The following will likely open a can of worms. But it’s a subject that must be fully understood, not through the eyes of commentators or religious organizations, but understood by the authority of the Holy Spirit. Before you answer, consider all the details that led up to this moment.
It concerns Matthew 27:46. We find Jesus hanging from the cross, looking down at a mob of Jews, Gentiles, and religious leaders who hated him. These were people he taught, healed, and fed. Before he died, he made two statements. The first,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The word forsaken means to abandon completely, to turn one’s back on someone, and walk away.
His last words are found in Luke 23:46, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Then his spirit left him.
There appear to be two strikingly different statements coming from a dying man, a man who had just suffered the excruciating pain of the cross. Here’s the question: When Jesus said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” was he speaking to his Father, or to those who were spitting on him, and mocking him? These were the same people he walked with for 3 ½ years, fed, healed, and showed many signs and wonders to.
Your thoughts.
My, God, my God, why?
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #31So you have no problem calling Jesus --> A < ----God ?
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How many TRUE GODs are there ? [Only True God explained]
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"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681
"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #32True Godship of Jesus is my main concern not the "a".JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:33 pmSo you have no problem calling Jesus --> A < ----God ?
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How many TRUE GODs are there ? [Only True God explained]
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I know you worship Jesus, but Jesus said, "worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
Why you would not answer the question;
Whose words you only obey? Jesus or the Father?
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #33For mankind, there is one true God, he's called in the O.T. Jehovah, in the new, he is called Jesus. And whatever he does, or speaks, his blessings and judgments are all done to glorify his Father who is also known as Jehovah.Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:03 pmTrue Godship of Jesus is my main concern not the "a".JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:33 pmSo you have no problem calling Jesus --> A < ----God ?
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How many TRUE GODs are there ? [Only True God explained]
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I know you worship Jesus, but Jesus said, "worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
Why you would not answer the question;
Whose words you only obey? Jesus or the Father?
I don't know if you remember George Forman, he was the heavyweight boxing champion for three different decades. He has a family and has four sons. Their names are, George, George, George and George. My Father's name was Phillip, and my name is Phillip. If my mother wanted me, and my father and I were in the same room, she said, "Hay you" then I knew she wanted me. I cannot, for the life of me understand why it's so difficult for anyone to understand that the Son of God, who is the express image and likeness of his Father carries the same name as his father. It's a common practice worldwide and has been in all generations.
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #34Does that mean adding an "a" as YOU gave just done is unimportant and not something worthy of concern ?
INDEX: More bible based ANSWERS
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"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681
"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #35Do you mean that the Father in the OT is Jesus in the NT?placebofactor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:39 pmFor mankind, there is one true God, he's called in the O.T. Jehovah, in the new, he is called Jesus. And whatever he does, or speaks, his blessings and judgments are all done to glorify his Father who is also known as Jehovah.Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:03 pmTrue Godship of Jesus is my main concern not the "a".JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:33 pmSo you have no problem calling Jesus --> A < ----God ?
JW
How many TRUE GODs are there ? [Only True God explained]
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I know you worship Jesus, but Jesus said, "worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
Why you would not answer the question;
Whose words you only obey? Jesus or the Father?
I don't know if you remember George Forman, he was the heavyweight boxing champion for three different decades. He has a family and has four sons. Their names are, George, George, George and George. My Father's name was Phillip, and my name is Phillip. If my mother wanted me, and my father and I were in the same room, she said, "Hay you" then I knew she wanted me. I cannot, for the life of me understand why it's so difficult for anyone to understand that the Son of God, who is the express image and likeness of his Father carries the same name as his father. It's a common practice worldwide and has been in all generations.
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #36Is your "a" referring to Acts 28:6?JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:50 pmDoes that mean adding an "a" as YOU gave just done is unimportant and not something worthy of concern ?
You keep on cutting my responses, maybe avoiding the question.
Whose words do JWs only obey? Jesus or the Father?
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #37No, my reference is to your post when you confirmed by saying YES your belief as stated ...
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"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681
"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" - Romans 14:8
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #38It's not "a true God;" It's "a god" lower case "god" in Acts 26:6, meaning one of many other gods.Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:24 pmIs your "a" referring to Acts 28:6?JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:50 pmDoes that mean adding an "a" as YOU gave just done is unimportant and not something worthy of concern ?
You keep on cutting my responses, maybe avoiding the question.
Whose words do JWs only obey? Jesus or the Father?
