Subject: GOD TURNED HIS BACK ON JESUS WHEN JESUS |
Bible Note: I suppose we are willing to think that God did forsake Jesus on the cross because we know he was taking our place and we know that that is what we deserved. He had to suffer, not only in his soul (Mt 26:38) but also in his body (Mt 27:35) and in his spirit. He had to die, and spiritual death means separation from God (Ephesians 2). Clearly, if God the Father turned his back on Jesus, it was only for a moment. He would soon receive him into glory. A friend of mine believes Psalm 24:7ff was sung for him in Heaven when he returned. I do not know. One other thought. I wonder if Jesus was uttering the phrase of the forsaken from Psalm 22 in order to show the hearers that he was fulfilling the prophecy. It may be that it was the prophet who had uttered that phrase because he knew that Christ would use it. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had shown to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to die on a cross, he had uttered it. In any case, God did not send any angels to protect him. He did not strike his attackers dead. He stood by, so to speak, while they crucified him, in our place. It must have seemed that God had not only forsaken him but that God himself had turned on him, to punish him for our sins. |