DAY 60
CHALLENGE
“How could Jesus be the Son of God if he prayed, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’? An all-good God couldn’t forsake Jesus, so either Jesus made a mistake by thinking his Father had forsaken him or his Father made a mistake by actually doing so.”
DEFENSE
Abandonment can be understood in different senses. Jesus knew he would be vindicated, and his words prove it.
First, abandonment can be understood in a relative sense—as allowing a person to experience a particular bad thing. The Father certainly al- lowed his Son to experience suffering on the cross, so he could be said to have abandoned him to that suffering, but not abandoned him in any more fundamental sense. God did no wrong in this, for it was suffering with a purpose (namely, the redemption of mankind).
Jesus’ prayer was not a literal request for information. He already knew why he was going to the cross (John 3:16, 6:51, 10:18). Instead, it was merely an expression of the anguish he was feeling as the suffer- ing was transpiring.
Jesus also knew that this suffering would be temporary, for he had already predicted his crucifixion, death, and resurrection (Matt. 16:21, 17:22–23, 20:18).
His awareness of the vindication that the Resurrection would bring shows that he knew he was not abandoned in any fundamental sense but was experiencing only temporary suffering.
This is proved by the words he spoke from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). This is the opening line of Psalm 22, which Jesus is applying to his cur- rent situation. In this psalm, the psalmist is suffering, and aspects of the psalm closely reflect Jesus’ situation on the cross, including being mocked by those around him (Ps. 22:7; Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29), hav- ing his hands and feet pierced (Ps. 22:16), and having lots cast for his garments (Ps. 22:18; Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24).
The psalmist goes on to express confidence that God will deliver him from his present situation (Ps. 22:22–26) and that this will lead to all the nations worshipping God (Ps. 22:27).
By quoting the first line of the psalm, Jesus invoked the whole, including God’s deliverance of the suffering one, who is only seemingly abandoned and will actually be delivered.