“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Read Mark 15:22-34

“God, why?” Jesus was not the first one to ask this question and certainly not the last. I have asked it many times. “God, why?” I asked 34 years ago when our Cynthia Suzanne was stillborn. “God, why?” You have probably asked it yourself. “God, why?” It may be life’s most perplexing question. In this context, it is also life’s most important question. The most important question ever asked in all of human history. God, why did you forsake your only begotten Son? Although Jesus asked it on the cross almost 2000 years ago, we ask it again. Why did God forsake Him? What is going on here? “God, why?” As with the other cries from the cross, this one is also short. Since the final cause of death from crucifixion was suffocation, those undergoing such torture could only talk in short bursts, because of the stress on their diaphragms. Jesus cried out in Aramaic (not the Greek of the New Testament), therefore making it necessary for Mark to translate it for us.

This is not the first time we encounter this particular cry. It is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1. Reading this Psalm, written centuries before the cross of Christ, reminds us that what was happening here was no accident. God is in control of the circumstances. He could enable the Old Testament prophets & psalmists to predict these events because He would make them come to pass. God is in control of the timing. Just the night before, Jesus has said, “Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” God was in control of the elements. This was no ordinary eclipse. This was a miracle. An eclipse can only last a few minutes at most, and besides Passover occurs during the full moon, making an eclipse impossible. On top of these facts, is the fact that an eclipse by its very nature cannot come and go suddenly. In a way, the miraculous darkness shines a light on the death of Jesus. This is no ordinary crucifixion. God’s Son is dying. Yet as He dies, the Father forsakes the Son. “God, why?”

At the birth of the Son of God, a star provided brightness at midnight. At the death of the Son of God, there was darkness at noontime. In the midst of the pitch black, Jesus suddenly discovers He is alone. Previous to this, he had been in communion with the Father. Now not only darkness but also silence falls over the crime scene. From noon to 3 pm time stands still. The silence is finally shattered with a cry. “God, why?” For the first time in eternity past and only time in eternity present & future, the blessed Trinity finds itself out of harmony. The Father & Son are out of sync. One-third of the Godhead had been forsaken.

We have witnessed this shocking scenario gradually unfolding. Jesus had found Himself increasing more alone. There were twelve with Him at the last supper, but as they move into the garden, there were only eleven, for one had gone to betray Him. As Jesus moves farther into His sufferings, only three accompany him. As His sufferings take Him to the home of the high priest, only two follow to see the bitter end. As He hangs on the cursed tree, He cries out to the only One who He thought would never leave Him.
In John 16:32 Jesus told the disciples that they would all forsake Him “and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Yet at the very hour He needed comfort the most, the Lord cries, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” The others were only human. They were afraid. But God? Why You God? Jesus, of course, knew why. He was quoting this Psalm for our sakes. Why? Why has God forsaken Him? Why did God forsake His Son? He did it for sinners, for you. God placed the sins of the world on the back of His Son, and then God turned His back on Him, because God cannot tolerate sin. Why? Why does Jesus not call Him Father, but instead calls Him God? So that you do not have to only call Him God, but can now call Him Father.

Why? Because God was pouring out His wrath upon His Son. The wrath you deserve for the sins you committed. He did it to spare you from wrath. It was in the dark that the great work of Salvation was transacted. For in that moment, God poured the sins of humanity into His Son and poured His wrath out on His Son. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The answer is clear. For Greg… I did it for Greg.