Jesus on the cross was abandoned - or was he?
The most confronting statement of being abandoned comes from Jesus’ time hanging on the cross.
Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”[a] which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Mark 15:34, CEV) The Aramaic word is found only in Mark and Matthew. The word in both to translate the Aramaic verb is used to describe abandoning or forsaking. The two Gospels are not word for word the same in their reports of these confronting cries from Jesus, though an English translation renders their Greek the same way.
In Matthew we find the scornful words which occur in the text before that cry from Jesus: He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:43, NLT). Their mockery and provocation, consciously or otherwise, ironically evoked the words from long before: “He relies on[a] the LORD;
let him save him;
let the LORD[b] rescue him,
since he takes pleasure in him.” (Psalm 22:8, CSB). That same psalm starts with the plaintive: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1, NRSV).
Jesus' cry, echoing the ancient Psalmist, rang out strongly as his time hanging on the cross was coming to its end. There had been a time of darkness but that was over. Matthew, Mark and Luke all note Jesus' loud cry - no faint mistakable utterance. This happened about the ninth (Roman) hour; in the middle of the afternoon. The loudness of his cry indicates a huge effort, for a crucified person had little available lung capacity.
In the period between Jesus' arrest, condemnation and resurrection his followers had the unenviable, painful and unrelenting task of accommodating their thinking and understanding to the facts of their experience. That Jesus' God had permitted to happen what they had witnessed.
We see how the words of the ancient writer were applied to Jesus:
He suffered and endured
great pain for us,
but we thought his suffering
was punishment from God.
He was wounded and crushed
because of our sins;
by taking our punishment,
he made us completely well.
All of us were like sheep
that had wandered off.
We had each gone our own way,
but the Lord gave him
the punishment we deserved (Isaiah 53:4-6, CEV). At many points that part of Isaiah is taken up in the account of Jesus. The whole drama of salvation for you and me was and is truly beyond imagining.
Matthew and Mark reported that Jesus had gathered his strength for the loud cry at the last moment. John apparently gives content: When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30, NLT). What was finished (or, "done" - so CEV)? Jesus' suffering and abandonment were ended, true. But he had completed his work, what he came to do. See previous post for what Jesus said in advance, though the followers could not grasp it then. Afterwards, followers were able to be succinct: He made the one who did not know sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21, CSB). That is what God was doing in Christ, overwhelming as it may be to our minds. God made the one person who had no acquaintance with sin - Jesus - to be sin personified - and God makes us the exemplary obedient ones through union with Jesus. To put that another way, the judgement that was earned by me and you fell on Jesus that the glory that was due to Jesus should be able to fall on you and me. The gift-righteousness is available to all who will accept it.
Jesus experienced abandonment in the moment of his fatal arrest. Matthew and Mark report the very understandable: But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled (Matthew 26:56, NRSV). The words have a vivid "in the moment" sound - as it were, "we know how this comes to be happening".
Note that it is firmly all of them. They all, despite their earlier confidence, fled to be safe. They grasped their salvation. I suppose that could include women, if any were present in the arrest scene (I doubt that). Are they to be condemned? Did Jesus condemn them?
So we get the picture of a fallen leader in the hands of the opponents with no friend to even hear. And yet - we see Peter following at a distance. We see another of the men close at hand with Peter. Women were certainly there in the crucifixion scene. (How close could they come?) We witness Jesus providing for his mother by speaking from the cross to her and to his beloved disciple. Mary now had a place in John's household. So I imagine the prominent men lurking nearby and, as the hours passed, able to collect together in various groupings where it was safe.
In the post resurrection days Peter had a prominent role and was spokesman to the Jerusalem crowd. Using the words of Psalm 16, Peter bluntly asserts Jesus' resurrection and its tremendous significance - this man is indeed none other than the Son of God, whose body did not decay in a grave and who is Son of God. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay (Acts 2:31, NIV). No abandonment for the Son of God.
The writer of the New Testament book we know as Hebrews evidently knew and drew on the abandoned sin-bearer aspect of the Jesus account: While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:7-10, NLT). Jesus was heard, but he did the work of making salvation possible. He accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished. Salvation comes from none other than Jesus. Could anything be beyond his understanding?
Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
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| Nails have evolved over time... this one we call a spike. |
Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”[a] which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Mark 15:34, CEV) The Aramaic word is found only in Mark and Matthew. The word in both to translate the Aramaic verb is used to describe abandoning or forsaking. The two Gospels are not word for word the same in their reports of these confronting cries from Jesus, though an English translation renders their Greek the same way.
