Ozias
Member
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The question shocks us-so much so that it seems to be a mystery from the start. Those of us who believe in the faithfulness and justice of God might be tempted to think that whoever asks such a question is fundamentally mistaken, and indeed that the question itself baffles our understanding of God. Why would God forsake Jesus during the course of performing his mission here on earth?
How could such a question come from Jesus who now blames God for his abandonment. Otherwise, the only possible explanation must be that this question comes from a truly pious-though mistaken-person who just feels abandoned; it is only the honest cry of someone who believes that he has been forsaken. But this question, of course, does not come from someone who has been unfaithful. It does not come from a pious person who simply isn't theologically astute enough to know better. It comes from the lips of none other than Jesus Christ.
It comes from the only one who has been utterly faithful. It comes from the one of whom the Father said, "This is my beloved son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Mt 3:17). It comes from the one who is the eternal Logos (Jn 1:1), the second person of the Trinity. So these words ring out like a thunderbolt. My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?
Lots of us Christians understand this as nothing less than a scream of total desperation, and we do not hesitate to take this cry as anything less than an expression of a complete and total rupture in the life of the triune God. It is very common, especially among conservative evangelical Christians who strongly defend the necessity and sufficiency of Christ's atoning work, to hear statements such as the following.
The Father rejected the Son. As he exhausted his wrath upon the Son, the Father completely abandoned the Son. The Father hid his face from the Son. Jesus "became sin." Therefore the Father's wrath was poured out on Jesus. The Father turned away from the Son. The physical pain Christ suffered in his passion was nothing in comparison to the spiritual and relational pain that Christ endured as he was separated from his Father. God cursed Jesus with damnation. The eternal communion between the Father and the Son was ruptured on that fateful day. The Trinity was broken.
Jesus seems to be quoting from Psalm 22, which begins with apparent despair but ends in confidence and hope: could this be important? Must we say that the Father-Son relationship was ruptured? Indeed, can we even say that the Trinity was broken-or or are there troubling implications of such a claim?
How could such a question come from Jesus who now blames God for his abandonment. Otherwise, the only possible explanation must be that this question comes from a truly pious-though mistaken-person who just feels abandoned; it is only the honest cry of someone who believes that he has been forsaken. But this question, of course, does not come from someone who has been unfaithful. It does not come from a pious person who simply isn't theologically astute enough to know better. It comes from the lips of none other than Jesus Christ.
It comes from the only one who has been utterly faithful. It comes from the one of whom the Father said, "This is my beloved son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Mt 3:17). It comes from the one who is the eternal Logos (Jn 1:1), the second person of the Trinity. So these words ring out like a thunderbolt. My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?
Lots of us Christians understand this as nothing less than a scream of total desperation, and we do not hesitate to take this cry as anything less than an expression of a complete and total rupture in the life of the triune God. It is very common, especially among conservative evangelical Christians who strongly defend the necessity and sufficiency of Christ's atoning work, to hear statements such as the following.
The Father rejected the Son. As he exhausted his wrath upon the Son, the Father completely abandoned the Son. The Father hid his face from the Son. Jesus "became sin." Therefore the Father's wrath was poured out on Jesus. The Father turned away from the Son. The physical pain Christ suffered in his passion was nothing in comparison to the spiritual and relational pain that Christ endured as he was separated from his Father. God cursed Jesus with damnation. The eternal communion between the Father and the Son was ruptured on that fateful day. The Trinity was broken.
Jesus seems to be quoting from Psalm 22, which begins with apparent despair but ends in confidence and hope: could this be important? Must we say that the Father-Son relationship was ruptured? Indeed, can we even say that the Trinity was broken-or or are there troubling implications of such a claim?