Jesus forsaken on the cross

When Jesus was being crucified, why did He say to God, "My God, My God, why hast though forsaken me?" Did God deny Jesus as His Son and the Savior?

When Jesus spoke those words from Psalm 22, he was describing the punishment he was enduring: he was being abandoned and forsaken by his heavenly Father. Jesus was acting as our substitute. By our sins, we deserved to have God sentence us to hell and forsake us forever. On the cross, Jesus stepped in as our substitute and suffered what amounts to hell. Jesus did that so we would never have to know what abandonment from God is all about.

God forsaking God? Martin Luther asked: “Who can understand it?” Thankfully saving faith is not a matter of having perfect understanding (Hebrews 11:1). In the Bible God speaks the truth, and Spirit-worked faith accepts it.

At Calvary God showed himself to be a just God by punishing sin in his Son, and he demonstrated that he is a gracious God by sacrificing his Son to spare sinners (1 John 4:10).

And what is our Christian response to all this? We join in the chorus of praise: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12) “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13)