When God Turned Away

When God Turned Away

On the cross, Christ paid the full price for mankind’s sins, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:23). He felt the full weight of the wages of sin.

Death takes many forms. There is physical death, medically defined as the point when brain function ceases. There is spiritual death, or separation from God. In a sense, the wages of sin produce emotional and social death as well. Think of all the human frailties that emerge out of sin. One such frailty is loneliness.

One can be lonely even in a crowd. I can imagine that Jesus felt alone while going through His Passion, suffering on the cross for our sins. Despite the large crowds, there were only a few friendly faces in the crowd. Out of 12 disciples at the Last Supper, only John stood by Him until the end. It is easy to be lonely when in a hostile crowd.

Loneliness has been a fruit of sin ever since the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they immediately tried to hide themselves from one another and God (Gen. 3:6–10). We have been hiding from each other ever since. Husband and wife may hide their true feelings from each other after years of hurtful words and angry replies. People hide their true thoughts and feelings from acquaintances because they are afraid they will be rejected when people find out what they are really like. Some people hide who they are from others because they know others will have good reason to dislike them. We humans have become quite expert at wearing emotional and spiritual masks to hide our true selves from others. As a result, we disconnect from one another, and loneliness ensues.

There is a deeper loneliness, though. It is that loneliness when we feel separated from God. Joyce and I recently received an e-mail from a person who asked us to pray for a particular need. This person admitted that he feels like God does not listen to his prayers, but listens to ours. I have felt that same way at times, though. There have been times when I felt like my prayers were bouncing off the ceiling and falling back on my head, rather than entering the ears of God. You may have felt it too. Perhaps you have cried out, “God, why aren’t You helping me? If you really loved me, you would not let this happen!” I have prayed those prayers as well. However, when I look back, I usually find that God had not turned His back on me. I usually ran away from God like a mischievous child running into traffic when Mommy or Daddy said “Stop! Hold my hand and wait!”

Jesus never ran away from God. However, when He was on the cross, it looked as if God had forsaken Him. For approximately three hours, darkness covered the land. It was as if God Himself, the Giver of life and light, had turned His back and refused to watch what was occurring at Golgotha. Spiritual darkness had already fallen as Jesus paid the price for our sins. Now, that spiritual darkness was manifested in physical darkness.

Had God truly forsaken His Son? Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1, so some scholars have suggested that He was actually reciting, or even singing, that psalm from the cross. Allow me to read a few verses of that psalm:

We can see a lot of parallels between this psalm and Christ’s experience on the cross. The accusations and taunts sound the same. People suffering crucifixion frequently suffered dehydration and dislocated extremities. Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced by nails, and His side was pierced by a spear. The soldiers gambled for His clothes. So much in this psalm sounds like Jesus’ experience on the cross.

Nevertheless, I do not think Jesus was singing on the cross. Neither was He merely reciting poetry. When Jesus said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He meant it. This was the anguished cry of a broken heart. Some Bible scholars believe that God truly turned His back on Jesus at that time. They will say that all the sins of humanity were on Jesus, so much so that He literally became sin for us (see 2 Cor. 5:21). These theologians say that God cannot look on sin and had to turn His back on Jesus.

I believe this explanation is at least incomplete, and perhaps faulty. For one thing, God has been forced to look at sin ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Every minute, people around the world are sinning, yet God still watches. Furthermore, this explanation makes God sound like some sort of cosmic robot, just doing what He was programmed to do.

Instead of trying to force some spiritual law on God, perhaps we should remember that He was Jesus’ Father. One of my first experiences as a father gave me a whole new perspective on this passage of SCripture. My son, Daniel, was born two months early and his lungs collapsed within minutes of delivery. He was on life support for several days. During those days, we realized it was possible that he could die. I visited his incubator every chance I could, but I had a hard time looking at him. I have to admit, I spent more time studying the monitors than looking at my baby. The nurses told me I could, and should, touch him and speak to him. Just feeling a loving touch or hearing a caring voice would do wonders for him, they said. I could not bring myself to do it, though. At one point, though, without even thinking, I prayed a prayer very similar to Jesus’: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken him?” When I realized what I had said, I learned something new about the love of God.

Only the worst father can bear to watch his son hanging over the chasm between life and death. We might call such a man a wacko, or some other term. Real fathers would take no pleasure in watching their children suffer. I admit, my inability to really look at my son grew out of my own weakness. But since that time, I think I understand that moment when God turned His back. He was not forced to obey some sort of rigid programming or spiritual law to which He was subservient. He was not being cruel or uncaring. No, at this moment perhaps we see the fatherly love of God in an entirely new light.

Nothing since the dawn of creation can compare to the grief God the Father felt that day. His own Son was dying. He could not bear to watch. Yes, it was the most painful moment of God’s existence. This points to the magnitude of that event. The cross was not Jesus’ publicity stunt or just a noble example. It was a tragic necessity. As we have seen, the book of Romans tells us that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23) and that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 6:23). The entire human race was on a fast track to hell! Drastic times call for drastic action. Nothing short of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself could open heaven’s gates for us. If God had another option, He would have used it.

This is how severe our sin problem is. Yet, nothing in all creation could stop God from sending His Son and Jesus from giving His life for us. As much as the Father loved the Son, and much as Jesus knew the cross would bring suffering, nothing could stop them from doing whatever it takes to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life for all who call upon His name.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is not merely a cry of despair. It is not a reaction to rejection. It is a reminder that God the Father and God the Son loved us so much, they were willing to take whatever action they needed to offer us salvation. I pray that none of us ever take that love or that gift for granted.