Chapter XCIX.—In the commencement of the Psalm are Christ’s dying words.
And when I had said these words, I continued: “Now I will demonstrate to you that the
whole Psalm refers thus to Christ, by the words which I shall again explain. What is said at
first—‘O God, my God, attend to me: why hast Thou forsaken me?’—announced from the
beginning that which was to be said in the time of Christ. For when crucified, He spake: ‘O
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?’ And what follows: ‘The words of my transgres-
sions are far from my salvation. O my God, I will cry to Thee in the day-time, and Thou
wilt not hear; and in the night-season, and it is not for want of understanding in me.’ These,
as well as the things which He was to do, were spoken. For on the day on which He was to
be crucified,561 having taken three of His disciples to the hill called Olivet, situated opposite
to the temple in Jerusalem, He prayed in these words: ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me.’562 And again He prayed: ‘Not as I will, but as Thou wilt;’563 showing by this
that He had become truly a suffering man. But lest any one should say, He did not know
then that He had to suffer, He adds immediately in the Psalm: ‘And it is not for want of
understanding in me.’ Even as there was no ignorance on God’s part when He asked Adam
where he was, or asked Cain where Abel was; but [it was done] to convince each what kind
of man he was, and in order that through the record [of Scripture] we might have a knowledge
of all: so likewise Christ declared that ignorance was not on His side, but on theirs, who
thought that He was not the Christ, but fancied they would put Him to death, and that He,
like some common mortal, would remain in Hades.
561 [Jewish computation of the evening as part of the succeeding day.]
562 Matt. xxvi. 39.
563 Ibid.
Chapter XCIX.—In the commencement of the Psalm are Christ’s dying words.
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Chapter XCIX.—In the commencement of the Psalm are Christ’s dying words