Focal Passage: Mark 15:33-39; 16:1-8
The suffering of Christ on Calvary is impossible for us to fully understand. The Son of God who laid aside His glory (Philippians 2:6-7) and took on our flesh (John 1:14) experienced all our temptations (Hebrews 4:15), and went to the cross to satisfy holy justice (II Corinthians 5:21) by paying the sin debt for everyone who would look to Him by faith (Isaiah 53:3-10).
On the cross, the Son who is coequal and coeternal with the Father experienced abandonment, a painful break in the fellowship they had always shared.
Jesus did not cease to be deity, but He took on the Father’s wrath toward sin. The physical darkness of the day provided an observable picture of the darkness of our sin and the weight Jesus bore on our behalf. No wonder he cried out from Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”
Rust
Habakkuk’s words, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:13a), have led some people to believe that the Father physically turned His face away as Jesus bore our sins on the cross. While it is certainly correct that God is completely holy and can neither tolerate nor fail to punish sin, we must understand the author’s poetic language.
Habakkuk employed an anthropomorphism (describing God’s activity with human characteristics) to help us grasp God’s holy character. However, He is spirit and not flesh. God is omnipresent (everywhere at all times) and omniscient (all-knowing) and does not have the limited view of a human face. When He offered His Son for our redemption, He did not wince or entertain a second thought. As Isaiah declared, “the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” that He might “justify the many as He will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11).
Although Jesus quoted from the cross only the opening of Psalm 22, the rest of the Psalm shows us why He referenced it. In addition to receiving no deliverance from the cross (22:1b-2), He experienced the mockery of the crowd: “They sneer and shake their heads; ‘He relies on the Lord; let Him save Him; let the Lord rescue Him since He takes pleasure in Him’” (22:7b-8).
He endured the physical pain of crucifixion: “They pierced my hands and my feet” (22:16b). John understood (John 19:24) that Jesus fulfilled Psalm 22:18: “They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.” In spite of Jesus’ seeming defeat, deliverance would come: “He has not despised or abhorred the torment of the oppressed. He did not hide His face from Him but listened when He cried to Him for help” (22:19-24).
God saw and was satisfied by the redeeming work of Jesus, and vindicated His suffering by raising Him from the dead. The Psalm that began in defeat ended in victory. The Lord’s deliverance would result in praise from all the nations (22:27)!
What appeared to unbelievers as the disposal of another religious zealot would change the world forever: “They will come and declare His righteousness; to a people yet to be born they will declare what He has done” (22:31). Let us go and share the wonderful message of Easter. Hallelujah! What a Savior! B&R — Rust is associational mission strategist for Holston Baptist Association.
