Today is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus' death on the cross. In keeping with our theme of prayer, we are going to look at Jesus' prayer from the cross. Jesus spoke a few prayers from the cross but today we are going to focus on one of them.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This prayer follows the same theme as Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane—abandonment. He was betrayed by Judas. He was abandoned in prayer by his three closest disciples. All of his disciples fled upon his arrest. He was denied three times by Peter. He was the long awaited Messiah of his people Israel, yet they handed him over to Pilate to be crucified. Now he is forsaken, as the text declares, by the Father.
This is a quotation of Psalm 22:1. This is a psalm of David that is widely regarded as a Messianic psalm. It points ahead to the coming of the promised savior, the chosen one of Israel. Whereas the words of this psalm find some fulfillment in the life of David, they find their fullest fulfillment in the life of Christ. David, as a foreshadowing type of Christ, resembles certain aspects of the Messiah's life. In Psalm 22 the abandonment of the Father and the opposition from the people take center stage. Verses 16-18 are particularly more pertinent to the life of Jesus than they were in the life of David:
Psalm 22:16–18 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Piercing his hands and feet and casting lots for his clothes correlate directly to the events of the crucifixion, events which Jesus had no control over. Jesus quoting this psalm in this moment would have drawn the attention of everyone in attendance and confirmed without a doubt that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
At the outset it is important to note that Jesus begins this prayer not as he typically does with a "Our Father" or "Abba, Father", but with the less personal "My God." This could be simply out a desire to keep with the quotation of Psalm 22:1, or it could be an indicator of the distance and lack of intimacy between the Father and the Son in this moment. It is impossible to know which one is the case, but it is worth contemplating.
The exact nature of the Father forsaking Jesus is indeed a mystery—one of the greatest mysteries of the entire gospel. How does the Father forsake the Son of whom they share the same essence? Jesus did not cease to be fully God in this moment. Whatever the exact nature of this forsaking is, we can safely conclude they did not share the same intimacy as they have for all eternity in that moment. The consequences of this were gut wrenching for Jesus and seem to crush his spirit.
Although I don't think we will ever have a complete picture as to the nature of the Father forsaking Jesus in this moment, a theological look into what is happening here can fill in some of the puzzle pieces for us.
A robust theology of the atonement reveals the cross to be the once and for all atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity. On the cross, Jesus took the punishment due humanity as a result of our sin. The Father pours out his wrath upon Jesus. His wrath that is justly directed at humanity for our sin. The punishment for our sin is death. Not just temporal death, or even the unregenerate experience, but eternal death, hell, separation from God. Romans 6:23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Note the juxtaposition of death and eternal life. The death Paul has in mind with this statement is likely an eternal death, hell, separation from the good presence of God. So what Jesus took for us on the cross is greater than just physical death. It was eternal death, hell, separation from God that he took for us. He literally took hell for us. What that means I don't fully comprehend, but it must have been agonizing in every possible way.
As we contemplate the mystery of the Father's abandonment of the Son this Good Friday, we should appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus all the more. Whatever the precise nature of this moment, Jesus loved humanity enough to agonize here, in our place. He knew no sin, yet he became sin for us. The only response to such love is worship, adoration, love and homage in return.
Additional Content
Reflection
Reflect on the mystery of the Father's abandonment of the Son. All week we have reflected on the abandonment of Jesus by his disciples and others. Today ponder how devastating it must have been for Jesus to be abandoned by the Father in this moment.
We will reflect on this further tonight at our Good Friday service. There we will honor Jesus, cherish him as our Lord and praise him together for his loving sacrifice on the cross. I hope you will join us.