“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Those words are the cry of Jesus from the cross, to His Father. Jesus is asking, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The significance of this incredible moment in history cannot be overstated, and should not be missed.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Jesus was sharing His last Passover Supper with His disciples when He said, “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” John 16:32
The life and ministry of Jesus was that of a vessel through whom His Father’s will flowed. Jesus told His disciples that He only said and did what His Father showed Him, or told Him to do. His Father was always with Him. Therefore, the miracles, the parables, and the sermons were all flowing from God the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through Christ the Son, into this world. These things were spiritual food flowing into the world for mankind to drink—or to spit out. Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Why did the Father leave His Son for the first time, in His moment of greatest need? So painful was the absence of His Father’s Presence that Jesus cried out! His Father’s Presence was an immense comfort during the hours leading up to this moment on the cross. How could He leave Him?
Jesus had always known that this moment would come. And perhaps the question He cried out was for us, more than it was for Him. Not long before this, Jesus had said, “Now, my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” John 12:27-28
The soul of Jesus was troubled because He already knew that a day would come when His Father would have to turn away from Him. If Jesus had been troubled at the thought of the flogging, the shame, and the crucifixion when He made that statement, He would have referred to His body, not His soul.
The Father removed His Presence from the Son so that Jesus could become sin. For salvation to be real, permanent, and perfect, Jesus had to take our sins upon Himself. The cross is not inspirational. It is substitutionary. To take our place, He had to take our sin and our punishment. It is important that you realize what I am saying. From noon until 3pm, there was a spiritual transaction taking place. A transfer. Our sins were taken from us and placed upon Him. The punishment for our sins—past, present, and future—was taken out upon Him. His Father removed His Presence, allowing Jesus to become something His Father could not even look upon. Satan then overcame the body of Christ, taking him to the grave.
When Jesus said in His last breath, “It is finished” the curtain in the temple tore in half from top to bottom. This occurred to show us why the Father forsook His Son. He did it for us. He wanted to be able to look upon us and love us and to say to us, “Your sins are no more.” He wanted to remove our sins as far as the east is from the west and to reconcile mankind to Himself though His Son. From within the Holy of Holies, the presence of God tore the curtain—the barrier between us and Him. All of time and creation are rooted in this moment, and this purpose, now fulfilled in Christ.
Leave a Reply