“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” Luke 23: 44-45
“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, [fn] lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Matthew 27: 46
My whole life I have heard interpretations of these verses, to mean that God was so disgusted by the sin that was placed on Jesus that he had to turn his back on Jesus. He couldn’t look at Jesus while he was covered with our sins. A book I am reading (Your Jesus is too safe) disagrees with that interpretation. So I decided to read the scripture references and do a little digging to see what I could find. I will put the info out there and let you think on it.
In the Luke passage it says the sun stopped shining, however no where in the passage does it say why it stopped shining. In one of my study bibles the notes on this verse bring up the age old interpretation that God had to turn his back on Jesus because of the sin. That is just an interpretation of the scene because scripture doesn’t clarify why this happened.
Now to the passage that is the basis for the belief that God had to turn His back on God. The Matthew 27 verse quotes Jesus asking why God had forsaken him, or in some translations, abandon is used instead of forsaken.
These lines are seen in Psalm 22. It is a prophetic Psalm and if you read it in it’s entirety it portrays what happened to Jesus on the Cross. Verse 16-18 says, “My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count every bone in my body. My enemies star at me a gloat. They divide my clothes among themselves and throw dice for my garments.” The end of this Psalm is a story of Great Joy about how God will come to his aid and he will tell people of the wonder of God and all people will praise God. David talks of praising God because “He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries for help. verse 24”
When you get to the end of the Psalm you realize that David wasn’t questioning God, but that he knew that God would not turn away from those in need. He was saying, things are so bad I feel like you are nowhere near, however, I know that you will rescue the needy. I know you will not turn your back on me or others in need.
So if Jesus was quoting this Psalm, the question we have to ask is, Was he quoting it to show that this prophetic Psalm is being fulfilled through what is happening to himself on the cross, or was he quoting it because those first words, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” were a portrait of what had actually happened. Did he mean that God had actually forsaken him?
Psalms were songs and prayers that would be recited and recited in their entirety. Logic would make you think that by Jesus calling to mind the beginning of that Psalm, he would also be calling to mind the whole Psalm, which we have seen is a Psalm about no matter how far away it seems that God is, he will not turn his back on his people.
Jared Wilson’s in Your Jesus is too safe, also brings to mind the promise that Jesus gives in Matthew 28 with the great commission. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We also have the promise of God in Deuteronomy 31: 6 which says “I will never leave or forsake you.” So since we have a promise from God, that He will be with us always, why should we assume that God had to turn his back on Jesus? The verse doesn’t say I will be with you always, except when there is sin in your life. Jared Wilson’s argument is that if God promises us he will never leave us, being disgusting impure people, why in the world would he turn his back and abandon Jesus who was the perfect son?
It was an idea that got me thinking about something a different way and I wanted to share it with you to consider. It can and will be debated from now until Jesus comes back. Then we can ask God ourselves if he abandoned Jesus. Until then remember the promise, and walk confidently in the promise that God’s word has given us. He will not leave us.
About Me
- David Willy
- I am a husband and a father and I pray that I will continue to look more like Christ to my wife and children each day. I pray that all that I do will be used to give glory to the Father and Christ through the Holy Spirit.
I'm not sure that abandonment can even be a choice. God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) knew well in advance that the Son would suffer His fate upon the cross. This was preordained and never in question. That's not to say that Jesus enjoyed the process. Heck, He had to leave His perfect home and be literally separated from God the Father due to our sin.
ReplyDeleteIf abandonment was even a possibility, then why would God the Father choose to resurrect Jesus? He died with the sin of the entire world to bear. What made Him change His mind just three days later? I'll tell you...He didn't change his mind because there was nothing to change. God is perfect, unchanging and faithful. The plan was always to resurrect the Son and show the world that sin and death had been forever conquered. I think the idea of God abandoning Jesus flies in the face of who God is.
All this to say, Jesus was referencing the entirety of Psalms 22. Thank you Jesus.
I agree with Jeff, Jesus was calling into reference the 22nd Psalm. He was fullfilling prophesy, this was also a comfort to the people because if they knew prophesy then they knew the temple would be rebuilt in 3 days. There may be sorrow for the night but joy comes in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI will say this about the abandonment. God does not leave us or forsake us because we are covered in the blood and righteousness of Christ always. God is Holy and cannot be amongst sin. With out the covering of Jesus we would not be able to have communion with God. Thus because Jesus was the first then at the point of death when he was bearing all the sin, God would not be able to be involved. So I can see where people would think this as a possibility.
Cleve, you make a good point about God not being able to commune with sin and I agree with you completely. I suppose my issue stems from the use of the word "abandon". There is no abandonment involved. Sin cannot stand in the presence of God. Jesus took sin to the grave and left it there. Sin is dead, Jesus lives.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at Psalm 22:1 and 2:
ReplyDelete"1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent."
I've always thought that it wasn't that God literally turned His back on His Son, but that God knew that Jesus had to go through this suffereing. Because He had to go through it, He couldn't rescue Him (for our sake). Despite His cries. God remained silent. God NEVER turned His back on Jesus, but His absolute silence made Him seem so far away. So, Jesus referenced the Psalm. Perhaps to let us know that even He felt distanced from His Father at one time. But even in the worst situation, He knew that God "has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help."
Certainly Jesus felt distanced from the Father. This was the first time in the history of history that the Father and the Son had been apart. I'm sure the experience was roughly 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times more painful than anything you or I could ever imagine.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else heard that explanation before? The one about God having to turn his back on Jesus, or is it just me. I have heard it my whole life, heard it in class on Sunday, and read it today in my study bible in the notes.
ReplyDeleteAfter really looking at Psalm 22 as a whole, I really don't believe that God turned his back on Jesus. I know he felt distanced from God. There is no way that he could have fully gone through everything he did and not felt distanced from God.
Thanks for all the comments! I was starting to believe nobody read my blog anymore. That's why I resorted to blogging about Boom Boom Pow earlier today, because I didn't think anyone was reading any more. At least it was about Boom Boom Pow and not Shania Twain's Any Man of Mine. (another favorite of mine)
I'm not sure that God "abandoned" Jesus. Could it be possible though that God did turn His back on Jesus because Jesus *became* sin? 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin. A pefect sinless man, Jesus, took on the sins of the world. God loves the sinner but hates sin. Sin is what separates us from God. It doesn't separate us from the LOVE of God but FROM God. It's not Him who runs away from us but us who run away from Him. When we repent, we find Jesus right back where we left Him. You are right though, this issue can be debated for years to come.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I do KNOW, is that Jesus took on my sins (and everyone elses) and willingly went to the cross to die for me. He paid a debt for me so I could have the assurance of receiving eternal life if I confess and ask him into my life. As the David Crowder song goes, "Oh, how He loves us!"
As for asking HIm about it when we get to Heaven, we just might find ourselves too focused on Him to even remember the question!
Tommy (sorry don't know how to post on this so I had to chose Anonymous!)
Your point is one that I have been taught and one that I believed for a long time, but after reading the full Psalm that Jesus is referring to and considering God's promise to never forsake us, I am wondering if God might not have turned His back at all. I wonder if God sat on the thrones of Heaven, with the 12 legions of angels gathered around (that Jesus talks about ready to come defend and save him) begging God to turn them loose so they could put an end to it all, and watched. I feel like maybe he watched, since for the first time in all of creation, man's fall was finally made right. God's first creation screwed everything up, and now his Son, perfect and obedient son, fixed what Adam had messed up. I could see him watching with gut wrenching pain of a father watching his child go through something they shouldn't have had to go through, and Him being very proud.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the part about forgetting what the question was!