Chapter 2.9
Did God forsake Jesus?
Did Jesus the Christ know what was going to
happen?
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me?
Did Jesus actually become Sin?
Did we misunderstand?
First Word
Who
crucified Jesus? God did; IT PLEASED HIM to Crush Jesus.[1] WHAT? This calls into question the very nature of
God. What kind of a compassionate and
loving God would forsake the cry of His only begotten Son? The very next question is; since Jesus was
the perfect God/man who served God perfectly, then what prevents God from
abandoning all of the rest of sinful mankind?
Can God be trusted to be a just, fair and a GOOD God?
Setting the
Stage
Jesus
is on the cross suspended between Heaven and Earth as if a ladder for
men to have access to God, when He utters the words Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. Many scholars’ believe that Jesus is
actually quoting Psalms 22 in its
entirety which was taught to every Jew from their birth, as He quotes the
opening verse, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me”.[2] Jesus was pointing out the psalmist’s PROPHECY and because
everyone knew the prophetical writings, they would go back and read it again
and grasp the meaning of the prophecy.
They would then UNDERSTAND what has just
happened.
It is this very scripture that Jesus is
quoting; “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” which
draws attention to the fact that Jesus is now FULFILLING the prophecy. The Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic are all clear
that the meaning of the cry of Christ was that He was forsaken by God. Even the different translations carry the same
thought.
a)
CNT – My God, My
God, why have you abandoned me?
Cassirer New Testament
b)
CEF – My God, My
God, way have you deserted me?
Contemporary English Version
c)
NCV – My God, My
God, why have you rejected me?
New Century Version
d)
NLV – My God, My
God, why have you left me alone? New Life Version
e)
WET – My God, My
God, why have you let me down? Wuest Expanded Translation
Because
of your “BS”;
your Belief
System, you already believe that God would
not forsake His only begotten Son, even if the scriptures confirms that He did.
As I studied this subject, my thoughts
and BS
certainly vacillated back and forth like the pendulum on a clock.
Unpacking
Psalm 22
This
Psalm is called “The Psalm of the Cross” and is believe to be
the revealed thoughts of Jesus while looking down from the Cross. It was written about 1000 years before the
birth of Christ and the method of “crucifixion” as the death penalty had NOT yet been invented by the Phoenicians upon which
Rome later would hijack for their own Capital Punishment.
It is written by King David who is
expressing his own experiences under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus speaks from the cross; absent from
this psalm, is the cause of His travail, and is void of any reference to sin. He does not claim innocence, nor His
righteousness, nor does He ask for vengeance, it is a mixture of Complaint
and Praise.
It was from the 6th hour to the
9th hour (noon till 3pm) when
supernatural impenetrable thick darkness that you could feel came upon Jesus as
the BLACK Sins of the world was being heaped on His
body for THREE grueling hours.[3] Christ who knew no sin, was made SIN for us.
Jesus is now experiencing the wrath of God.
We need to digress for a moment and look at the composition of THE TRINITY.
a)
The Father is not the Son, nor the Holy Spirit,
but the Father is God.
b)
The Son is not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit,
but the Son is God.
c)
The Holy Spirit is not the Father, nor the Son,
but the Holy Spirit is God. Hold that thought
When Jesus was abandoned by the Father, instead of
calling out to the Father, Jesus in His humanity cried out directly to God. My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?[4] All the rest of His prayers always addressed
the Father. Jesus cannot see nor feel
the presence of God, but He does not lose His faith during this suffering, and
even though He feels forsaken, He knows that God is still near even though God
cannot look on sin because HE IS HOLY.[5] The people are laughing at Him and shouting
insults, saying that if He is God, let Him deliver Himself, wagging their heads
symbolizing NO HOPE for Him.[6] He is despised, a reproach of men, He feels
like a lowly WORM.[7]
He looks down and sees His mother and memories flood his mind concerning
His Virgin birth and He recalls telling his mother at the wedding; “that His time had not yet come”, but now
it has.[8] He looks around at all the Roman soldiers
roaring around below Him like lions.[9] Sweat is pouring out as He struggles to
breath, His tongue sticks to the roof of His mouth in thirst,[10]
the weight of His body is pulling His bones out of joint, His heart is broken;
melting like wax.[11]
The dogs; the Gentiles have already whipped him with 39 lashes, jammed a
crown of thorns on His head piercing the skin and they have pierced his hands
and feet with nails and now He is in indescribably agony.[12] They have stripped Him NAKED, to further humiliate Him.[13] His enemies are like the single purposed horn
of the mythical Unicorn which was considered a Vicious and brutal killer.[14]
In all of that, Jesus proclaims the name of God; saying that God has NOT DESPISED NOR ABHORRED the affliction
of the afflicted; NEITHER HAS HE HID HIS FACE from him;[15]
and when the afflicted cries out unto Him, he will be heard. This is good news, although God is Holy and
cannot look on Sin, He still hears the cry of the vilest of men. On the Cross, Jesus never ceased to be who He
is; GOD the Son.
