Strong bulls of Bashan

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

Matt 27:46

This verse captures the last words in the final moments of Jesus’s life as he hangs dying from the cross.  Here Jesus cries out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

"Why have you forsaken me?"

In the first instance, these words convey the deep sense of anguish and feelings of abandonment that Jesus must have been experiencing as he cries out “Why have you forsaken me”. But is there something more that Jesus is pointing us to, something other than abandonment?

Jesus’s final words are a direct quotation from Psalm 22:1, a Messianic psalm that speaks of Him. By quoting from this psalm, Jesus does three things, firstly he expresses the intensity of his suffering, secondly, he draws attention to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and thirdly, he reveals that he is far from being abandoned by the Father, for we only need to read the entire Psalm to discover this for ourselves.

Please take the time to read Psalm 22 for yourself as a reminder of its Messianic nature and its message of the cross. Whilst the psalm begins with feelings of abandonment and distress, it ends with hope and praise as It symbolises Jesus' journey from suffering to eventual triumph over evil through his resurrection.

In His cry, "Why have you forsaken me?" we see the depth of his humanity, as he takes the weight of the sins of the world upon himself. For it is sin that separates all of us from God, the holy one who in his holiness is “set apart”. Despite Jesus’s intimate relationship with the Father, in that moment, he experiences that sense of separation, not in essence, but in the separation that comes about by taking on our sins and the sins of the world.

For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

Psalm 22:24

Thankfully In verse 24 we find words of hope as we read that Jesus is not abandoned by the Father. So in Jesus' last moment of life, the words he uttered served to strengthen us as they pointed us to his resurrection and ultimate victory over the powers of darkness.

What about verse 12?

Have you ever wondered what verse 12 of Psalm 22 speaks about?

Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me

Caesarea Philippi is located in the northern part of the Old Testament region of Bashan, the “place of the serpent,” which is located at the foot of Mount Hermon. It was also called “Panias” and was famous in the ancient world as a centre of the worship of Pan and a temple to the high god Zeus.

Bashan is also the Old Testament’s location of the gate of hell. The gateway to the underworld and the realm of the dead. It’s also believed to be the place where the rebellious sons of God, the Nephilim descended,

Genesis 6:1-4

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

So it’s no wonder why “Strong bulls of Bashan” are also referred to in the Psalm.

“strong bulls of Bashan encircle me”

The devil knew who Jesus was, but the forces of darkness did not know or could ever know God’s redemptive plan for humanity, simply because if they did, they would not have worked to have Jesus killed!

Foolishly they believe that by killing the Son of God they would destroy the Almighty’s plan to redeem the world, and in doing so, defeat God.

Instead, Jesus went in perfect obedience to the Father’s will to drink the cup that the Father had planned for him from before the beginning of time. And the devil's instrument of death, the cross was the mechanism through which Messiah Jesus used to defeat death and destruction once and for all when the Father raised Him back to life on the third day.

And there In that crowd that watched Jesus dying on the cross, the enemy walked and moved unseen. Amongst the Jewish religious leaders who sneered and jeerers, amongst those who wept with hearts broken, and amongst the Roman soldiers doing their job. walked the devil and his demons, “the strong bulls of Bashan”, who believed that Jesus’s death would bring about their ultimate victory.

The foolish arrogance of a created creature to believe it could outwit the Almighty!

The cross, the instrument of death was the catalyst that God used to launch the Kingdom of God into our earthly realm.

And here’s the crux, Jesus went to the cross for you and me!

Have a great week, and God bless.

Trev.