“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Psalms 22:1)  

This was the moment our Savior dreaded. He had pleaded with His Father three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). What was the cup? Some think it was suffering the mental, emotional and physical pain of torture and crucifixion. Some think it was the Perfect Man, having to become the sin of every person, past, present and future who would be saved (2 Corinthians 5:21). Some think it was the wrath of God poured on Him in the place of the elect (1 Peter 3:18). It could have been these, but it’s more likely, it was something infinitely more painful...the withdrawal of His Father’s presence. Every living creature has a sense of being. For men and women, this is how we know we are alive. But for Christ,  Oneness with the Father WAS His Being . THE “I AM”, FOR ALL ETERNITY, HAD NEVER BEEN APART. 

 This is why, separation from the Father, was most likely, the cup Christ didn’t want to drink. No man can understand the significance of “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”. Some of us experience seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but the Father never forsakes us. It only seems that He’s forsaken us, but in Christ's case, He really did. We grieve when we think the Father has turned His face away, so, our cry of despair is really caused by unbelief. But Christ's utterance was a statement of fact.

 Oh, poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but are now in darkness, remember that He hasn’t really forsaken you. God in the clouds is as much your God as when the sun shines. If you can remember what it felt like when you thought God had hidden His face, multiply that by infinity to understand what Christ felt when He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”. Let Christ’s submission to the Father’s will inspire you to “present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God ... that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).