Christian Folklore: God Turned His Back On Jesus

(Pause on Exodus for Good Friday)

April 15

Matthew 27:32-54

“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”

Christian Folklore: God Turned His Back On Jesus

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.46)

There is a bit of “Christian folklore” that wants us to believe that in Jesus’ darkest moment the Father left him…turned away from him or abandoned him. They turn to this passage (or it’s parallels) and cite this very phrase “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What this “folklore” seems to forget is this - in his final words Jesus was quoting the scriptures and shepherding the hearers around him… preparing them for what would come. Jesus was bringing attention to whomever was in ear shot Psalm 22. Jesus dying breaths were a reminder to turn to Psalm 22.

In the ancient world, before the majority of people could read and write, scripture was memorized. There were no chapter divisions or page numbers to turn to. The way you got to Psalm 22 was by reciting its opening line. The opening line of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Psalm 22 is a passage that wrestles with how we respond when we feel like God has abandoned us. The point of the Psalm when read from beginning to end is actually THIS:

EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS AS THOUGH GOD HAS LEFT US - IN OUR DARKEST HOURS WHEN WE FEEL ALONE, SCARED, AND HURT - IS NEAR AND IN FACT HOS NOT ABANDONED US.

In his final moments on the cross - in the hurt and anguish when Jesus could have been / would have been tempted to think and feel that God the Father had abandoned him - Jesus was fighting back with the scriptures to remind himself that his Father was still near and would carry him through. When Jesus was at his lowest point, he turned tot eh scriptures to remind him that he was not alone. Jesus, knowing that for 3 painstaking days he would be in the tomb, wanted to remind his followers that were near by to hold fast. He wanted the “many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” to think of Psalm 22 when those around them will claim that the Lord had abandoned them and failed. The cry of Psalm 22 on Good Friday was a reminder to cling to the hope that was coming on Easter Sunday!

GOD DOES NOT TURN HIS BACK ON HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR DARKEST MOMENTS. He didn’t do that to Jesus and he won’t do that to you. God the Father does not abandon you or walk away from you when you sin… Jesus had the sins of the world upon him and the Father did not abandon him or leave him. The crucifixion was a painful day for the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. All of God - the Trinity - was present. God poured his wrath out on the Son and Jesus drank that cup of wrath for US - his brothers and sisters… the children of God. Like an earthly parent giving discipline - it was agonizing for the Father to pour out his wrath on the Son; but it was the very plan that they had agreed to all along! (cf. Luke 22:42)

Jesus knew what it was like to fight for the truth that God has not abandoned you when in the pain and sorrow you feel like he has. Jesus knew what it was like to lean into the scriptures to provide truth and hope when the world around you is spinning out of control. Jesus experienced the FULL spectrum of pain and suffering that was possible in this world so that he can meet you when you find yourself there, and redeem those moments for good. Jesus is not asking us to do anything he has not had to himself. Psalm 22 is a cry to hold fast and trust even when you don’t feel like it. It was for Jesus and it is for US. The enemy wants us to think that the Heavenly Father wold abandon the Son and turn his back on him in his darkest moments. The enemy wants us to think that Jesus doesn’t know what it is like to live the human life. This “folklore” plants these seeds in our minds… it breeds doubt for us as God’s children. Big brother Jesus was teaching us the opposite when he cried out on the cross. May we read these words and be reminded that NO MATTER WHAT - God will not abandon us more forsake us. When we start to feel like he has - let us read that Psalm and be reminded. When we feel desperate and alone, let us turn to the word to strengthen us… listen to Holy Spirit within us. Let the words of Romans 8 minister to us… they are true Jesus as much as they are true for us:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?…Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Love you guys! - JDP