This has been on my heart for a couple of days, because I thing there is something related at Easter that has caused some confusion and could be a ‘pot hole’ in our road of faith.
Jesus speaks while dying on the Cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” That is the first line of Psalms 22 and I have been taught in past that Jesus may have been quoting that Psalm, not just the first verse, but all of it, even though it was not recorded that way. And, that could be true….however, I feel there is another explanation.
When we are in sin, or confusion, or fear it is hard if not impossible to hear God or sense His presence. Many people are going through very difficult times and may feel God has deserted or forsaken them.
From the moment that Jesus said to our Heavenly Father, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” All the sin, abuse, mockery, trespass of the world was put on Jesus….at that moment. Jesus began to feel the pressure, the torture, the mocking and abuse that those offenses would have brought upon those who committed them. More than, it would seem, any one human could endure, Jesus took that retribution upon himself, for each of us.
God has said He would never leave or forsake us–and would He leave His Son who is doing His will? I think not! So no matter what we go through we must believe and trust He will never leave or forsake us, no matter what it seems at the time.
Just a few minutes later Jesus commends his spirit into the hands of the Father….he may have felt forsaken….and that was part of what he had to suffer as we do to finish the work set before him. We can rejoice that nothing was left undone and it is finished! How blessed we are!
Pressing in and pressing on….