Psalm 22
“Luther began his career as a teacher by lecturers on the Psalms. When he came to the 22nd he encountered the verse, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” quoted by Christ on the cross. Luther was astounded. Christ forsaken! That’s exactly the way I have felt, and I thought I was the only one in all the history of the world. But, why? I am weak. I am sinful. He was not weak. He was not sinful. How then could it be!? It could only be because He so identified Himself with our sinful humanity, as for the moment to feel himself on our side as over against God. What a difference this picture is of Christ. He who was seen as the judge upon the rainbow condemning now has now become the derelict upon the cross redeeming. For Luther, the thought was well expressed by Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Romans that we are not right with God with anything we can do, but only by our acceptance, our belief, our commitment to God’s holy unmerited grace. And Luther said he felt through this insight as if the very gates of Paradise were opened.” --Dr. Roland Bainton
By Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Romans
