Why Was Christ Forsaken?

A lion with the wings of an eagle, a bear, a leopard, and an indescribable creature, not compared to any animal at all.  These are the images of four beasts mentioned in Daniel 7.  While these beasts represent different kings, there remains within this metaphor the basic condition of humanity controlled by its beastly nature.  Since the fall of man in Genesis, the influence of this “beast” has affected our ability to reflect God’s image.  We’ve become dysfunctional in our actions, our attitudes, and our speech.  We no longer resembled human beings.  We were no longer like men.  We had been taken over, defiled, overshadowed by, and shamed by this great beast who had become our king.  But even in this dismal scene of corruption, Daniel provides his readers with hope.

“13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14, KJV)

    In the Gospels, the expression “Son of Man” appears as a title for Jesus 81 times.  It is the most common self-designation of Jesus as he relates to his disciples and followers.  This designation is important, for despite humanity’s failures there came one man, Jesus Christ, who was able to overcome this beast once and for all.  He completely embodies Daniel’s vision of one who has “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.”  He not only defeated the beastly kings, but he provided a means of victory for all humanity over them, something previously unattainable for humanity.  His purpose was clear: “For the son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11, KJV). To provide such a victory for us, the Son of Man had to suffer on our behalf and take the punishment meant for us.  In Matthew 27, this turning point of history is told.  It is there that Jesus makes a profound statement from the cross:  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
 
    Why was Jesus forsaken?  Why did He feel such separation from the Father?  It seems at first to strike an off-key note in the beautiful symphony of God’s salvation story.  Here is the Messiah, Savior, and King, yet he seems to speak doubt and hopelessness at such a pivotal moment in time.  So, what is happening here?

    To begin with, he speaks these words because they are true of His experience on the cross.  He, while accepting the guilt and shame of our sinfulness, was forsaken by the Father.  The Father could not look upon the filth of what humanity had become.  The Father could not look upon the influence of the beast on us.  For all the physical pain and suffering of the cross, the emotional agony that Jesus faced was undoubtedly horrendous.  For the first time in all of eternity, the bond between Father and Son was temporarily absent.  Not because of anything He had done, but because of what we had done.  He was there bearing our sin, bearing our judgment.  He took our damnation upon Himself.  He took our forsakenness.  Surely this must have been the cup which Jesus dreaded so greatly at Gethsemane, and these words should serve as a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  To the Jews in the first century, as well as to us today, Jesus points us to the Scripture he references here, Psalm 22.  There, we will find important clues to the significance of His words and the events going on here.  Jesus rarely uses the expression “my God” when referencing His Father.  In prayer and connection with God, he almost exclusively says “Father.”  By not using Father, he shows this temporary loss of contact.  The bond between Father and Son felt distant and unsure.  What it does not show is a loss of faith in God.  He still proclaims, "My God."  He still rests assured in the coming victory, and to that, there is no doubt.  Notice the first four verses of Psalm 22:

“1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.”  (Psalm 22:1-4, KJV)

Jesus knows that this feeling of forsakenness is temporary.  He knows the faithfulness of God, and He chooses to trust in God even when these feelings of forsakenness are very real.  As Psalm 22 continues, further evidence to the reader stands out that Jesus is the very one David references.  It speaks of the bystanders “wagging their heads” (Matthew 27:39, Psalm 22:7-8), parting garments and casting lots (Matthew 27:35, Psalm 22:18), piercing hands and feet (Psalm 22:16), a thirst (Psalm 22:15), a pouring out like water (Psalm 22:16), and a restoration and praise of a kingdom (Psalm 22:22-31).  Jesus wanted to point us to this text.  He was not asking “why have you forsaken me?” as if looking for a response from the crowd.  This question is a reminder to us of what’s at stake here and an expression of the agony of his abandonment at the cross, even though this sense of abandonment did not come as a surprise to Jesus himself.  Jesus knew what he was going to face.  John 18:4 says, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him.”  More importantly, He knew how this would end:

“22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.”  (Psalm 22:22-24, KJV)

The writer of Hebrews brings this to light even further, proclaiming, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, KJV).  What was this “joy”?  It was our deliverance from sin!  It was our victory!  It was our salvation! He showed us that this is all going just as it should go.  All of this was in fulfillment of Scripture—even the worst of it all.  Yes, He feels this forsakenness at the cross, but He also feels unfathomable joy in knowing that we can now be freed from the claws of the beast.  He loves us that much.

    I think one of the most beautiful realizations regarding this question is in what this means for us.  Why was Jesus forsaken?  Jesus was forsaken so we would not have to be.  Hebrews 13:5 says, “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  Jesus took the punishment, the guilt, and even the forsakenness we deserved and were ultimately due to receive.  So before we ask, “Where are you, God?  Why did you let this happen?” keep in mind the effects of Jesus’ sacrifice given to us—God does not forsake us.  Jesus Christ took the forsakenness we deserved to ensure that we would never have to be.  We were not worthy of the presence of God, because we had accepted the offer of the beast that ruled us.  But Jesus Christ came to conquer the power of the beast, and give us another option, to follow Him.  And by following Him, we will never have to be forsaken.