As Jesus hung on the cross, he screamed these horrific words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
These words are a reference to Psalm 22, which is the lament of an innocent sufferer. We’re familiar with verse 1, which Jesus cried out as his bloody body hung from the cross. I had forgotten about verses 4-5 until I read them this morning:
In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. (Psalms 22:4–5)
Abraham, the fearful, cried out to God, and God delivered him.
Jacob, the liar, called to God, and God came to the rescue.
Samson, the wicked judge, called upon the Lord and the Lord gave him strength.
David, the murderer, plead with God, and God lifted him from the pit.
Jesus, the innocent, called to God…and heard nothing. Silence. He was not rescued from the cross. No angels were sent to defend him. He was forsaken by God. He endured the wrath of God alone.
I, the sinner, call to God and am welcomed.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Well said. Thanks.
You're welcome!
As Greg Gilbert says, "His death, my life."
I love that book.
Beautiful insight!
Thanks!
outstanding!! this is a keeper in my list of helpful and God glorifying quotes
Excellent.
I know you're reformed and all, so you will disagree with this, but if you keep reading that Psalm, it says that God did not really forsake Jesus.
24 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.
I know that you believe that Jesus faced the wrath of God on the cross, but that isn't how the new testament reads- as if Jesus took all of God's wrath away. The wrath of God isn't poured out until the end of times, as stated in Revelations. And the wrath of God, when it is poured out, is loud and violent and unmistakable. It doesn't resemble the circumstances around Jesus' death; God's silence isn't evidence of wrath. Jesus felt forsaken by God; we all feel forsaken by God at one time or another because that is the cost for sin: separation from God and death.
I know I won't convince you of anything, but i wanted to give you something to think about because most people take the whole God poured out his wrath on Jesus who was forsaken by God for granted- not even thinking it through.
(But at least you didn't say that Jesus was forsaken because God can't look on sin, which is as ridiculous of an idea as they come!)
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I always like it when readers comment! And I appreciate you taking time to think through these issues.
Unfortunately I have to disagree with you based on scripture. 1 John 4:10 says that Christ is our propitiation, which always refers to the turning away of wrath. Romans speaks over and over of the sacrifice of Christ delivering us from the wrath to come. The only way this is possible is if Christ endured that wrath in our place. John 3:36 says that whoever does not believe in Christ has the wrath of God on them. How is it possible to be delivered from that wrath other than the sacrifice of Christ?
Well, let me disagree with you based on scripture…
Propitiation, or fulfilling the wrath of God, doesn't necessitate enduring the wrath of God. 1 John 4:10 says that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice. In other words, his sacrifice turned away the wrath of God. Jesus' sacrifice satisfied the wrath of God for those who are covered in his blood. Jesus didn't endure it, he turned it away from us, those who believe.
You wrote:
Romans speaks over and over of the sacrifice of Christ delivering us from the wrath to come. The only way this is possible is if Christ endured that wrath in our place.
Is that really the only way? For Jesus to endure that wrath in our place? Jesus' body broken for me, his blood covering me, so that the Wrath of God is no longer aimed at me. Like the passover angel of death, his blood makes God's wrath pass over me.
It was Jesus' obedience on the cross, to death, that saves me though faith from the wrath of God "…so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." It isn't Jesus who endured the wrath of God that saves me. There's a difference.
When the rhetorical question is addressed: can we go on sinning so that grace can increase? Wouldn't they have addressed the idea that the less we sin, the less wrath Jesus would have suffered on the cross? That every time I sin, God added that much more wrath to Jesus on the cross?
I just ask that you read Romans with that in mind: there will be a day of God's wrath, and that day wasn't when Jesus was on the cross. That day is coming.
And read Revelation 16 to see what it will look like when the wrath of God is poured out. Compare that to what Jesus experienced. It's very different.
Thanks for reading my comments!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. What matters most is that we both believe in only Jesus to save us. I appreciate your thoughts.
Could you just clarify something for me? I feel like I'm missing something. If the penalty for sin against God is the wrath of God, how can you or I escape that wrath? What did Jesus do to release me from the penalty of sin, which will be poured out on those who reject Jesus at the final judgment? How does God satisfy his judgment and wrath if not at the cross?
Does that make sense?
What did Jesus do to release me from the penalty of sin? He died on the cross! He became one of us, took on flesh, took on the punishment for being a son of Adam, and laid his life down in obedience to God. That act, the life and death of Jesus, satisfied the wrath of God. What I mean by that is God no longer looks on me as a sinner, but looks on me as if I am like Jesus. He has no wrath for me anymore.
So, what you write does make sense in a way, but I disagree, and I don't think scripture supports what you say.
The view you and most modern Christians hold is that God has X amount of wrath that is due to sin. He took a certain amount (Y) of it that the elect earned, is earning, and will earn due to their sins, and instead of pouring it out on us, he poured it out on Jesus. But this doesn't make sense for several reasons:
a) When God pours out his wrath, it looks a certain way: loud, violent, massive. Jesus' death was marked by silence. Jesus suffered more than I have, but there are many people who suffered more than Jesus- tormented for longer, experienced silence and feeling forsaken for longer, etc. If Jesus was experiencing the wrath of God for all our sins, I would expect , from reading Biblical accounts, a much more brutal and longer lasting (eternal) torment.
b)That view makes God' wrath more powerful than love. There is nothing anyone can do to stop it, it can only be redirected into Jesus. I believe love was more powerful than sin, than wrath. The love of Jesus stopped the wrath of God.
c) That view has a weak view of sin, i.e., one God's wrath for my sins is satisfied, we are reconciled. Sin severs our connection with God, and Jesus had to redeem us completely, thoroughly, to reconcile us again. It is much more relational and mysterious than God's wrath + Jesus = reconciled. God pouring out his wrath doesn't reconcile us, because it's not his wrath that severed the relationship.
Jesus took care of the root of the problem, our sin. When our sin is gone, so is the punishment.
d) The sacrificial system in the OT doesn't support the idea of wrath poured out on the sacrifice. The animals are killed, there blood is spilt, but no where does it suggest that God's wrath is poured out on the animals.
God satisfies his judgment with mercy instead of wrath. What courtroom in the country would be called just if they handed out the maximum penalty for all crimes for all people found guilty? Sometimes mercy is required for justice to be served. Seriously- many times someone getting justice, facing the deserved punishment for a crime they committed, isn't very satisfying.
e) We are supposed to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. Are we following Jesus to face the wrath of God? I certainly hope not! If Jesus' suffering and death is merely a way to absorb the wrath of God, or a result of God's wrath, than what comfort do I or any of us have in suffering like Jesus? And why would we be called to follow him? His suffering and death was something greater, something that we can rejoice in when we suffer, because it provides an opportunity to get into the very heart of God. Jesus' death wasn't God rejecting Jesus, it was Jesus victorious over death and sin.
Thanks for taking the time to comment on this. I appreciate it! I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm grateful that we both hold to Jesus as our only savior.
A follow-up….
"The only way this is possible is if Christ endured that wrath in our place."
What scripture do you have that supports this statement?
(And thanks for the civil debate)