Chapter 74

 

Why was He forsaken?

 

ÒMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Ó (Mark 15:34)

 

These are the words of our great Surety, as he hung upon the cursed tree. The more I study, meditate upon and pray over them, the more convinced I am that it is simply impossible for a mere earthling to expound them. Yet, I am certain that there is more contained in and expressed by these few, heavy, heavy words from our SaviorÕs afflicted soul than is contained in all the commentaries and theology books in the world.

 

These words of agony no tongue can describe, ÒMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Ó are the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ when he engaged all the forces of hell and endured the indescribable wrath of almighty God as our Substitute, when he was made to be sin for us. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was forsaken by God the Father when he was made sin for us, so that his people might be forever accepted of God by the merits of his precious blood and perfect righteousness.

 

            This cry of the heart broken Lamb of God is first found in Psalm 22:1. That prophetic psalm should be read often, studied with care, and laid up in the memory of our hearts with gratitude and praise. Everything recorded in the 22nd Psalm, if I understand it correctly, was written prophetically, penned by divine inspiration, as the very words spoken by our blessed Savior when he hung upon the cursed tree, bearing our sins as our Substitute. C. H. Spurgeon wroteÉ

 

ÒBefore us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this psalm.Ó

 

Utterly Forsaken

 

At the apex of his obedience, at the time of his greatest sorrow, in the hour of his greatest need, the Lord Jesus cried out to his Father, ÒMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Ó After asking, ÒMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,Ó our all-glorious Redeemer tells us how utterly forsaken he was, so utterly forsaken that the Father refused to hear the cries of his own darling Son in the hour of his greatest need. — ÒWhy art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.Ó

 

            I read those words with utter astonishment. I will not attempt to explain what I cannot imagine. But these things are written here for our learning, that we might, through patience and consolation of the Scriptures, have hope. And I hang all the hope of my immortal soul upon this fact. — When the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for me, he was utterly forsaken of God and put to death as my Substitute; and by his one great, sin-atoning Sacrifice, he has forever put away my sins. He not only bore our sins in his body on the tree, he bore them away!

 

The Reason

 

Yet, when we read Psalm 22:3, our holy Savior, when he was made sin for us, answers the cry of his own soulÕs agony. ÒBut thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.Ó Why was the Lord Jesus forsaken by his Father when he was made sin for us? Because the holy Lord God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Our Savior was forsaken by the Father, when he was made sin for us, because justice demanded it. — ÒThou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquityÓ (Habakkuk 1:13).

 

            Here our Savior, when he was dying under the wrath of God, justified God in his own condemnation, because he was made sin for us. He proclaims the holiness of God in the midst of his agony. He is so pure, so holy, so righteous, so just that he will by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:7), even when the guilty One is his own darling Son! Rather than slight his holy character, our Surety must suffer and die, because he was made sin for us.

 

Made Sin

 

Our Savior had no sin of his own. He was born without original sin, being even from birth Òthat Holy OneÓ (Luke 1:35). Throughout his life he Òknew no sinÓ (2 Corinthians 5:21), Òdid no sinÓ (1 Peter 2:22), Òand in him is no sinÓ (1 John 3:5). But on Calvary the holy Lord God Òmade him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in himÓ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Just as in the incarnation Òthe Word was made flesh and dwelt among usÓ (John 1:14), in substitution the Word, who was made flesh, Òwas made sin for us

 

            I do not know how God could be made flesh and never cease to be God; but he was. I do not know how the eternal God could die and yet never die; but he did (Acts 20:28). I do not know how all the fulness of the infinite, incomprehensible God can dwell in Christ bodily; but it does (Colossians 2:9). And I do not know how Christ who knew no sin could be made sin, and yet never have sinned; but he was.

 

            These things are mysteries beyond the reach of human comprehension. But they are facts of divine revelation to which we bow with adoration.

 

ÒI stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

 

Oh, how marvelous! oh, how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be

Oh, how marvelous! oh how wonderful!

Is my SaviorÕs love for me!

 

For me it was in the garden

He prayed: ÒNot My will, but ThineÓ

He had no tears for His own griefs

But sweat drops of blood for mine.

 

He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own.

He bore the burden to Calvary

And suffered, and died alone.Ó

 

ÒMine IniquitiesÓ

 

ÒWithhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.Ó (Psalm 40:11-12) — Commenting on these verses, John Trapp wrote, ÒIf this be taken of Christ, he is the greatest of sinners by imputation (2 Corinthians 5:20 Isaiah 53:6), for our sins (which here he calleth his) he suffered; and here his bitter agony in the garden is graphically described. Neither is it absurd to say, that as he bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, he was first redeemed by himself, and afterwards we.Ó

 

            Here we are again allowed to hear the agony of our blessed RedeemerÕs soul when he was made sin for us. Here his language is even more specific in declaring that our sins were made his. Here, again, the Lord Jesus Christ calls our sins his own, because ÒHe hath made him sin for us.Ó

 

The One Speaking

 

The One speaking in this Psalm is beyond all doubt our Savior. We know this because God the Holy Spirit tells us that it is Christ who is speaking here in Hebrews chapter 10. Our Savior knew that being made sin for us, he would be brought into a horrible pit (Psalm 69:15) and filled with distress. Yet, his love for us was and is so great that in verse 7 he declares his readiness to assume a body, and to accomplish his FatherÕs will in the salvation of his chosen, according to the ancient settlements written in the Volume of the Book, saying, — ÒLo! I come, I delight to do thy will, O my God.Ó Then in verses 11 and 12 he prays for deliverance from his deep distresses.

