Love that suffers all
Léon Bonnat (1833–1922), Christ on the Cross, Public Domain.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Matthew 27:46
At Golgotha there was a crowd present: the Roman soldiers beneath the cross, the chief priests, scribes and elders standing ringside, criminals to the right and left, a few disciples, and a grieving mother. But even in the crowd that day, Jesus was all alone; utterly forsaken by God and man. In His flesh and blood solidarity with them all (John 1:14; Romans 8:3; Philippians 2:8; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16), yet fully divine; the God-man is suffering so completely. In unwavering obedience to His Father’s will, the cup of suffering will be drunk to the very dregs (Matthew 26:39). Through His utter abandonment did God make ‘him to be sin who knew no sin’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The fourth word from the cross is the opening verse of Psalm 22. The first half of this Psalm is a prophetic summary of the entire passion of Christ. As you read that Psalm, take note of verses: 1, 7, 8, 16, 18 and how they come to fruition in the Passion narrative. Psalm 22 ends on a victorious note of hope (Psalm 22:19-31). But in this moment upon the cross there is no hint of a declaration of victory; that won’t come until the penultimate Word is spoken, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30).
Abandoned by God and men, Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. ‘Strong bulls’ and ‘ravenous lions’ (Psalm 22:12), were ready to crush, gore and tear Him apart, if only they could do worse to Him than crucifixion. Men could do no more to Him than crucifixion, to kill the body but not the soul (Matthew 10:28); but God must do much worse. He must abandon Christ, body and soul. As Luther says, ‘Christ was damned and abandoned more than all the saints.’ (Schlink, E. The Victor Speaks, trans. Paul F. Koehneke, CPH, Saint Louis, 1958, p 32). The wrath of God must be satisfied in Christ, if full communion is to be restored. As Peter described, ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed’ (1 Peter 2:24).
Jesus was truly like us in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). And in order to be like us in every way, not only did He take on human soul and body, He suffers unfathomable Godforsakenness, which, because of our sin and rebellion, is truly also ours to suffer. The well-deserved wrath of God, under which we stand, strikes Him. As Isaiah prophesied about the Suffering Servant of God,
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned - every one - to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:3-6).
Abandonment! What a frightening and devastatingly painful event! But the Good Friday abandonment of Christ means that there is no longer any abandonment by God. Because Christ was abandoned by God, God will not abandon you.
So, in that Fourth Word from the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ‘ (Matthew 27:46), ‘we see Jesus plumbing the depths of the human situation, so that there might be no place where we have to go where He has not been before’ (Barclay, W. The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 2, The Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, 1960, p 407). Therefore, in Christ, our human desperation and doubts have an answer: He suffered the wrath of God for us. Our guilt and shame have a Victorius Victim: Christ ‘delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification’ (Romans 4:25).
Jesus said the only sign you need to believe is the sign of Jonah, ‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ (Matthew 12:40). And just as He said would take place on the third day (Matthew 16:21), the angels, who could have been amongst those summoned in their legions to avoid His abandonment (Matthew 26:53), said to the women at the empty tomb, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay’ (Matthew 28:5-6).
In sufferings and trials of all kinds, the victor is the Christian who refuses to believe that God has forsaken them, even when every impulse suggests that it the case. The victor is that Christian who will never let go of their faith, even when they feel that the grounds of faith are gone. The victor is that person who has been beaten to the depths, and who still holds on to God, for that is what Jesus did.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You who cried out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”
entering the deepest darkness and bearing the full weight of our sin—
we thank You.
You were abandoned so that we might be received.
You were condemned so that we might be forgiven.
You were wounded so that we might be healed.
Forgive us for the sins that nailed You there -
for our wandering hearts, our hidden guilt, our pride, our fear, our lovelessness.
Cleanse us by Your precious blood.
Silence the accusations of our conscience with Your finished work.
When we feel alone, remind us that You have gone before us into every darkness.
When we are burdened by shame, clothe us in Your righteousness.
When we are tempted to despair, anchor us in the truth that because You were forsaken,
we never will be.
Keep us steadfast in faith,
trusting You even when we cannot see,
holding fast to You even when our strength fails.
Turn our eyes from the sorrow of the cross
to the hope of the empty tomb,
and fill us with quiet confidence in Your saving love.
We ask this in Your holy name,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.