In Matthew we find the scornful words which occur in the text before that cry from Jesus: He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:43, NLT). Their mockery and provocation, consciously or otherwise, ironically evoked the words from long before: “He relies on[a] the LORD;
let him save him;
let the LORD[b] rescue him,
since he takes pleasure in him.” (Psalm 22:8, CSB). That same psalm starts with the plaintive: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1, NRSV).
Jesus' cry, echoing the ancient Psalmist, rang out strongly as his time hanging on the cross was coming to its end. There had been a time of darkness but that was over. Matthew, Mark and Luke all note Jesus' loud cry - no faint mistakable utterance. This happened about the ninth (Roman) hour; in the middle of the afternoon. The loudness of his cry indicates a huge effort, for a crucified person had little available lung capacity.
In the period between Jesus' arrest, condemnation and resurrection his followers had the unenviable, painful and unrelenting task of accommodating their thinking and understanding to the facts of their experience. That Jesus' God had permitted to happen what they had witnessed.
We see how the words of the ancient writer were applied to Jesus:
He suffered and endured
great pain for us,
but we thought his suffering
was punishment from God.
He was wounded and crushed
because of our sins;
by taking our punishment,
he made us completely well.
All of us were like sheep
that had wandered off.
We had each gone our own way,
but the Lord gave him
the punishment we deserved (Isaiah 53:4-6, CEV). At many points that part of Isaiah is taken up in the account of Jesus. The whole drama of salvation for you and me was and is truly beyond imagining.
Matthew and Mark reported that Jesus had gathered his strength for the loud cry at the last moment. John apparently gives content: When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30, NLT). What was finished (or, "done" - so CEV)? Jesus' suffering and abandonment were ended, true. But he had completed his work, what he came to do. See previous post for what Jesus said in advance, though the followers could not grasp it then. Afterwards, followers were able to be succinct: He made the one who did not know sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21, CSB). That is what God was doing in Christ, overwhelming as it may be to our minds. God made the one person who had no acquaintance with sin - Jesus - to be sin personified - and God makes us the exemplary obedient ones through union with Jesus. To put that another way, the judgement that was earned by me and you fell on Jesus that the glory that was due to Jesus should be able to fall on you and me. The gift-righteousness is available to all who will accept it.
Jesus experienced abandonment in the moment of his fatal arrest. Matthew and Mark report the very understandable: But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled (Matthew 26:56, NRSV). The words have a vivid "in the moment" sound - as it were, "we know how this comes to be happening".
Note that it is firmly all of them. They all, despite their earlier confidence, fled to be safe. They grasped their salvation. I suppose that could include women, if any were present in the arrest scene (I doubt that). Are they to be condemned? Did Jesus condemn them?
So we get the picture of a fallen leader in the hands of the opponents with no friend to even hear. And yet - we see Peter following at a distance. We see another of the men close at hand with Peter. Women were certainly there in the crucifixion scene. (How close could they come?) We witness Jesus providing for his mother by speaking from the cross to her and to his beloved disciple. Mary now had a place in John's household. So I imagine the prominent men lurking nearby and, as the hours passed, able to collect together in various groupings where it was safe.
In the post resurrection days Peter had a prominent role and was spokesman to the Jerusalem crowd. Using the words of Psalm 16, Peter bluntly asserts Jesus' resurrection and its tremendous significance - this man is indeed none other than the Son of God, whose body did not decay in a grave and who is Son of God. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay (Acts 2:31, NIV). No abandonment for the Son of God.
The writer of the New Testament book we know as Hebrews evidently knew and drew on the abandoned sin-bearer aspect of the Jesus account: While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:7-10, NLT). Jesus was heard, but he did the work of making salvation possible. He accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished. Salvation comes from none other than Jesus. Could anything be beyond his understanding?
Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked (CSB) are from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.
All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Note: I retain in the publishers' text where they occur the references to footnotes, but usually not the notes. You can check them out by viewing the text on-line. Often they are replicated in different translations.
Bible passages accessed via BibleGateway.com
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.
All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Note: I retain in the publishers' text where they occur the references to footnotes, but usually not the notes. You can check them out by viewing the text on-line. Often they are replicated in different translations.
Bible passages accessed via BibleGateway.com
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