Mat 27:46 My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?

Christ's last prayer was Psalm 22. He could only say that first line aloud (which fits the words perfectly). This Psalm was the best summary for his life. In Hebrew, like most ancient languages, it is very simple, very spare. The older the language, the more basic it is. Ancient Hebrew is simpler than the ancient Greek. This new translation tries to capture that simplicity.

At the end of some chapters, we can often see how Christ's statements ties together into a larger pattern. Chapter 21 is particularly difficult of overviews because it contains the largest range of topics for Christ words so far in the Gospels. His statements in this chapter touch on:
- Getting an ass on which to ride into Jerusalem
- Chasing money lenders out of the temple
- That babies cries are the perfect form of prayer
- Faith can move mountains
- Refusing to address where his authority (and John's) comes from

Another interesting theme of the chapter: in an earlier post about Jonah, I mentioned the Greek concept of people being motivated by the belly (physical desires), heart (feeling for others), and mind (mental desires, mostly money). In the beginning of this chapter, Christ adds another component to this triun of motivation: religion. The Greeks operated from the belly, heart, and mind, but the Jews were also driven by religion.