Question:
When Jesus asked why the father forsake him on the cross, was that doubt? I want to know it isn’t but the human in me wants to know what it is, I should have paid more attention in English!
Answer:
I guess it depends on what you mean by "doubt." Sometimes it's easier to say what things aren't than what they are.
We know Jesus' words and emotions here were not sinful. Therefore we know when Jesus said these words it did not mean, that He doubted God's goodness, or even His sovereignty. In fact He was declaring His sovereignty by what He said. He could have just as easily cursed the Jews or the Roman officials who put Him unjustly on the cross, but He says (kind of like Job) "why have you forsaken me?" Even though we know from Acts 2:23 and 4:27-28 that there were evil intentions of evil men who conspired to kill Christ, we also know that God had a good intention for Christ's crucifixion and that Jesus was aware of this and never doubted it (this fact is obvious from the many allusions to His crucifixion during His ministry recorded the gospels).
Therefore I think it is better to understand this statement by Jesus as a cry of agony. God "turned His back" on Jesus when Christ took on the sins of the world. He was forsaken by God in His darkest hour. He had enjoyed intimate fellowship with the Father His entire life, but this fellowship was cut off for a time (whatever this means in light of the truth of the Trinity) while Jesus was taking the full wrath of God for sinners. Jesus quotes Psam 22:1 here (even He struggled in a biblical way!). Just because Jesus knew that He would have to endure this, does not take away the actual pain of the event. Jesus was in the worst possible agony, worse than any that anyone has ever experienced in the history of the world, yet by His words we see where His comfort was, even though it had left Him for the moment.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Another Question
Posted by JB at 3:38 PM
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