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #39Isaiah 9:6, Unto the Jews, a son is given: "And the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting FATHER, the Prince of Peace."Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:20 pmDo you mean that the Father in the OT is Jesus in the NT?placebofactor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:39 pmFor mankind, there is one true God, he's called in the O.T. Jehovah, in the new, he is called Jesus. And whatever he does, or speaks, his blessings and judgments are all done to glorify his Father who is also known as Jehovah.Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:03 pmTrue Godship of Jesus is my main concern not the "a".JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:33 pmSo you have no problem calling Jesus --> A < ----God ?
JW
How many TRUE GODs are there ? [Only True God explained]
viewtopic.php?p=1114357#p1114357
I know you worship Jesus, but Jesus said, "worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."
Why you would not answer the question;
Whose words you only obey? Jesus or the Father?
I don't know if you remember George Forman, he was the heavyweight boxing champion for three different decades. He has a family and has four sons. Their names are, George, George, George and George. My Father's name was Phillip, and my name is Phillip. If my mother wanted me, and my father and I were in the same room, she said, "Hay you" then I knew she wanted me. I cannot, for the life of me understand why it's so difficult for anyone to understand that the Son of God, who is the express image and likeness of his Father carries the same name as his father. It's a common practice worldwide and has been in all generations.
Look at that verse and give it a lot of consideration. First of all, Isaiah was a Jew living under the law. If Isaiah had been lying about the Son of God being called God and Father, and the religious leaders thought he was worshipping another God or a god, or wrongly calling the Son Father, they would have stoned him to death. That was the law.
Isaiah was a prophet of God, the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 came to him from the LORD. Verse 10, The increase of (Jesus) government and peace there shall be no end," Compare with,
Titus 2:13, "Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great (mighty) God and our Savior Jesus Christ;" Verse 14, "Who gave himself for us," If you don't read anything into it, you will understand.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:7 tells us who to look for, "waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ:"
One more time: Jesus is our God, Father, Saviour, Hope, Redeemer, Judge, and future Husband, ALL TO THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER. The bride of Christ will one day stand before Jesus' Father, who will welcome his Son and his bride with open arms.
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Re: My, God, my God, why?
Post #40Jesus quoted from the OT where it says that we must worship Jehovah alone and stick with Him. So "the Lord thy God" is Jehovah, and that's what Jesus was quoting.Capbook wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:38 amI maybe would think that NWT already exist before you were born, and that most probably you are most expose and taught to it than the early JW believers. If Jesus as "a god and not a true God to JWs", why you worship and serve Him?onewithhim wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2025 12:39 pmI don't expect anything I say to be new to you. I'm just trying to reason with you concerning what you already have been made aware of. We used the King James Version for almost 100 years before the NWT came out, and we still discerned the truth. Of course Jesus is not Jehovah, and I would figure that you were intelligent enough to see that fact. And Jesus is not a "little god." "A god" in John 1:1 means that Jesus was an important, powerful, revered individual. That is all "a god" means. The Greeks in that day understood what that meant, and they didn't look down on Jesus as a "little god." John was concerned in separating the two---the Father and the Word, Jesus. He showed that God has the article "the" which means the one and only, and the Word has no article, meaning he is one of possibly many individuals with great power, though the Word was special, being WITH God and being the conduit through which all things were brought into existence.placebofactor wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 3:14 pmNo, it's not that. I keep telling you, I have been studying your doctrines for the past 40 years. I have direct contact with your elders. I have asked them a million questions and have listened to their answers. My bottom line is this. Because you use the N.W.T. as your foundation Bible. You do not believe Jesus is Jehovah our Creator, Genesis 1:2. Because you claim Jesus is a little "god" like all other little gods. Because you do not believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, we will never, ever, agree on even the most fundamental issues.onewithhim wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 10:48 amJesus wasn't lying at all. I posted what he meant when he said he had the power to bring his life back. You don't want to discuss anything with reasonableness. You don't really read my posts and probably just skim over them quickly and then aim to tear down my beliefs. I gave a reasonable explanation as to what Jesus meant, and it is the truth because dead people don't resurrect themselves. It is ridiculous to say that they can.placebofactor wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 9:07 amonewithhim wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:25 pmJesus' spirit did not die. That spirit is like the breath of God, empowering a person to be a living soul. It is not something within a person that leaves the body in a spirit body at death. The Spirit of God left Jesus when he died, so that he wasn't alive any longer. When the scripture says he went "to the lower parts of the earth," it is referring to Jesus' death and burial in his grave. The Scriptures take poetic license to speak to those who have the ability to take it in the way it was meant. Why on earth would Jesus go to the "lowest parts of the earth," literally? He didn't. He was really dead in his grave. Where else do you think that it was mentioned that Jesus literally went to the lowest parts of the earth? (Jesus, dead in his grave for 3 days.)placebofactor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 5:21 pmOnly the flesh that covered his real person, his spirit person died. His spirit descended to the "Lower parts of the earth," Ephesians 4:9.onewithhim wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:35 amThere is no other way to interpret the verse. You yourself write a good post and then you ruin it all by saying "if anyone does not believe Jesus is God...(etc.)" There is nothing in these last posts that tries to address Jesus as God, so why do you bring it up? He's obviously NOT God, because God cannot die. If He can, then who would be there to resurrect Jesus? A dead man cannot raise himself.placebofactor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:29 amCommon to all languages, especially here in America. If you ever help a person in need, and later on they betrayed you, or lied to you, the normal response would be, "My God, why did you do that?" Or "My God, why did you say that?"tam wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2025 7:29 pm Peace to you,
[Replying to placebofactor in post #1]
He says, Himself, who He is speaking to:
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Yes, this is prophecied, but so are many other things. Something prophecied is supposed to later come to pass (if indeed it is a true prophecy.)
