My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1  

WHAT DID THOSE WORDS MEAN COMING FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD’S SON?

THERE ARE CHRISTIANS WHO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD FORSOOK HIS SON ON THE CROSS. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 IS REFERENCED TO SUPPORT THIS BELIEF, THAT GOD “MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US,” THE CONCLUSION BEING THAT GOD CANNOT LOOK ON SIN, AND WHEN JESUS BECAME SIN, THE FATHER HAD TO LOOK AWAY. THE LITERAL TRANSLATION FOR “SIN” IS “SIN OFFERING.” JESUS COULD NEVER BECOME SIN, AND GOD LOOKS ON SIN ALL THE TIME.

ISAIAH 53:4-5 SAYS, “HE LIFTED UP OUR ILLNESSES, AND CARRIED OUR PAIN; EVEN THOUGH WE THOUGHT HE WAS BEING PUNISHED, ATTACKED BY GOD, AND AFFLICTED FOR SOMETHING HE HAD DONE. HE WAS WOUNDED BECAUSE OF OUR REBELLIOUS DEEDS, CRUSHED BECAUSE OF OUR SINS.”

THE JEWISH SIN OFFERING BORE THE SINNER’S SIN. JESUS DID BEAR AND CARRY OUR SIN, ALL THE WAY TO THE CROSS AND ON THE CROSS. ISAIAH 53 IS QUOTED ONCE IN THE FOUR GOSPELS. JESUS WAS HEALING PEOPLE THE WHOLE DAY IN THE HOME OF THE APOSTLE PETER. “IN THIS WAY WHAT WAS SPOKEN BY ISAIAH THE PROPHET WAS FULFILLED, ‘HE TOOK OUR WEAKNESSES AND CARRIED OUR DISEASES.'” Matthew 8:17 THE JEWISH SACRIFICES WERE BUT SHADOWS AND SYMBOLS OF THE REALITY WHICH IS CHRIST.

WHAT WAS JESUS REALLY ASKING GOD? HE HAD BEEN ON THE CROSS FOR SIX HOURS, AND IN THE DARKNESS FOR THREE HOURS. THAT DARKNESS WAS NO ECLIPSE. IT WAS AN UNNATURAL DARKNESS. IT SPOKE OF GOD’S JUDGEMENT ON MANKIND. WITHOUT LIGHT, THERE IS DEATH. “LET THERE BE LIGHT,” GOD SAID AS HE BEGAN BRINGING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD. THERE AT THE CROSS, THE WORLD WAS DYING AND JESUS KNEW IT.

HANGING IN THE DARKNESS, JESUS ASKS GOD, “WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? HE KNEW THAT THE WORLD WAS UNDERGOING GOD’S JUDGEMENT. HE HAD COME TO SAVE THE WORLD. WHY WAS IT DYING WHEN HE WAS A PART OF IT? HE KNEW THAT HE WAS THE SON OF MAN. HE KNEW THAT HE JUSTIFIED THE WORLD AND GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MANKIND. YET, THE WORLD WAS DYING! WHY!

DID JESUS KNOW EVERYTHING? NO. HE WAS A TRUE HUMAN BEING. HE LIVED BY FAITH. “DURING HIS EARTHLY LIFE, CHRIST OFFERED BOTH REQUESTS AND SUPPLICATIONS, WITH LOUD CRIES AND TEARS, TO THE ONE WHO WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIM FROM DEATH AND HE WAS HEARD BECAUSE OF HIS DEVOTION. ALTHOUGH HE WAS A SON, HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE THROUGH THE THINGS HE SUFFERED. Hebrews 5:7-8

WHAT WAS ALMIGHTY GOD’S RESPONSE TO THE CRY OF HIS BELOVED HUMAN SON? “FOR HE HAS NOT DESPISED OR ABHORRED THE AFFLICTION OF THE AFFLICTED; NEITHER HAS HE HIDDEN HIS FACE FROM HIM, BUT WHEN HE CRIED TO HIM, HE HEARD.” Psalm 22:24

IT WAS WHEN JESUS CRIED OUT THOSE WORDS THAT THE DARKNESS LIFTED. OUR SIN WAS BLOTTED OUT BY THE POWER OF HIS INDESTRUCTIBLE LIFE. Hebrews 7:16 THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE, ROCKS SPLIT, TOMBS OPENED, AND MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, THE THICK CURTAIN THAT VEILED THE MOST HOLY PLACE IN THE JEWISH TEMPLE WAS TORN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, OPENING THE WAY INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

WHERE WAS THE FATHER WHILE JESUS HUNG ON THE CROSS? “GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF.” 2 Corinthians 5:19 THE CROSS IS THE FULLEST EXPRESSION OF THE INCARNATION! “FOR IN HIM ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY LIVES IN BODILY FORM.” Colossians 2:9 THE FATHER PUT THE SALVATION OF HUMANITY INTO THE HANDS OF HIS HUMAN SON! “MY FATHER IS WORKING UNTIL NOW, AND I MYSELF AM WORKING.” John 5:17

HEBREWS 1:1-3 SUMMARIZES IT. “GOD, WHO AT VARIOUS TIMES AND IN VARIOUS WAYS SPOKE IN TIME PAST TO THE FATHERS BY THE PROPHETS, HAS IN THESE LAST DAYS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON, WHOM HE HAS APPOINTED HEIR OF ALL THINGS, THROUGH WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE WORLDS; WHO BEING THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY AND THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, AND UPHOLDING ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER, WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SINS, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTY ON HIGH.”

JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD. AS THE SON OF DAVID ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, HE TOOK THOSE PROPHETIC WORDS OF HIS ANCESTOR DAVID AND MADE THEM HIS OWN, TRANSFIGURING THEM INTO WORDS OF LIFE FOR HUMANITY FIRST, AND ULTIMATELY THE WHOLE CREATION. Romans 8 JESUS’ “CRY OF DERELICTION” WAS A CRY OF FAITH, FAITH IN HIMSELF, AND IN GOD WHO HAD DELIVERED ALL THINGS INTO HIS HANDS. HIS CRY WAS THE WORD OF HIS POWER, THE POWER OF AN INDESTRUCTIBLE LIFE.

“SO I WILL ASSIGN HIM A PORTION WITH THE MULTITUDES, HE WILL DIVIDE THE SPOILS OF VICTORY WITH THE POWERFUL, BECAUSE HE WILLINGLY SUBMITTED TO DEATH AND WAS NUMBERED WITH THE REBELS, WHEN HE LIFTED UP THE SIN OF MANY AND INTERVENED ON BEHALF OF THE REBELS.” Isaiah 53:12 

Rosemary E Hyslop   April 26, 2021