 

            This is exactly the same thing we read in John 12:27-28. — ÒNow is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again

 

The Reason

 

Why was the Son of God brought to such sorrow and grief? Here is the answer. — ÒHe made him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him!Ó Indeed he could never have suffered the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross as our Substitute had he not been made sin for us. Justice would never have allowed it. The Lord God declares, ÒHe that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.Ó (Proverbs 17:15; Exodus 23:7).

 

Worship Him

 

Hear the SaviorÕs words in Psalm 40:12, and worship him. — ÒFor innumerable evils have compassed me about.Ó He was beset on every side with evil. Countless woes compassed our great Substitute and Sin-bearer. ÒOur sins,Ó wrote Spurgeon, Òwere innumerable, and so were his griefs.Ó All the accumulated sins of all his people, for all time, in all parts of the world, were made his! The Blessed One of God, who knew no sin and did no sin, was made sin!

 

      He cried, ÒMine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up.Ó He had no sin, but our sins were laid on him, and he took them as his own. ÒHe was made sin for us.Ó Again, I quote Spurgeon, ÒThe transfer of sin to the Savior was real and produced in him as man the horror which forbade him to look into the face of God, bowing him down with crushing anguish and woe intolerable.Ó

 

      What would our sins have done to us eternally if the Friend of sinners had not condescended to take them all upon himself and make them his own? Oh, blessed Scripture! ÒHe hath made him sin for us!Ó Oh, marvellous depth of love that made the perfectly immaculate Lamb of God to stand in the sinnerÕs place, and bear the horror of great trembling which sin must bring upon those who are forever keenly conscious of it in hell!

 

Broken Heart

 

ÒThey are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.Ó — In dark Gethsemane, even as he anticipated being made sin, our SaviorÕs holy soul shook within him; and his holy heart broke. Anticipating the pains of GodÕs holy fury against sin, his unbending justice and unmitigated wrath beyond imagination, our dear SaviorÕs soul was so crushed within him that he was sore amazed, and very heavy even unto a sweat of blood. His strength was gone, his spirit sank; he was in agony.

 

      Then, as he hung upon the cursed tree, bearing our sins in his own body, he cried, as we read in Psalm 22:6, 14-15, — ÒI am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the peopleÉI am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.Ó It was the thought and anticipation of being made sin for us, not of simply paying the debt due unto our sins, but of being made sin, that caused his bloody sweat in Gethsemane. It was this fact, the fact that he was made sin for us, that caused him to be forsaken of his Father as he hung upon the cursed tree on GolgothaÕs hill (Psalm 22:1-3).

 

            Many tell us that these words cannot be the Words of GodÕs darling Son. Indeed, some, in their foolish arrogance, assert that it is blasphemy and heresy to declare that these words are the words of our blessed Savior. In doing so they dare to defy God himself, for it is God the Holy Spirit who in Hebrews 10 tells us that these are our SaviorÕs words. Robert Hawker wroteÉ

 

ÒThese things, so far from being unsuitable to the holy Jesus, are the very things we might reasonably suppose he would speak of, and consequently his holy soul would feel so painful. And when we consider that as our Surety he bore our sins and carried our sorrows, how very reasonable it is to expect that these cries of the Son of God should be at the very time in which he is set forth as a Sacrifice for them.Ó

 

Foolishness and Perversity

 

There can be no question that the One speaking in Psalm 69 is our blessed Savior. Throughout the New Testament, the words of this Psalm are attributed to him (Psalm 69:4 — John 15:25; Psalm 69:9 – John 2:17, Romans 15:3; Psalm 69:21 – Matthew 27:34, 48, Mark. 15:36, Luke 23:36, John 19:28-29; Psalm 69:22-23 – Romans 11:9-10; Psalm 69:25 – Acts 1:16, 20). The opening verses of this Psalm clearly are the words of our Redeemer.

 

ÒSave me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not awayÓ (Psalm 69:1-4)

 

            Verse 5 cannot, with any honesty, be attributed to someone else. Hear the cry of him who was made sin for us. — ÒO God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.Ó The word ÒfoolishnessÓ means Òperversity.Ó The word ÒsinsÓ means, as it is translated in the marginal reference, Òguiltiness.Ó Our Savior owns our perversity as his perversity and our guiltiness as his guiltiness, because it was made his.

