WHEN JESUS WAS FORSAKEN
By: Frank Tunstall, D. Min.
The classic example of the silence of God occurred on Mt. Calvary. The Heavenly Father’s only Son was hanging on three crude nails between two thieves.
Talk about humiliation. Wow!
Jesus was already weak from loss of blood and His body was beginning to shut down. The Grim Reaper was standing in the shadows, ready to claim our Lord as his prey. Dehydration was already setting in, and Jesus’ headache was beginning to pound.
Matthew and Mark recorded what followed. In His weakened condition, the Lord cried out in the prophetic words of Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus might have also expressed what else David prophetically wrote: “Why do you refuse to help me or even to listen to my groans?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1-3; Psalm 83:1).
What is the worst thing that can happen to us? The supreme tragedy is for God to withdraw His hand of grace and turn us over to the consequences of our choices. Is anything more scarry than separation from God?
Why did the Heavenly Father forsake Jesus on His cross? Of all places on His cross? The prophet Habakkuk offers an insight. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). And the Apostle Paul wrote, “He hath made Him to be sin, who knew no sin,” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21 kjv). Jesus took into His holy body the full load of everything sin is. He became the sacrifice to forgive and elevate to sonship all who take responsibility for their choices and call on Jesus in heartfelt repentance.
Dear reader, please ponder Paul’s insight and assimilate it into your lifestyle: “He hath made Him to be sin…” The verb, to be, describes a continuing state of being, not a mere action or a singular deed. The meaning here is Jesus pulled into His bosom everything the curse of sin had blighted and profaned, beginning with Eden. Jesus drank the bitter dregs of the cup to the last drop, becoming sin for us, right on into the twenty-third century and beyond. It means we can become the righteousness of God through His shed blood (Isaiah 51:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21-28; Matthew 20:22; John 18:11).
Must we conclude the Heavenly Father deserted His Son amid the agony of the Cross? Daniel learned God heard his prayer on day-one of God’s silence (Daniel 10:12-14). Jesus walked into His agony with full agreement and knowledge of the Father’s plan from eternity (Hebrews 13:20; Revelation 13:8).
THINK ABOUT IT: Jesus’ very human and heart-wrenching cry of “Why” is not the end of the story. Jesus’ final words on the cross were said in the loudest voice His remaining ounces of energy could muster: “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” When He had said this, “He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46). But neither is this the story’s end.
Like Daniel discovered, Jesus the God-Man died when His Father was there all the time. This is true even though in Jesus’ humanity, the pain and horror of the cross shrouded Him from His Father’s presence.
What was God doing while His Son was dying? Just what the Trinity planned from eternity: “God [was so] loving the world that He [was giving] His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16 kjv; Titus 1:2).
What was Jesus doing while dying on the Cross? Just what the Trinity planned from eternity: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His friends” (John 15:13 kjv; 1 Peter 1:18-23).
Then, knowing everything was finished exactly according to the eternal plan (John 19:30), Jesus and His Heavenly Father were reunited on the other side of the river called death; in fact, His Father was eager for His Son to cross over the great divide.
Three days later, exactly according to the eternal plan, Jesus’ triumphant resurrection made sense of everything, including all the suffering and the pain.
THINK ABOUT IT: Dear reader, what is God doing in our seasons of silence? In the vivid imagery of the Apostle Paul, God is continuing to write beautiful poems with our lives and they are His masterpieces (Ephesians 2:10).
Regarding Mary and Martha, Jesus’ sovereign silence did come to an end when He arrived in Bethany exactly on schedule.
Yes, the silence of God is always purposeful and has a timeline. All the demons in hell cannot stop God’s divine plan. Jesus is the Master at turning evil into good, and He showed it at His Cross and His empty tomb.
You take what
The enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good;
You turn it for good.
You take what
The enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good.
You turn it for good.By: Elevation Worship
