December 17th

Daily Reading

Psalm 22:1

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?

Matthew 27:46

At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Psalm 109:4

I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them!

Luke 23:34

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

(Readings taken from Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/ New Living Translation)

Eli Eli lema sabachthani

It’s incredibly difficult to understand how God the Father could possibly abandon his own Son. Heartbreaking if we visualize the moment that Jesus calls out from the cross – “My God, why have you abandoned me?”

In this prophesied moment God turns his face from Jesus as he carries the full weight of judgment for sin.

“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
    Because of your sins, he has turned away
    and will not listen anymore.” (Isaiah 59:2)

The justice we so desperately long for is brutally enacted. God will not step in and protect Jesus from this burden. Jesus is abandoned but God is not silent. Isaiah declares:

“The Lord looked and was displeased
    to find there was no justice.
He was amazed to see that no one intervened
    to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
    and his justice sustained him.
He put on righteousness as his body armour
    and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.”

This is not the action of a dismissive or unkind God, ruthlessly rejecting His own. Yahweh is Love. He is wholly good, enduring, and generous. Sin in its very nature stands in polar opposition to everything that God is.

Sin is hate. Pride. Self-gratification.

God is Love. Humility. Sacrifice.

God’s choice to turn his face from the sin being shouldered by Jesus is a heartbreaking representation of an experience we will never have to endure. Because He abandoned Christ, He will never abandon us!