Did God forsake Jesus on the cross?

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

It's a very popular understanding that as Jesus hung on the cross there came a moment when the Father could not bear to look at Him because of the sins of the world were upon him.

Here's the verse, Mt. 27:46:

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” — which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus was quoting Ps. 22:1:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

We've always taken this to mean that Jesus was indeed forsaken by the Father. Commentators have said the same, like Donald McLeod, Jeremy Myers, and Derek Gentle, among many others. This seems to be the prevailing view in both Protestant and Catholic circles as well.

But we must acknowledge that Jesus is and has always been in perfect fellowship with the other two persons of the Trinity. There has never been a time when the Godhead has been disconnected. It does not square with verses like Jn. 8:29:

The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.

And Jn. 11:42:

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

And Ps. 16:10 (Acts 2:27):

...because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 

So where does this view that Jesus was forsaken come from? We suspect it comes from the idea that God cannot look upon sin:

Hk. 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil...

This is a case of yanking a verse snippet from its context because Habakkuk goes on to ask, "Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?" Habakkuk was not making doctrinal statements, he was pouring out his heart to God because he didn't understand why God allows the wicked to prosper.

So God most certainly can look upon evil, because in His sovereignty he also tolerates the treacherous. 

The idea that Jesus was forsaken is also connected to the idea that Jesus was punished for our sins, an idea we discuss elsewhere. Our discussion there led us to the conclusion that the Father did not punish Jesus, but rather that Jesus carried our sins to the cross like one carries a burden. He bore our condemnation to the cross, making a public spectacle of it (Col. 2:14-15).

However, if indeed Jesus was punished by the Father, then we certainly could understand the Father forsaking Him. But if the Father did not punish Jesus, then the Father did not abandon Him either.

In addition, we believe that Jesus was also not appealing to his human sense of abandonment at that moment. That would mean Jesus felt abandoned even though He really wasn't. This would require that Jesus forgot what He said in John 8:29. It would mean as Jesus endured the scourgings, the humiliation, the crown of thorns, and the nails in His hands and feet in His humanness and He momentarily lost hope. 

We might even conclude that it would be understandable, even expected, that the man Jesus would feel abandoned. 

But aside from the quote from Ps. 22:1, where do we find anywhere in the NT that Jesus was discouraged, perplexed, unclear in His purpose, or at odds with his humanness? Where else do we read about Jesus being frustrated, abandoned, or without hope?

Rather, we see a Man unlike any other. He was fully acquainted with grief, hunger, weariness, astonishment, anger, and every other human emotion one might think of. But we cannot lay our finger on any verse that indicates that He lost clarity about His purpose or that His humanness got the best of Him.

So if Jesus perfectly pleased the Father, perfectly carried out His purpose, and never lost sight of the Father's love, why would we think the Father abandoned Him, or that He had a momentary lapse and forgot who He was? Why would we think it makes sense in this one instance? 

Why have you forsaken me? Why did Jesus to say this?

We would like to suggest that when Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1, He was not restricting His attention to the contents of that one verse. He was not describing His plight. He was not describing His anguish. Rather, was pointing to the entire psalm, which contains many fulfilled prophecies about Jesus. 

There were no chapters and verses in those days. The way a passage was identified was by quoting its first verse. Jesus was not describing His feelings, He was pointing to the whole Psalm.

The whole Psalm. 

All the prophecies in that Psalm were coming true as He hung there on the cross:

• 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 
• 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 
• 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
• 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 
• 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 
• 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced  my hands and my feet. 
• 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 
• 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. 

No less than eight messianic prophecies were fulfilled at that very moment. 

Then just a few verses later is verse 24:

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

Ah! David, writing in the messianic voice cried out in despair to God, but then stated the unvarnished fact that the Father never did hide His face! He did not hide His face. David was never abandoned. And Jesus was never abandoned. We can therefore assert that this messianic psalm reassures us that the Father listened to Jesus' cry for help and did help Him, for He rose again 3 days later, victorious and glorious.

We must conclude that Jesus was not abandoned and did not feel abandoned, the Father never turned His face away, and in fact Jesus enjoyed unbroken fellowship with the Father, even through the crucifixion. And, the traditional teaching we have been taught by perhaps well-meaning pastors is wrong and unbiblical.
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Here is that Psalm:

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. 

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no-one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 3 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced  my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. 

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfil my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him — may your hearts live for ever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him — those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn — for he has done it.