“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34)?
Did the Father momentarily forsake Christ on the Cross or was it just Christ, in His humanity, feeling forsaken by Him? I believe Christ, in His humanity, felt forsaken by the Father, much like in His humanity, Christ momentarily desired to avoid the “cup” which He was required to endure (Mat 26:39, 42).
Just as Christ recovered from desiring to avoid the “cup” by saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Mat 26:42), He also realized the necessity of the Cross by saying, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46), which is indicative that the Father was still with Him. Let’s also not forget that Christ was still the Word of God while He was on earth, which means He was and is omnipresent, in heaven and earth simultaneously. “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13 NKJV, KJV). Also, when considering this passage, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone . . . .” (John 8:29), one can safely conclude that Their union is always permanent. I’ve heard it said that the Father would not look at Christ at this time because all the sin in the world was on Him. I still fail to locate Scriptural support for this thought but I have found conflicting Scripture:
“The eyes of the LORD [are] in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Pro 15:3).
To me, the significance of this issue reveals the desires of Christ and the Father to relate to us, to the degree that Christ became as one of us, in human form and nature. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (
r 4:15).The importance of place in these “earthen vessels” is to cause us to always depend on God and not ourselves, for all things at all times. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2Cr 4:7). “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2Cr 12:9).
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zec 4:6).
It has been well said that “His Blood procures pardon for our sin and His Cross procures power over our sin (the indwelling old man or nature).”
Ultimately, this teaches us to depend, not on our works, but on His atonement (Rom 5:11) and propitiation (Rom 3:25; 1Jo 2:2, 4:10).
