Why have forsaken me

Jesus would have been left alone, as a mere human, to carry those sins. What are your thoughts? I have heard that idea and I taught it for many years. It could be right, but I am moving away from it right now. I think what Jesus felt was what we all feel. Just as sin makes us FEEL separated from God, even though we are not, so Jesus felt this same separation, which for Him, was much worse. This passage speaks to me about doubt, and about the very natural doubt that we have about the existence of God.

Even Jesus had doubt. Are they to have me believe that their faith is stronger than that of Jesus? I agree with your conclusion on this one, Jeremy. My question is: If Jesus did not endure a period of separation from the Father, as the actual penalty for sin, than why else would he go through all that torture and shame, and death? Clearly His sacrifice was more than just symbolic! Eh … well, you may want to go take a second read through this post.

Maybe Paul Young got his idea from me! Some creeds say that it descended into Hell or Limbo to gather the souls there. However, after he rose from the dead, he told the disciples not to touch him because he had not yet risen to be with his Father.

As with so much in scripture, it is contradictory and confusing. If we take the much alluded to Psalm 22 into consideration, it tells us what forsaken means. He gives examples of those that were not forsaken the opposite of being forsaken. They called on God in distress, and He heard and helped them; He responded to deliver them from their ordeal. When the Son called out, it was not that He was no longer God manifest in the flesh, or that His spirit was departing, for it is not until after He cries, It is finished, and Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit, that He dismisses His spirit by a voluntary act of His own will.

When He was forsaken, He was forsaken. It is not an exaggeration, nor a euphemism, but a reality. He did not say it just so we could hear it, nor just for us to look back in to the Psalms though there is merit in both. Otherwise it is an insincere, hypocritical cry. He was forsaken in that God did not respond to His cries of distress.

His suffering for sin, though He entered of His own will, and in obedience to His Father, were so awful that He cried for relief. How did God respond?

Did He respond as He did to those in days of old? Did He come to His rescue? He appeals not to His Father, but to God the judge. Why, as a righteous judge, have you left me with no help? We see, in the twenty-second Psalm, that His faith never waivered, as He looks to the God who has left Him alone, and says, Even though you have forsaken me, You are holy. There was no injustice done, as He was taken the punishment for sin and sins.

It is righteous for God to punish sin. He has arranged, through this tremendous event, that it is punished on Christ, and not the guilty party. It is said that Martin Luther once sat down to prepare a sermon on this same text. He sat at his desk, chewing on the meaning of these words for quite some time. But how they came to be uttered by Christ on the cross I will never comprehend. That mystery is so great and imponderable that it is not surprising that Martin Luther is said to have gone into seclusion for a long time trying to understand it and came away as confused as when he began.

I agree that there is holy ground on which we must tread carefully; however, there is a danger in ignoring what is written on a subject just because it is dealing with the infinite. When the Lord spoke to Nicodemus He said that we could not understand the heavenly if we failed to understand the earthly.

Therefore, it is our duty to examine the earthly, the types, the pictures, and through understanding of these things, the deep things can be revealed by His Spirit. If the Lord did not want us to understand, at least in some degree, that Christ was forsaken, and what that meant, then we would not have had Psalm 22, or else our Lord would not have quoted Psalm 22 from the cross, and had the Spirit record it eternally in the gospel records.

We must trust our God that when we have come to close, just as Moses and Joshua, we will be told — Take off your shoes. Of course, up until that point, it is the honour of kings to search out a matter.

I would find it difficult to accept that God wants us to stand back at a safe distance rather than getting as close as we possibly can. History is inundated with references to the anti-Semitic attitude of Martin Luther. Therefore, his inability to grasp these deep matters may not be to the complexity of the issue, but the carnality of the man. Difficulty: Does the above statement shows Jesus himself had a God greater than himself?

Or Why does one God cry out to another God if they are both of the same Godhead? So when Jesus was in the flesh his Godhood was limited or lost some of his Divinity: Php who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, Php but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. The Father is God and judge. When Jesus taught about the father he spoke of the Father as both as a merciful God and also the one who judges.

