Hi Brian!

The word for this week is actually an Aramaic word. It is found in two places in the New Testament:

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? KJV

Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? KJV

Strong's Concordance says: thou has left me, a cry of distress. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: thou hast forsaken me. Vine's Expository Dictionary says: an Aramaic word signifying "Thou hast forsaken Me", recorded as part of the utterance of Christ on the cross. Also a quotation from Psalm 22:1:

1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? KJV

I have always looked at these verses as some of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible. What JESUS went through was not a light thing, with the scourging, the crown made of very long, sharp thorns, the mocking and taunting that He endured and the spikes driven through His wrists and feet, causing Him incredible pain and agony as He hung there, dying the death that was needful to be paid for OUR sin! All of that was for the purpose of paying our debt of sin, for providing health and healing to our bodies, and for bringing us back into a position in God that was even better than Adam had known because we now have GOD IN US! That is all so wonderful for us, at HIS expense! But, the hardest of all of that for JESUS to endure was what this week's words reflect! JESUS didn't just TAKE our sin, but He was MADE TO BE sin with OUR sinfulness! God the Father had to turn away from the SON because He could not look upon sin! THAT was the ultimate price that JESUS paid! And He did it of HIS own free will and out of HIS great love for us! Knowing this, we should never, ever forget who HE has made us to be, all because HE desires fellowship with US! HIS FAMILY! What a GLORIOUS SALVATION! Here is Hillsong with "Who You Say I Am", in case we are ever tempted to forget! 

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!