There are times when we feel the Lord does not hear us. In such times we say God has forsaken us. Jesus faced a similar situation on the cross when he expected God to intervene in his agonizing crucifixion. Matthew 27: 46; Mark 15: 34 it says and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani? That is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The cry was natural.
Jesus had previously received God’s approval. In Matthew 17:5, God said this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. Jesus had also said in John 15: 16; 16: 23-24 whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. So, God’s silence was strange to Jesus Christ. The operative word “may” meant that God retained the final decision to grant or not to grant his request.
When we are forsaken, we enter into a state of rejection, separation, abandonment, neglect, alienation, disassociation, despise, divorce or blockade from access to God. It shows a ruined worthy relationship. God does not forsake us accidentally but for a purpose by his sovereign will. In times of apparent rejection, a child of God must find out the reasons. This was the ordeal of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Did God forsake Jesus Christ?
The answer is yes but for only a while and terminated upon his death when the sins of mankind were finally placated by his blood. Until that point, Jesus bore the totality of our sins or the sins of the world and thus made him a subject of God’s rejection. If one man’s sin qualifies for God’s rejection, then Christ Jesus was much more rejected because he bore the entire sins of the world. Whenever we feel forsaken, it is apposite to interrogate our deeds with humility before God and to ask for pardon through the blood of Jesus Christ whom God ordained to save us from our sins by his death.
For our sins God rejected Jesus on the cross until his finished work of redemption. 1 Corinthians 15: 3 says Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. 1 Peter 2: 24 says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 1 Peter 3: 18-20 also says for Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Upon his finished work, Jesus calls us to be partakers of his divine nature with hope and victory by his resurrection, 2 Peter 1: 4.
God rejected Jesus’ cry for his intervention because of the sins or the world that was upon his shoulders. 1 John 1: 5 says God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 2 Corinthians 6: 14 says for what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? When we engage in evil or patronize evil, we will face God’s rejection of our prayers and his protection. God will forsake us also in our unrepentant character but will give us eternal life upon repentance, confession and pardon.
Significance of God’s rejection
It was notice to the world that God abhors sin and to that extent he rejected his beloved. When we associate with sin, evil or unrighteousness God is removed from our lives. 1 Corinthians 10: 21 says you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. As children of the light we must avoid fellowship with darkness.
It was to show God’s avowed hate for sin. It was to confirm that Christ Jesus though divine and without sin personally wore our flesh that he may plead for us with knowledge of our situation. It confirmed that physical and spiritual deaths are real and sinners stand rejection in eternity. Jesus said in Matthew 7: 23 and I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers. We will be rejected as evildoers on the last day if we remain in sin and evil.
Romans 5:19 says for as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Consistent with God’s nature he will forsake us in times of need if we continue in sin but come to our aid in righteousness by grace. Had God answered Jesus by his prayer on the cross, there would be no salvation for mankind. We would have lost God’s grace and the opportunity to have Jesus as our intercessor and the final judge of the world. Mankind would be in perpetual spiritual darkness and bondage.
God had a just reason for rejecting the cry of Jesus. Luke 19: 10 says for the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Gratefully, Jesus finished his work when he said on the cross, it is finished, John 19: 30. There would have been no fulfillment of prophecy nor its relevance as recorded in Luke 4: 21; 22: 37. Jesus’ divinity would have been questioned without end. Now, there is no unanswered question. Revelation 11: 15 says the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Christianity would be a mockery but thankfully Christ is risen, Matthew 28: 6. God demands a worthy continuous relationship of faithfulness with Jesus Christ.
From the foregoing, God’s rejection was in order to accomplish his plans for our lives. Jeremiah 29 says for I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Isaiah 55:8 says for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. God demands that we live in righteousness, holiness, humility, obedience, faith and trust in Him through Christ Jesus and He will exalt His name when we call. We must call Jesus in holiness and he will show us the way. May our relationship with God through Christ Jesus be worthy of him in his holy name.
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we are clothed in sin and cannot reach you in our prayers. By the blood of Jesus Christ we accept our guilt, confess and repent today. Save our souls, teach us to learn from unanswered prayers and let our testimonies be full in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!!
