Have you ever wondered if there was another reason that God had to forsake Jesus during His final hours? I’ve wondered lately if He simply couldn’t bear to watch what was happening to His Son. If it had been my son, I couldn’t have watched.
I wondered at what point God had to ‘forsake’ Him; at what point He could no longer bear to watch. Was it while Jesus was being beaten? Was it while He was carrying His cross? While He fell beneath the weight of it? Was it when they laid Him out on it? Did He make it all the way to the nails?
I’ve heard preachers over the years say the reason God had to ‘forsake’ Jesus, was that He could not look on the sin that Jesus had taken on Himself. Maybe that was part of it, but I also believe God might have had to ‘forsake’ Him for the same reason I would have; He just simply could not bear to watch.
Sin effects people in varying degrees; some slip now and then while others are consumed, driven and destroyed by it. Jesus could have stopped everything after a few lashes of the whip. That would have been good enough for those who slip up now and then, but He went all the way to the nails. He made sure He covered those who were destroyed by it.
Jesus knows how destructive sin can be – how it can beat on you till you can’t take it any more. He knows what it’s like to be laid out by it . . . just laying there waiting on the nails to finish you off. God didn’t bring Jesus back to life after a few lashes of the whip; He brought Him back from the worst. By going all the way to the nails, He proved that no matter how far down sin has beat you, He can bring you back to life.
There was a point when Jesus was hanging on the cross that He said, “Enough! It is finished.” I think part of what He was saying was that the price has been paid, but I also think He was saying, “I have covered the worst”.
You have to reach the point where you say ‘enough’. Whether you have just felt the sting of sin’s whip, or it has beat you down, or laid you out. Maybe you’ve even seen the nails coming to finish you off and you’re just laying there waiting. At any point you can say, ‘Enough! It is finished. That is all I will let sin do to me’. Say it and He will forgive you. Mean it and He will bring you back to life.
Hunger and Thirst 