Forsaken, But Not Forgotten

At "about the ninth hour" (Matt. 27:46a), or about 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus, approaching death, cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v. 46b). This was Jesus' fourth saying from the cross. He quoted the first part of Psalm 22:1-2, which reads: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent."

With the words of David in Psalm 22, Jesus expressed the agony of His heart: abandoned by the Father! But why? Why had God abandoned Him? Why did the Father turn His back on Jesus in this, His moment of greatest agony?

The night before, in the garden, prior to His arrest, Jesus had prayed three times saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me" (Matt. 26:39a). His heart hurt within Him knowing what was to come. And each time He concluded with the words: "nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (v. 39b).

We will never fully understand in this life what Jesus experienced on the cross at that moment. We can't fully understand. It is too great for us. But what Jesus was doing both in the garden and on the cross, was expressing the profound agony of being separated from the Father, though it be only for a moment.

The very moment Jesus took our sin upon Himself He entered into the agony of separation from the Father. The Father abandoned Him because He became sin, paying the penalty for us. In the shear agony of that moment, Jesus experienced something far more horrible than physical pain. He experienced rejection—rejection by the Father. As it says in the Word: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

The Father abandoned the Son for our sake, for our salvation. But can I really grasp the full scope of this truth? No! As Martin Luther once said, "God forsaking God. Who can understand it?" Yet even so, just to think of this truth calls me to worship and adoration.

Have you taken time to consider that Jesus was abandoned by the Father while paying the penalty for your sin, so that you might not be abandoned? Think about it! And trust Him by faith. Have a blessed Good Friday, and stay safe. Amen.