Jesus Was Forsaken by the Father for Us

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Mark 15:34Here we come to the deepest suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will never be able to fully take in what this meant for Jesus.The Father delights in the Son, and the Son delights in the Father.The love of the Son for the Father and the love of the Father for the Son was their joy before the creation of the world, and will be for all eternity. When Jesus prayed for His disciples, he asked the Father “that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11).The Father and the Son have always shared one life, one love, one purpose, and one will. But now the Son becomes the sin bearer. That means the stench of our sin is upon Him, and the Father must turn away from Him.Here is Christ, under the curse, in the darkness, forsaken by the Father. He is bearing our guilt and enduring the punishment that would bring us peace. Jesus is under the judgement of God. He is enduring all the dimensions of hell on the cross: under the curse, plunged into darkness, and forsaken by the Father. And Jesus endured all this consciously for you and for me.How does this shape your view of God’s commitment to you, Christian believer?