He is speaking to His God and Father, the same person He spoke of at John 20:17.
Jesus was speaking to Mary in John 20:17. He was speaking of his Father, but not to him.
He was in anguish and He felt that momentary doubt/fear of being forsaken (something many of us have felt at some time or another, and for much less suffering). But He had to know what that felt like so He could cover even that for us with His blood.
He never doubted that God existed. He only experienced that moment thinking He had been forsaken. Surely, this is something each of us should be able to understand.
Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy
When Jesus made that statement "My God, My God," the priests of the Temple knew the Psalms well. When he made that statement they now understood who they had murdered. Also, by making that statement, Jesus fulfilled the O.T. prophecy in Psalms.
Let me leave you with this, if anyone does not believe Jesus is God, then I can understand why they would interpret the verse the way you have.
Those who believe Jesus is God, our Creator, Savior, and Redeemer understand he never changes. To say the Father had forsaken him is saying God abandoned God, or he abandoned himself.
His Son is in ""The brightness of his Father's glory, and the expressed image of his Father's person, and He (Jesus) upholds all things by the word of his power." To uphold here in Hebrews 1:3, means to be in charge, to direct, to govern. Jesus was God manifest in the Flesh, K.J.B. 1 Timothy 3:16.
John 10:17-18, Jesus said concerning his death and resurrection, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again." Note the personal pronoun I. "No man takes it (his life) from me, but I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." This was said before he went to the cross. Only God can make these statements and them make them happen.
Heb. 1:3 doesn't show that Jesus is God. It merely addresses the fact that Jesus has a special role in the existence of the universe. I Timothy 3:16 is translated very badly by the KJV. Other versions say that it was HE that was made manifest, not "God." The verse doesn't show that Jesus is God. "By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh...(etc.)" (NASB) Nothing about God there in most versions of the Bible. (Being "godly" doesn't mean one is God.)
Someone who is dead cannot bring himself back to life. That is just foolishness. He is just saying that he laid down his life willingly, by his own power, and he has the right to be resurrected, according to the power and obedience that he showed before he died. God raised Jesus because He was in heaven watching the whole thing and granted Jesus life again. (Phil. 2:8,9)
So, are you calling Jesus a liar because he said, John 10:17-18, Jesus said concerning his death and resurrection, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again." Note the personal pronoun I. "No man takes it (his life) from me, but I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." This was said before he went to the cross. Only God can make these statements and them make them happen.
I possess all four copywrites of your N.W.T., they sit on my desk in front of me. I possess your Bible aid. I access your website. I possess 500 of your Awake and Watchtower monthly issues and have read everyone of them. I have been open-minded to the Witnesses. Why? Because they are my immediate family. I have been to your Kingdom Halls, your Bible studies, your yearly get-together. I also have friends who are Witnesses. But I am also a researcher. Nothing you have said to me is new, nothing. I have heard in 10,000 over. I disagree with your history and those who have led the Witnesses for the past 150 years.
Jesus had said, worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve?
Whose words would you only obey? Jesus or the Father?
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
The New World Translation did not exist for all JWs before 1947 when I was born. I had no contact with the NWT until after I was baptized in 1975. So it wasn't "corrupting" me.