Jesus was abandoned
46 At about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni? “ that is, ” My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? ” Matthew 27:46 HCSB
At this point Jesus was separated from the Father. At this moment, the Father abandoned the Son. It was the first and only time this happened. It was, however, extremely necessary.
You see, this is the event that Jesus was most dreading – the event that He prayed about in the garden. By Biblical definition, ‘death’ means separation. The eternal death is eternal separation from God for all those that disobey Him in not accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. This is what Jesus was experiencing at this moment – the separation from the Father as a sinful man being judged.
However, I do not believe that Jesus only felt the judgment of one man – He felt the judgment of multiple billions of people! This is because He was paying the price for our sins! Our actions, thoughts, deeds, etc. of rebellion to God’s standard of perfection results in our being worthy of eternal judgment. Jesus paid the price of that judgment for us – all we need to do is to accept that price and the consequences. That is, realize that
- Jesus actually paid our debt that we owe,
- Ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins,
- Ask Jesus to come into our hearts and lives as our Savior, and
- Ask Jesus to be our Lord and Master of our life, directing our steps in righteous living!
I am thankful for Jesus’ gift to me of salvation! I am thankful for His gift to me of suffering in my place. I deserve eternal horror, but through the gift of Jesus I am spared that misery. I praise Him for that!
There is one thing that I cannot escape from, however. One thought pervades me thinking.
I am so unworthy.
