Why did Jesus cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
on the cross? Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world (John 1:29). He is called “lamb,” of course,
because of the Old Testament where lambs were designated to be
the sin-bearers for the people on the day of atonement (see
especially Lev. 16 for the “day of atonement,” what Jews call
today “Yom Kippur”). When John the Baptizer called Jesus the
Lamb of God in John 1:29, he was prophesying and essentially
saying, “There aren’t going to be any more sacrifices after this
man. He’s the last lamb.”Isaiah picks up this theme of atonement
for sin from Leviticus 16 in his “Suffering Servant” passage in
Isaiah 52:13-53:12. He says, Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows…he was wounded for our transgressions; he
was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his
own way; and the L