [19:17]
3. Jesus consistently moves toward people others would avoid. How does that pattern help the group think about what God is like at the cross? [14:46]
4. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” is a strong claim. How does that challenge the idea that God stood at a distance from the cross? [21:28]

Application questions

1. Many people carry the feeling that they need to clean themselves up before God will come near. Where does that show up most in real life right now: shame, prayer, habits, relationships, or something else? [25:32]
2. God runs toward people while they are still far off. What would it look like to actually believe that in this season instead of just agreeing with it in theory? [26:05]
3. Lament is not faith failing; it can be faith telling the truth. What honest prayer has been hard to say out loud lately, and what would it look like to bring that to God without pretending? [18:42]
4. Jesus moved toward Zacchaeus and stayed near the woman in the dirt. Who is the person or type of person it is easiest to keep at arm’s length, and what might nearness look like without pretending sin does not matter? [14:46]
5. If the cross exposes the lie that God keeps his distance, what lie about God’s posture toward you has been hardest to let go of? [25:01]
6. God’s presence moves toward the world he loves. Where might God be inviting this group to show up more personally and practically rather than staying safely distant? [24:11]
7. Jesus prayed words of anguish and still held on. For someone who feels like they are hanging on by a thread, what does it look like to keep hold of God in the dark? [20:45]