It is apparent Everyone struggles with this verse. Many views existed regarding the understanding of the the Divinity of Jesus pre and post Nicea:. Some of their writings say that although Jesus looked as though he inhabited a physical body, this was only an illusion. He was a divine being who could appear in many different forms, like that of a child in the Gospel of Judas.

Other Gnostic writings say that while a human being named Jesus did actually die, the divine part of him, or the Christ, did not. It is also righteousness and glory and pleasure of God to forgive sins. This is radical statement, but that is what the parable of the lost son teaches us. It is true that Jesus is the way- but the verses on substitution can be taken allegorically rather than literal! The idea of substitution and the demand for justice is an interpretation. Also if we consider Moses who gave stoning as a punishment, Jesus with greater force taught about Hell fire!

But Bother Moses and Jesus proclaimed God as merciful as well. Example Abel does not receive justice, prophets persecuted, Moses himself opposed, etc. This did not start at the cross! While he was yet alive his feelings are revealed.

And what shall I say? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. So we see Jesus aware of what is to come. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done. The Father did not ignore Jesus… Luk And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. He was not forsaken! The father what needs to be done but he did not protect the righteous one from his enemies who mocked him!

The death of Jesus came about by the jealousy of the leaders. All humans are destined to die — so also Jesus and the thieves. If Jesus died of old age would he have redeemed mankind? I will take time to address the entirety of your response when able to do so, but for now, after a cursory reading, am left to wonder: When Jesus said, My God, my God, why did You forsake me?

Was He forsaken? The bible, Jesus Himself, says He was. Whether we can offer a philosophical or theological formula for it does not negate it from being truth. Again, there is risk to accepting scripture based on our ability to understand and define it. The finite must put on infinite.

His ways are far above ours, as the heavens to the earth. Whether we can put it in a box cannot change the fact that it is true.

I would also be curious, at what point had God forsaken Him before the cross? In the garden, was not an angel sent to strengthen Him. Where did the angel come from? He was dying as a substitute for others. To him was imputed the guilt of our sins, and he was suffering the punishment for those sins on our behalf.

In some mysterious way that we can never fully comprehend, during those awful hours on the cross the Father was pouring out the full measure of his wrath against sin, and the recipient of that wrath was God's own son. God was punishing Jesus as if he had personally committed every wicked deed committed by every wicked sinner. And in doing so, he could forgive and treat those redeemed ones as if they had lived Christ's perfect life of righteousness.

This is what we call justification. It is not merely the removal of sin. It is the imputing of the righteousness of Christ into our spiritual bank account. That's what happened when Jesus hung on the cross. And scripture clearly teaches that there was a moment when the sin of the world was placed on the son.

But listen, what does Jesus say? No, a declaration of fact. Well, what are you saying, that God forsook him? In a sense, yes. Jesus was forsaken so I don't have to be. Jesus entered the darkness so I could walk in the light.

Jesus was forsaken that I might be forgiven. Now when we say Jesus was forsaken, here's what we're saying. As the sin of the world was placed on Christ, the Father, who is holy and cannot look at sin, turned away as he became the recipient of the wrath of God. But because this happened, no one will ever have to think they'll be forsaken of God from this moment forward who calls out to him.

Jesus was simply declaring what was taking place in the given moment. But I want you to notice this was not a crisis of faith on the part of our Lord, he was crying out to the father, also fulfilling scripture from Psalm 22 , "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What's going to happen when crisis hits your life? And it will. What's going to happen if tragedy comes to your home? With this psalm in mind, read and reflect on Mark How can I ever thank you for what you suffered for me?

What can I do but offer myself to you in gratitude and praise? Thank you, dear Lord, for what you suffered. Thank you for taking my place. How amazing you are, dear Lord! When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God; All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Mark D. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2, devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership.

With a Ph. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level. Thanks for the good word today, Mark. Certainly, theologians have different takes on the meaning of this utterance, but I like the idea that Christ was simply referencing this messianic psalm as being fulfilled before all to see.

Share Print. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God! Why have you deserted me? And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?