Natty_Boh wrote:
Daedelus1138 wrote:
The "Psalm 22 effect" might well be in play here. Jesus only managed the first line or two on the Cross, but the entire Psalm is important to the context. Matthew only quoted a single verse, but both he and his Jewish Christian readers were steeped in the Old Testament - doubtful that any of them stopped, or were intended to stop, at reference's end.
Right, but Christians believe even the Jews steeped in this stuff missed it. Because they did not identify the Suffering Servant and the Messiah as the same person Jesus himself says he entered the world so that "those who are blind might see and those who see might be blind". When we say Jesus Christ is God, we are not making a purely positivist statement based on cold factuality, we are stating something about the nature of what it means to be divine, what is the highest goal a human being can aspire to, and in this case the values of the Beatitudes, which are rooted in humility. Many Jews on the other hand expected God to seize the throne of david from the Romans, or whatever secular power... by force, but Jesus Christ says, referring to the Cross, "when I am lifted up, I shall draw all men to me". So, the Messiah, being the embodiment of the patient and longsuffering God of the 102nd psalm, invites us to join his kingdom voluntarily and not through force.