A Beautiful Gesture

Psalm 22:1 (NRSVue) - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

Psalm 22 is a plea for deliverance from hostility and suffering.

Just before His death on the cross, Christ used these words.

Matthew 27:46 (NRSVue) - And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The question arises: “Why would God forsake Jesus at this critical moment?”

To forsake means to “turn away from.”

So, why did God turn away from Jesus?

The simple answer: because it was necessary.

While on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the entire world.

That includes yours and mine.

And when that happened, God, who is completely Holy, had to look away.

Moments later, Jesus died.

His work was finished.

Jesus said as much.

But God did much more than turn away,

He then made one of the most beautiful gestures in all Scripture.

Mark 15:38 (NRSVue) - And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

The moment Jesus died, the barrier separating us from a completely Holy God was no longer needed.

God tore the curtain that separated us in two.

Nothing stood between us and God anymore!

In this world, we sometimes feel alone.

We might even feel forsaken.

We might feel that God has turned away from us.

But these feelings are not true.

Through Christ, God has made sure we are not alone.

Because of Christ, God has not turned away.

Through the love of Christ, nothing separates us from God.

Three days after his death, Christ rose to life once more and conquered death forever.

But His work in making us right with God occurred the moment He died.

It happened the moment His work was finished.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com on Friday, March 8, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, March 15, 2024