What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement spoken on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)?  Many suggest that Jesus’ words are desperate cries out of the depths of the deepest depression imaginable, as a result from being separated from the Father. However, I tend to think that something is being missed here. There are four reasons why I would take a different interpretation.
First, in the oral Hebrew culture, when a person wanted his listener to call to mind an entire Psalm, it was the standard practice to merely quote the first few words of that Psalm. To one who had entire Psalms memorized (those who heard Jesus’ words on the cross), this would clearly bring to mind the full context of the passage. The primary thing that should be remembered is that Jesus’ words are not being blurted out in a moment of hysteria or disillusionment. Rather, they are a careful quotation from a Messianic Hebrew text. There’s no doubt that by Jesus’ quotation, he wanted his audience to think of the entire Psalm recorded in chapter 22. Why? The importance of Jesus’ words makes sense in light of the well-known belief that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed and abandoned by God (Deut 21:23). The Jewish on-lookers of the crucifixion would have been compelled to understand the cross as a clear indication that Jesus was not the Messiah. Being careful not to take Jesus’ words out of the context of their Psalm, one realizes the conclusion of Psalm 22 informs the reader that in fact, “[God] has not despised or distained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from [Jesus] but has listened to his cry for help” (vs. 24). Therefore, Jesus’ words on the cross were not claiming that he was actually separated from the Father, but just the opposite. He claimed that when all friends, family, and supporters had forsaken him and he had no one else, he still had perfect intimacy with God his Father.
Second, some may say, “But surely God can’t have fellowship with sin.” And this is true insofar that we understand this to mean that He Himself does not deal in sin. For God to say that He has no fellowship with sin certainly does not mean that He is not able to interact with anything or anyone tainted by sin. For, if it did, how could He look upon, interact with, reach out to, or love any human either before or after salvation? But we know that He does (Rom 5:8). I think that the problem with this question comes with the premise that Jesus actually was sinful while bearing our sin punishment on the cross. This seems to be a misinterpretation of 2 Cor 5:21. This passage is best translated, “God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” While the Bible uses the legal terms to describe Jesus taking our sin punishment upon his account, he himself was never actually permeated by our sin. He only stood in our place of punishment in a legal sense.
Further, if 2 Cor 5:21 is to be interpreted to say that Jesus actually became sinful, then we must also take the second half of the verse to say that we have actually become righteous in and of ourselves. However, we know that it is not our own righteousness that is acceptable to God, but a foreign or alien righteousness, not of our own – Jesus’ righteousness. The point being that the punishment for sin which Jesus endured is no more his sin, than the reward for righteousness we’ll experience in Heaven is the result of our own righteousness. In fact, it is only because Jesus was without any sin (Heb 4:15; Jn 1:29) that he was able to give his life as a ransom for us. Jesus’ sacrifice is spoken of as a “penal substitution,” one which is legal in nature, rather than practical. The transfer of our guilt to Jesus’ account is a legal transfer, preserving his sinlessness . . . even on the cross.
Third, it seems that if one does assume a real break in relationship between the Father and the Son (and therefore, the Spirit and the Son), one must believe that for a moment in time the Triune God did not exist. However, this clearly does serious damage to the nature of the triune Godhead. Within this position, one must be willing to say that the Triune God did not exist for a moment in time, which makes His essential nature something other than necessary and eternal.
Fourth, and finally, if Jesus were separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit on the cross, this means that while Jesus was acting in obedience to the Father it was not by the power of the Spirit. Rather, he was acting in perfect obedience in his own strength and power. Because, if even for one moment Jesus was relying on his own strength to overcome temptation, difficulty, etc. then he was doing “only what the Father [told him]” through his own strength and power, and not through the power of the Spirit. And this moment in question—his intense suffering on the cross—was certainly the most trying of all moments. However, the Bible asserts that Jesus’ perfect obedience to the Father was only due to his complete dependence on the moment-by-moment empowerment of the Holy Sprit (Lk 4:1). So, Jesus would have needed the empowerment of the Holy Spirit here more than ever.
So, it is primarily for these above four reasons that I do not believe that the Father distanced himself or “turned his back” from His Son, while he suffered on the cross. Rather, I think the Gospels tell us the exact opposite.
9 Comments on “Was Jesus forsaken by God on the cross?”
Wow.