 

            The first Adam hid his perversity and guilt. The last Adam owns ours as his own, and does it before God. It is as though he were saying, ÒHere, lifted up upon the cross I suffer without the gate for my people, as their Substitute, in such a way that I desire that my sins be conspicuous to every creature in heaven, earth, and hell, — my sins, the sins of my people, are all now and forever blotted out and washed away by my blood.Ó

 

            What condescension this is! What grace is here revealed! What unparalleled love! What mystery there is here! The Son of God takes to himself our shame! When the Lamb of God was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, it behoved him thus to suffer and thus to cry! — ÒO God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee

 

Intercession

 

Yet, in his soulÕs utmost agony the Son of God remembered and interceded for us, as our great High Priest. — ÒLet not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of IsraelÓ (Psalm 69:6). In answer to his prayer, the gospel promise is, ÒWhosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamedÓ (Romans 10:11). ÒHe that believeth on him shall not be confoundedÓ (1 Peter 2:6).

 

            Then, our sin-atoning Savior again claims our sins, our reproaches, as his own, as if to tell us that our sins were not merely pasted on him, that he was not simply treated as though our sins were his, but that when he made his soul an offering for sin, he was made sin for us. — ÒBecause for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my faceÉThou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found noneÓ (Psalms 69:7, 19-20).

 

ÒThanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!Ó

 

Do you understand what you just read? Do you here see Christ as your Surety, your sin-bearer, taking all your guilt and sin, assuming total responsibility for all that you are? — Made a curse for you? Do you see him as your Substitute, your Surety, your Savior? Do you trust him as such? If so, let your soul be ravished by his great love for you. Adore him! Praise him!

 

            Because of his infinite, immeasurable love for us, our blessed Savior became everything we are in such a real way that he owns our sins as his own before his Father and our Father! — ÒThou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.Ó Either he was made sin for us, or that which he confessed in these three Psalms is not true. There is no in-between ground. Either our Savior here spoke the truth or he did not. Blessed be his name, his Word is truth! He made our foolishness his foolishness! He made our sin his sin! He made our perversity his perversity! He made our guiltiness his guiltiness!

 

            This is not a slander against our holy Savior; but the magnifying of his mercy, love and grace. ChristÕs love for us is so infinitely great that he made our sins his very own. And by the same wondrous, amazing mercy, love and grace, he makes his perfect righteousness our very own.

 

            Yes, we who believe are the very righteousness of God in Christ. With Jacob of old, we say with confidence to every accuser, as he did to Laban, ÒSo shall my righteousness answer for me in time to comeÓ (Genesis 30:33). With Job, we say, ÒMy righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I liveÓ (Job 27:6). Why? Because Christ is the Lord our Righteousness, because he is made of God unto us both redemption and righteousness, we have assurance of everlasting salvation (Romans 8:1-4, 33-39). Soon, Òunto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation

 

Sin and Substitution

 

What an infinitely evil thing sin must be! It is such a horrid thing that the holy Lord God cannot tolerate it, even when it was found upon his darling Son. Whenever God sees sin, he will punish it without mercy. When the angels fell, God cast them out of heaven and holds them in chains of darkness until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). When Adam sinned, he was cursed of God and driven from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 3). When God looked upon the wickedness of NoahÕs generation, he destroyed the whole world in the flood of his wrath (Genesis 6). Upon the twin cities of perversity, Sodom and Gomorrah, God poured out fire and brimstone (Genesis 19). And when God saw sin upon his darling Son, his only-begotten, well-beloved Son, he forsook him! Be warne! — If God finds sin on you, he will destroy you forever in hell, without mercy! Flee to Christ, who alone can cleanse you of all sin!

 

            How thorough and complete was ChristÕs obedience to the Father as our Surety! We could never obey God perfectly. We could never fulfill the demands of the law or the gospel. But Christ met and satisfied perfectly all the demands of God for his elect. This cry, ÒMy God, my God,Ó was made at the zenith of our LordÕs obedience. Christ was obedient even unto death. Our salvation was accomplished both by his doing and by his dying. His doing is imputed to us for righteousness (Romans 5:19). His dying made atonement for our sins (Romans 5:11). Even when he was forsaken of God, our Surety remained obedient. This cry is an expression of ChristÕs perfect faith in God. As a man he believed God and showed us what it is to believe him. ÒFaith is believing the Word of God, not because we see it to be true, or feel it to be true, but because God said itÓ (Robert Murray MÕCheyne). We are often unbelieving. But our Surety never doubted God, even when he was forsaken of God! And this cry is an expression of exemplary love and devotion. Here is love and devotion unrivaled! Hanging upon the cursed tree, without one drop of mercy, one smile from heaven, or one comfort for his soul, Christ loved the very God who forsook him!

 

            What an infinite depth of hell our Savior endured for us! What is hell if it is not being abandoned totally by God? Why was Christ forsaken? He was forsaken because there was no other way for us to be accepted. Justice had to be satisfied. When the Son of God was made to be sin for us, when our sins were imputed to him, God forsook him and poured out upon him all the fullness of his wrath (Lamentations 1:12). God gave him everything our sins deserve. And now, the holy Lord God accepts all who trust his Son, imputes to them his perfect righteousness, and rewards them with eternal glory for ChristÕs sake, giving them all that he deserves.

 

            Why was he forsaken? Our Lord Jesus was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He was forsaken of God that we might be forever, immutably accepted of God in him. He was forsaken because he is our Substitute, our real, absolute Substitute before God!

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

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