 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Seeking our ladies intercession, let us pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit to thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Good morning, brothers and sisters. Continuing in our series on the seven last words of Christ on the cross, we've reached the fourth, the middle of the seven last words of Christ. And this saying in particular is very powerful. All of you will remember it well. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Anytime we meditate on the word of God, there's always so much more to talk about that can never be said. I mean, you can write books and books upon any one of these statements of our Lord. So I'm not going to attempt to go into everything. But I want to point out to you today a few things. First and foremost, that this, according to Jesus, is the most important thing he said on the cross. And I'll explain how we know this. So for our Lord and therefore for each one of us, this statement of Jesus, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, is the most important message of all of these essential seven messages. The reason we know this is because of chiasms. And I've preached on this before for those who don't remember or for those who never heard. I'm going to remind you once again what a chiasm is. A chiasm is a literary structure. It's an equation that is used in forms of writing and narrative. So just like we have equations in mathematics in order to figure out problems and get answers. So you have equations actually in literature and narratives to help you tell stories, to help you point to important issues. A chiasm is one of these things. And there's two analogies we can use to understand it. A chiasm is in a sense like a pyramid. And if you walked around a pyramid, you'd see four different corners, all pretty much identical from similar angles. But the only point of the pyramid that really stands out is the tip. All of the corners and the bases point up towards it. That's the whole point of designing a pyramid. If you don't want people to look up to the top, you'd make it flat. That's like a chiasm. Everything in the narrative or in the sentence or in the story is pointing towards one single issue and topic. Something that the reader is supposed to focus upon. Another way to look at it is like a spiral staircase going upward. If you think about it, each time you do one full circle on the staircase, you have gone higher. You're elevated more and more each time until you reach the summit. But each circle is merely a repetition of what came before, isn't it? So you keep repeating the same over and over again until you get higher and higher. These are actually analogies for the spiritual life, because the spiritual life is a chiasm as well. In fact, God himself is a chiasm, which is why creation is chiastic. You have the father and the son who perfectly image each other. And what is their focus, but their love? The love between the two. That's the focus of the Godhead. The thing we're supposed to remember, God is love. The simple equation for chiasms is A, B, C, B prime, A prime. So there you go. Just memorize that. A, B, C, B prime, A prime. Now why is, okay, this is a chiastic equation because what stands out in that equation? C, right? C is the only unique thing in the entire equation. A may be the beginning, but it looks similar to A prime, the end. B, you know, follows A, but it imitates B prime, which is also preceding A. So the only thing that stands out is C, the very center of the chiasm. And that's true in the scriptures completely. So the Bible itself is actually chiastic. Individual books of the Bible are chiasms. Paragraphs are chiasm stories, sentences. It's full of these because it's so important because God wants to make it easy for us to figure out what he's talking about. What's the most important issue? Well, how many last statements did our Lord make on the cross? He made seven, an odd number, which means the center, the middle is the focus. That's today. The fourth of these statements, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So why would these be the most important words that our Lord speaks to each one of us from the cross? They're not words of despair. Even though that's how many read them. Jesus didn't actually believe the father had forsaken him. So why say it? He knew he was one with the father, not even death could separate him from the father. Why did he make this proclamation? So I'm going to say something to you and I just want you to respond naturally. A penny saved is a penny. How did you know that that was the end of the statement? It's a well known statement, isn't it? And there are many like this in all languages and cultures. Things that we know so well that you actually don't need to say the whole statement in order for everybody to know what you're talking about. Sticks and stones may break my bones. Well, supposedly nowadays, but you know. So it's very common throughout any culture as long as humans have spoken for phrases like these to be known so well that you didn't need to say the whole thing. You just say the first part and then everybody knew what you were talking about. This is actually true as well among scholars. What I mean is when they know a story or a philosophical concept or a passage so well, what they will do is only quote the first line because what's the point of wasting all the time quoting the whole passage when everybody knows what you're talking about. So at the time of Christ when rabbis would sit and discuss the law and the prophets, this is how they would quote scripture. They would only quote the first verse of a passage and then all the rabbis knew exactly what they were talking about. Jesus is quoting Psalm 22. This is the longest thing Jesus said from the cross. He just stated it by summarizing it and quoting the first line. Psalm 22 encapsulates everything our Lord wants us to learn from the cross. It's one of those Psalms that we have to meditate on regularly especially when we ourselves are suffering. It needs to be our Psalm in moments of pain and difficulty. It is the only thing that will console us as it consoled our Lord. And it's not a psalm of despair even though it begins, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And it begins that way because that's how he feels. He knows it's not true but he feels abandoned by God. But as we read through the psalm, what we find is he never despairs. He's never truly despondent. He continues to give praise to his father and place his trust in him. Now the entire scriptures are the word of God, are Jesus Christ. So when he quotes anything from the Old Testament, they're Jesus' own words. They just happen to be written by King David. So this psalm, Psalm 22, it belongs to Christ. And you'll hear as I read it to you this day how it actually speaks of the particular crosses that Jesus was bearing at this moment in his life. It prophesied them. And so I encourage you not only this week but during the season of Lent and any time that you suffer to return to Psalm 22 and to meditate on it. You'll find in it such consolation and peace. If you would please, if you're able to close your eyes and just listen intently. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day but you do not answer by night but I have no relief. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the glory of Israel. And you are fathers trusted. They trusted you and you rescued them. To you they cried out and they escaped. In you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm, not a man, scorned by men despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They curl their lips and jeer. They shake their heads at me. He relied on the Lord, let him deliver him. If he loves him, let him rescue him. For you drew me forth from the womb, made me safe at my mother's breast. Upon you I was thrust from the womb. Since my mother bore me, you are my God. Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me, fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me. They open their mouths against me, lions that rend in roar. Like water my life drains away. All my bones are disjointed. My heart has become like wax, it melts away within me. As dry as a pot shard is my throat. My tongue cleaves to my palate. You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me. A pack of evil doers closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They stare at me in gloat. They divide my garments among them. For my clothing they cast lots. But you, Lord, do not stay far off. My strength come quickly to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the grip of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, my poor life from the horns of wild bulls. Then I will proclaim your name to my brethren, and the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord give praise. All descendants of Jacob give honor. Show reverence all descendants of Israel. For he has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch. Do not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out. I will offer praise in the great assembly. My vows I will fulfill before those who fear him. The poor will eat their fill. Those who seek the Lord will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to all the families of nations will bow low before him. For kingship belongs to the Lord, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God. All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the Lord. My descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord. That they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.