It is God that has done this and IT IS FINISHED.[16]
JESUS WAS FORSAKEN so that God would never leave nor forsake us.[17]
Misunderstood
Some who were standing nearby
misunderstood what Jesus had said when He said “Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani” and thought He was calling on Elijah the
Prophet to save Him;[18] a
Divine call for help was expected, but it just extended their cruel, cynical
mockery. We are doing the same thing
today, we are misunderstanding what took place on the cross.
Jesus was SILENT at His trial, but God was there, He was SILENT when He was in
Prison, but God was there, He was SILENT at his flogging, but
God was there, He was SILENT as they nailed
Him to the cross, but God was there; [19]BUT when the sins of the world were
pressed down upon Him and God turned His Holy back, God roared an unutterable WOE. Jesus had become
despised, scorned and rejected of men; He was no longer a man, but had become a
WORM in the very lowliest of places.[20]
Sidebar: the word used
here for “worm”
means the “coccus
worm” which was used to dye the curtains in the temple scarlet red. Isaiah the
prophet said; “though your SINS be as scarlet red, they shall become
white as wool.”[21]
It was not the life of Jesus that
brought salvation; it was His death. This mystery is so vast, imponderable and so
misunderstood; Jesus left the glory of Heaven and came to earth to destroy the
works of Satan.[22] He became a flesh and blood human who is now
suffering in His earthly body and separated from God the Father, because He was
made to be sin.
You must get this; JESUS BECAME SIN.
Death is Physical; the separation
of the spirit from the body. (For everyone)
Death is also Spiritual; the separation
of the spirit from God. (For just the
unbeliever)
God cannot look on sin and
for a period of time, probably for some three hours, God turned away as the
sins of the whole world were heaped on the body of His ONLY begotten Son.
Many down play the bitter truth that Jesus was forsaken by God. All of His Disciples had already abandoned Him
and He was totally ALONE.[23] There was no place for Him to turn for human
refuge, nor Divine refuge. IT WAS GOD’S WILL TO CRUSH JESUS.[24]
Why did God forsake Jesus? The next verse tells us; because God is HOLY, and in those last three hours God could
not look on the boatload after boatload of sin that was being dumped on His ONLY Son, BUT
He was still there. (With tears in my eyes I
cry out, Hallelujah)
A Man called Jesus
God is immortal and His
years have no end, therefore He cannot die, nor can He be tempted.[25]
In the fullness of time, God sent forth
His Son born under the Law. Jesus took on physical humanity with a
psychological flesh and blood body and chose to limit Himself to one place at a
time and accept the limitations of man and stripped Himself of His glory and
humbled Himself even to the point of death in order to face all the points of
temptation that man has, and be able to die on the cross as a substitute for
our sins.[26]
He
did not cease in any degree to exist as God and a member of the Trinity, but He
did cease to know the intimacy and fellowship with His heavenly Father.[27]
He suffered Anguish, Thorns, Nails,
Physical pain and the Spiritual loss of fellowship; I just cannot adequately describe His over whelming burden; and the mystery
of His SEPARATION is far too deep for me to fathom.
Did
Jesus know?
The Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit all knew the plan of salvation was to be the death of Jesus
on the cross; it was the plan laid out before Jesus was ever born of woman. There are things that Jesus did not know,
only God did. Jesus said that that the
day and the hour of His return was known only to God Himself; even as God’s Son
He didn’t know.[28] When in the Garden praying, it seems that
other things were slowly being revealed to Him as He became in agony prompting
His question; if
it was possible that this cup could be passed by and not taken, but ended with His claim of submission
to the Will of God.[29]
Considering all of this, Jesus had never been out of the presence of
God, nor had He ever experienced the load of worldwide sin that was now being
dumped by the truck load on His body and He cried out in despair; My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
God is not Santa Clause who
threatens to NOT give you any presents if you are naughty, and in the end, the threating
means nothing as you get everything that’s on your list. We paint a picture of God in one-dimension; GOD IS LOVE. Scripture also says He
is a righteous Judge that is Jealous and Hates sin with an Avenging Wrath, and
He just simply cannot overlook SIN.[30]
The
Big Lie
When
Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he discovered he was NAKED, so he hid himself because he had sinned
and Satan made him believe that he was forsaken by God.[31] Although SIN separated him
from God; the creator still reached out and clothed him.
