Forsaken

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - Matthew 27:46

Of all the words Jesus spoke from the cross, these strike the greatest chord, because they are the embodiment of a fate worse than death.

Forsake: abandon, cast aside, reject, disown, isolate... desert.

Have you ever felt alone? I mean truly alone... an island? We can feel that way even when we're surrounded by a sea of people. There are lots of reasons people might feel that way; the loss of a loved one, a move to a different city, an empty nest. Not all of the reasons are bad. Sometimes we seek out solitude as a means of rest. Alone-ness can be refreshing and rejuvenating at times, but that's usually when it's a conscious decision, one made with a useful purpose in mind.

On the other hand, being alone can also be terrifying. Think back to your childhood. Ever get separated from your mom or dad in a huge department store? Definitely terrifying. Your heart races wildly as the reality of the situation sets in and you begin searching frantically for that familiar face, crying out for your parents with every decibel you can muster.

I've been spending some time thinking about this very thing, crying out for "Daddy" whenever I was alone and scared.

God's Word is filled with all manner of wonderful promises, promises we can count on, because our God never fails us. He has promised to be with us wherever we go, and He assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us.

But there was One.

There was One who was forsaken... forsaken for a time, for a purpose, for a sinful people God dearly loved and would not give up on.

I'm going to digress just a bit. Something came to mind that I'd like to share. The other night Tom and I watched a movie on Netflix. We'd seen it before many years ago, but I hadn't remembered all of it, so we watched it again. It's The Green Mile with Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke. The film is about a prison guard (Hanks) who is in charge of "E" block, death row, and a wrongfully accused and condemned man (Clarke) whom he befriends.

As the movie unfolds, one begins to see the awful irony this man faces. He has done nothing his whole life but try to help people by using his supernatural gift to heal, yet he will go to the electric chair for crimes another man committed.

There is no stay of execution, and in the final scenes we see Coffey led into the chamber to face his accusers as they witness his death. At one point he tells Hank's character that he can feel the hatred of all the people there. "It's like broken glass in my head," he says. The guards, who have come to know him and are convinced of his innocence, tell him, "Don't think about them, just think on how we feel about you."

It was only a movie, and in no way compares with what our Lord went through, but I couldn't help thinking about Jesus' fate and His words from the cross. As He hung there, there were those who hated him, scoffed, wagged their fingers and tongues at him. There were those who loved him, crying over the brutality assaulted on him.

And there was His Father.

God the Father had been with Jesus every step of the way. He had expressed His pleasure in His Son, His beloved Son, at Jesus' baptism. And Jesus had done everything His Father had asked, including taking the sins of all mankind on Himself, and dying for those sins on the cross.

Jesus was obedient... obedient to the point of death, and in His anguish... in the moment He needed his Father most... His Father turned his back on Him. God turned his back on Jesus because God refused to turn his back on us.

I said earlier that act was a fate worse than death. It was. You and I will never have to experience that kind of alone-ness, that kind of abandonment. Jesus had to go it alone, all alone, because our perfect God can't stand sin, and Jesus was made sin for us, for our sake. I can't begin to fathom what that moment was like for Jesus. He was an island amidst a sea of faces, weighed low from sins you and I had committed.

Jesus did nothing His entire life but seek to heal people from the worst disease of all, one that would separate us from the Father forever. He was innocent, yet He paid the ultimate price. He obeyed the will of his Father. He embraced the cross.

Jesus was condemned in order that we be pardoned.

He was forsaken that we be forgiven...

and He died that we might live.

Selah: "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That he should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns his face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory

.

Thank you, Jesus, for your willingness to be forsaken that I might never be. - Amen