Dear Disciple,
(Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22)
As your Master hung on the cross, He called out to His Father several times. He knew that the Father was the One who would not leave Him when all others did (John 16:32). Yet, He called out to Father with these haunting words:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Much teaching has grown from this agonizing statement. It has been taught, and you may have heard it often, that God turned away from His Son because of the terrible load of sin He was carrying. The Father, it is said, had to look away for He cannot look on such sin! Popular songs reiterate this idea as they recount the horrors of our Master’s suffering. As terrible and dramatic as your Master’s time on the cross was, Disciple, please do not believe that your Father really did what so many say. Please do not accept this version of what happened that dark day.
The desperate cry on its own leaves little doubt that Jesus thought Father had indeed forsaken Him, but keep in mind that His statement was not really His own. It came from His “father” David, the prophet-king of Israel. Read Psalm 22 with care and see what Jesus was actually doing as He cried out from the cross. Expressing the first line and first emotion of Psalm 22, your Master was inviting all who could hear Him to recall what that psalm foretold: the detailed suffering of David’s descendant on a cross at the hands of brutish men.
Though David expressed the anguish of this question at the beginning of his psalm, throughout the course of the psalm he came to realize and celebrate what was actually true:
“[YHWH] has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
(Ps. 22:24)
Oh, what a beautiful realization it is! Like His father David before Him, your Master knew that beyond what seemed to be true, His Father in Heaven would never hide His face or forsake Him. The Father did not hate sin more than He loved His dear Son. No, Father was the one who remained near to Him throughout the horrors of His suffering and shame. He was indeed listening when His suffering Son cried out, and He was very attentively looking on when His faithful servant gave up His spirit.
Why does this matter so much? It is important for you to know, Disciple, that your Father will absolutely never abandon nor forsake you. He never forsook nor abandoned Jesus, and His promise to His other children is entirely trustworthy:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
No matter what others may leave you, no matter how many may abandon you, you can be sure that your Father never will.
At peace in this promise with you,
Ryan