That is really an explanation that makes sense of these vs. in line with the rest of scripture.
Thank you
I am so glad you are doing this I learned so much in your classes I welcome the opportunity to learn, and I enjoy sharing I send many things Timberline offers my father who shares it with their church. They have follow ed our example in many of our studies. I will look for further explainations from you because it makes me better prepared to answer questions.Thank you Jeanne
after much contemplating, i would “bottom line” determine that the conclusion that God did not “turn his back” on His Son is correct.–but one MUST embrace the unquestionably intense sorrow that was being lived out on the cross–that in His anguish, the Son was far removed from being “soothed” by his Father–the inward sadness of his soul was such that it forced him to break out in a cry–but still–in HIS HEART–his faith remained firm, and thus beheld the presence of God of whose absence He complained–and so we have exemplified the “sentiment of nature and the knowledge of faith”–Christ lived out for us in the most excruciating of circumstances– the pure witness that as we struggle in OUR life with the “absence” of God–that there is NO EXCUSE to question the FAITHFULNESS of God in all circumstances of life–and that God WILL reconcile us to Himself when SUCH FAITH is embraced in our life–Christ undertook this temptation in both His body and His soul–and thus we are challenged also in our Faithfulness to Obedience to God’s Word–as C.S. Lewis comments in his “Efficacy of Prayer”–“Does God then forsake just those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” When God becomes man, that Man, of all others, is least comforted by God, at His greatest need….Meanwhile, little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability, had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might be less tenderly treated. If we were braver, we might be sent, with far less help, to defend far more desperate posts in the great battle.”
Beth,
Yes, saying Jesus was not forsaken by the Father is by no means to diminish his suffering in either body or soul. In fact, the Bible tells us that during those dark hours on the cruel cross, Jesus bore the sins of the world. So, in some metaphysical sense, Jesus experienced a more intense amount of suffering than any other living being–possibly even the cumulative suffering of all people throughout time.
This being the case, it is all the more significant that Jesus tells the onlookers of his passion that God the Father is as intimately close to him now as ever. Though the Father is allowing His Son to be assaulted by this evil, God has not distained or abandoned him. Remember how the predictive and Messianic Psalm 22 ends. Jesus knows that this final act is the fulfillment of his vow to complete the redemption of humanity. Further, he knows that God the Father–his greatest supporter, his only supporter–is listening to him, is not absent, and will vindicate his humiliation.
brent–in an effort to work out my thoughts–my struggle lies with the statements that “for a moment the triune God did not exist” and “while Jesus was acting in obedience to the Father it was not by the power of the Spirit”–if Christ was “abandoned/forsaken”
citing the Messianic Psalm 22 brings up the context in which this statement was being exemplified. The Psalmist wrote the Psalm in Hebrew–Christ, for the sake of His audience was crying out in a partly Syriac language–and thus allows the understanding that Christ was not saying “My Father, why have You forsaken Me”–but rather: “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?”
which invites the question how this could be interpreted in regard to the union of God to the Son? it is my understanding that there are five unions of the Father and Son: 1) the natural and eternal union of the Person of the Son in essence 2) a new bond of union of the Divine nature with the human nature in the Person of the Son 3) the union of grace and will [John 1:14] 4) the union of glory, since Christ from conception enjoyed the beatific vision and 5) the union of protection to which He refers when He says “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone…”[John 8:29]
of these five unions, where does it stand that God could forsake His Son?–1) the first is inseparable and eternal [John 10:30]–and therefore Christ did not say “My Father…”–For the Father is called the God of the Son only after the Incarnation and by reason of the Incarnation 2) the second union never has nor can be dissolved, because what God has assumed, He can never lay aside [Rom. 8:32, 1Peter 2:21;4:1] –proving the true Son of God, Christ the Lord was crucified 3) the third union also still exists and will forever [1Peter 3:18]–Christ death would have profited us nothing had grace been dissolved 4) and the fourth union is left undisturbed because the beatitude of the soul cannot be lost–which leaves us to the “5th” union, the union of protection–which appears to have been broken for a short period in time to allow for the oblation of the bloody sacrifice for the redemption of mankind–and this was done by choice [Mark 14:36; Matt.26:53; John 10:18;–all as Isaiah 53:7 had foretold]
and thus “the blessed Soul of Christ could have transmitted to the Body the gift of impassibility and incorruption; but it was pleasing to the Father, and to the Word, and to the Holy Spirit, for the accomplishment of the decree of the Blessed Trinity, to allow the power of man to prevail for a time against Christ”–when those came to apprehend Him, He stated “…this hour and the power of darkness are yours” [Luke 22:53]
“Thus then God abandoned His Son when He allowed His human flesh to suffer such cruel torments without any consolation, and Christ crying out with a loud voice manifested this abandonment so that all might know the greatness of the price of our redemption.”