Here is Satan’s lie today;
Jesus was also NAKED on the cross[32]
and since God forsook His only Son, you can bet He will forsake you too; you
cannot trust God. There was laughter,
insults and head wagging which symbolized NO
HOPE.
He was despised, rejected, a reproach of
men, and as they hid their faces from Him, He felt like a lowly WORM. Satan would have us to conclude that GOD did all of this to Jesus, but He did not. It was man that hid their face from Jesus;
not God. It’s in
the Book
The cross is a demonstration of God’s love
for mankind. Satan tried to tempt Jesus
when He was at His weakest point; to doubt God, to believe that God had
forsaken Him. Although Jesus felt
forsaken, His faith did not waver as he declared that God did not hide His face
from Him. God turned away from sin, but
He did not hide His face from His Son and He will not hide His face from you;
just call out to Him like Jesus did.
LISTEN; God does not
despise nor abhorrer the affliction of the afflicted; neither does He hid his
face from you WHEN you cry unto
him; He will hear you.[33] The Big Lie was for
Jesus to PROVE
that He was God, otherwise it would prove that God had also forsaken man; THIS LIE WAS CRUSHED IN THE
RESURRECTION. Jesus carried all our griefs and our sorrows;[34] it
was man that presumed that it was God who had smitten Jesus, but it was man
himself. It’s in the Book.
The Truth restores your soul. Don’t be tempted by the BIG LIE; Jesus remained faithful
and called on the name of God to deliver Him from the horn and the sword of His
enemies.[35]
Jesus was delivered, but not as we would
have expected it.[36] God’s ways are higher than our ways and His
thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His foolishness is higher than man’s wisdom. It’s in the Book
God was PLEASED that His Plan was
almost completed.
Jesus said; IT IS FINISHED.
Footnotes on It is finished [37]
The Take Away
Sin has been pre-packaged
and marketed as something that is just 50 shade of Gray. The wages of sin is death[38]
and Jesus Christ was delivered up to the cross because of our sins and our
offences. He declined the privileges of
the Deity and emptied Himself and took on the form of man. Since Jesus is God, you could say that He forsook His own self.[39]
God made His Son who had known no sin to
become sin for us. He became cursed for
us as He took on worldwide sin and bore them in His body and received the
penalty of death. Jesus suffered and
died as the scriptures prophesized. It
was His atoning death that became the sacrifice and ransom for many.[40]
Considering this, Jesus had unbroken fellowship with God, He had never
been out His presence, nor had He ever experienced the load of worldwide sin
that was now being dumped by the truck load on His body and He cried out in
despair; My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Did God Forsake Jesus; the scriptures says YES
He did, but probably for only a period of 3 hours. Did
Jesus really believe that God had forsaken Him FOREVER; I say NO… Although Jesus felt deserted,
rejected, left alone, let down and forsaken, He kept the faith and reached out to God who was still there and
He will be there for us too.[41]
You must get this, SIN separates us from God because God is Holy and ONLY the sacrificial blood of Jesus
Christ can blot out that crimson red
stain of sin and make us pure and white as snow.
Life is choice driven. The choices
you make today will have eternal consequences.
JESUS WAS FORSAKEN
SO THAT WE WOULD NOT BE
[1] Matthew 27:45-46 – My God, My God, Why hast
thou forsaken me? -- Isaiah
53:10 - It pleased the Lord
to CRUSH Jesus
[2] Psalm 22:1 - My God, My God, why have you
forsaken me?
[3] Exodus 10:21 – The darkness was so THICK you can FEEL IT
[4] Psalm 22:1-2 - My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
[5] Psalm 22:3 – God is Holy and cannot look on sin -- Habakkuk
1:13 – God’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil
[6] Psalm 22:7 – They laugh at me; wag their heads in scorn
[7] Psalm 22:6 – I am a despised worm -- Isaiah 53:3 - Jesus was held in low esteem, despised and rejected
by mankind
[8] Psalm 22:9-10 – He looks down and sees His mother -- John 2:4 - Dear woman, “My time has
not yet come
[9] Psalm 22:11-12 – Jesus looks down and sees the soldiers surrounding Him -- --
Psalm 22:13 – He is crucified by the roaring lions of Rome -- Psalm
22:19-20 – Deliver my “Only One” from the Gentiles.