“They are not words of one that accuses, or reproaches or who complains, they are words of One who declares the greatness of His suffering for the best of reasons, and at the most opportune of moments.”
and i would conclude that in our lives, if we find ourselves in the circumstance of God withdrawing/forsaking His protection of our physical body for the sake of suffering for His glory–that we can be assured that we are experiencing nothing the Son, as our perpetual High Priest, has not endured in sacrifice, and that our Soul is safe as Paul declares: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom.8:39]
I love these interpretations you offer for this verse. Especially the first one. I read Psalm 22, and it does seem in keeping with the ancient Hebrew practice you describe. I’m a 21st century gentile “mut!” So, I appreciate your explanation of the ancient Hebrew custom. Thank you and God bless.
Could it be also that during that time, Jesus had experienced something similar to the dark night of the cross? That eventhough God the Father did not truly abandon Him, the Father seems to have hidden Himself at that moment. Jesus carried for us the most intense suffering, and that suffering includes not only the physical torment He felt, but also a spiritual anguish at the cross.
the flesh is weak,.. always has been…only by God and the Holy Spirit coupled with Christs sacrifice for all mankind since Adam n Eve..make it possible for us to seek forgiveness and then live more in the spirit….with Christ God willing… Paul gives great and humorous logic to explain a difficult sobject to lawyers EVEN
ex.. simple ex..today… look at babies,.quite pure,…look at 10 yr olds..did they learn or lose something?.look at you…..now look at the elderly….WE could likely all use a good thrashin….but we now choose to question Jesus on the cross…hmmmm
What is our response to be? Extravagant praise and worship to the Father, for not turning away from Jesus.
Psalm 22:23-24
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
This Scripture does indeed tell us that the Father DID NOT turn away from Jesus while Jesus was on the cross. The sacrifice was acceptable to the Father, and the sacrifice was pleasing to the Father.
The Scripture also tells us what our response is to be, to the action of the Father in not turning away from Jesus. And, this is what will likely shock us!
In verse 23, the word praise is “halalâ€.
HALAL – (to praise, to celebrate hilariously, to be clamorously foolish, to rave, to boast, to make a show, to shine forth. Root word in “Halleluyah” (literally means “Praise Yah”).
This is how King David praised God as the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem.
The word honor (glorify) is “kabad†(rich, honorable, glorious)
The word revere (fear) is guwr (be in awe, stand in awe)
Most of us, likely, have never seen this happen in a group, or even by ourselves. Try it!
“Restoring the Reputation of the Father†is needed for many.
Some other key points –
• The announcement, done in a loud voice, of triumph
When Jesus cried out with a loud voice (an announcement), Psalm 22:1: “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?â€, it was the only time Jesus didn’t call Him (God) Father. This phrase was an announcement, basically saying, “What was written about me in Psalm 22 is true, and I am fulfilling it, and it is being fulfilled. Rejoice!â€
• When Jesus said “It is finishedâ€, Jesus was also quoting the final statement of Psalm 22, translated “for he has done it.â€
Charles Spurgeon, a famous 19th Century English preacher said (The Treasury of David – Psalm 22):
This is beyond all others THE PSALM OF THE CROSS. It may have been actually repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and ends, according to some, in the original with “It is finished.”
• What was one purpose of the cross? To pay the Bride-price. This gets into a whole other topic; the Bridegroom and the Bride. But it is worth the time to understand that Jesus is the Bridegroom, and Jesus is returning as the Bridegroom, and Jesus is waiting for a prepared Bride. The price of the Bride was the life of the Lord Jesus, a price that Jesus was willing to pay, because of His love for the Bride.
“It is finished.†Tetelestai: “Paid in full.†John 19:30.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.