[10] Psalm 22:15 – His tongue is so dry; He is so thirsty
[11] Psalm 22:14 – Perspiring, bones pulled out of joint, broken heart
[12] Psalm 22:16 – The Gentile Dogs pierce His hands and feet
[13] Psalm 22:17 – Jesus is crucified NAKED
– He is humiliated
[14] Psalm 22:21 – Like the Unicorn’s power; Vicious and brutal; a killer
[15] Psalm 22:8 - Jesus trusted that God would deliver Him --- Psalm
22:22-24 – He has NOT hid his face from the sinner -- Hebrews 13:5 – God will never fail or abandon us
[16] Psalm 22:27 – It is God has that has done this -
It is finished
[17] Psalm 22:25-26 – You will be with me in Paradise in the great
congregation -- Romans 8:31-39 – Nothing
can separate the believer from God
[18] Matthew 27:47-49 – Some misunderstood what
Jesus said from the cross
[19] Isaiah 53:7- He did not open his mouth; He was silent
[20] Psalm 22:6 – Jesus had become a scorned, despised worm, not a man
[21] Isaiah 1:18 - Your sins are red as scarlet, but they shall be
white as snow
[22] Hebrews 2:9 – Jesus left heaven for a little while in order to suffer
death -- 1 John 3:8 – Jesus came
to destroy Satan’s evil works
[23] John 16:32 – Prophecy; Disciples will be scattered; Jesus will be left
alone
[24] Isaiah 53:10 - It was the LORD’s WILL to CRUSH him
[25] James 1:13 - God cannot be tempted with evil and temps no one -- 1 Timothy 1:17 – God
is immortal and invisible -- Psalm
102:25-27 – God’s years have no end, He is the same
yesterday, today and forever
[26] Hebrews 4:15-16 – Jesus was tempted in EVERY respect as us, yet did not sin --
Hebrews 10:4-5 – Jesus’ body was prepared in advance for the sacrifice on the
cross
[27] Philippians 2:6 – Jesus did not count on His Divine powers, He emptied
and humbled Himself
[28] Mark 13:32 – The Son does not know everything that God knows
[29] Luke 22:44 – Being in agony He sweat drops of blood -- Matthew 26:39 – If possible let this cup pass away from me
[30] Psalm 7:11 - God is a righteous judge -- Nahum 1:2 - God
is a jealous and avenging God -- Romans
1:18 - The wrath of God is against all unrighteousness
[31] Genesis 3:10-11 – Adam was NAKED; He is humiliated
[32] Psalm 22:17 – Jesus is crucified NAKED; He is humiliated
[33] Psalm 22:22-24 – God has not hid his face from the sinner -- Psalm
37:25 - I have not seen the righteous forsaken
[34] Isaiah 53:4 - Jesus has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows on the cross
[35] Psalm 22:21 – The Horn of the Unicorn was Vicious and brutal; a killer
[36] John 19:30 – The plan was finished, completed with His death on the cross
-- Deuteronomy 4:31 - God will
not forsake you nor forget His covenant -- 2 Chronicles 15:2 - The Lord is with you; seek Him, He will be found
[37] Isaiah 55:9 – God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and
thoughts -- 1 Corinthians 1:25 -
The foolishness of God is wiser than men’s wisdom
[38] Romans 6:23 - The wages of sin is death
[39] Philippians 2:6 – Jesus declined the privileges
of the Son of God -- 2 Corinthians 5:21 – He was without
sin, but became sin for us
[40] Romans 4:25 – Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses; our
sins -- Philippians 2:7-8 – Jesus
emptied Himself and took on man’s form obedient to even death -- Galatians 3:13 – Christ became a curse for
us; everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed -- Isaiah 53:5 – He chose to take upon Himself our Sins and iniquities
-- 1 Peter 2:24 - Jesus bore our
sins in his body on the cross -- 1
Corinthians 15:3 - Christ died for our sins as it was written in the
Prophets -- Isaiah 53:6 - God punished
His own son Jesus for our sins -- 1
Peter 3:18 - Christ suffered ONCE and FOR ALL who would believe -- Matthew 20:28 – He came to give his life
as a ransom for many that would receive Him
[41] Psalm 37:25 - The righteous will not be forsaken -- 1 John 4:10 – Jesus was the atoning
sacrifice for all our sins -- John 17:5
– God restored the glory to Jesus that had before -- John 16:32 – Jesus
was not alone, the Father was still there
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