Christ GodForsaken?

All my life I have heard how Jesus was the Godforsaken One. And again, recently, a leader in a service said, that God the Father "turned His face away from the Son on the cross". But is that true? Was there some split in the Trinity that resulted in one Member turning away from another because of our sin?

The best treatment I have read on this matter is found at http://answers.org/theology/forsaken.html.

One of the excellent points made by this author is that these words are the opening words of the Messianic Psalm 22. When so quoted, the terms of the whole of the psalm is being evoked. These words are the cry of the dying Messiah whose agony is fulfilling the terms of the psalm. Even His accusers are part of that fulfilment when they wag their heads and mock him, "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if He desires him" (Ps 22:6-8; Matt 27:43).

Note too the reaction of the onlookers to his quoting of these verses from Ps 22. "This man is calling Elijah" who mock Jesus as if he is calling on Elijah. (Eli and Elijah may sound similar coming from the lips of a crucified man.) Importantly, they don't conclude that Jesus is admitting he is Godforsaken. And then Jesus dies.

What happens then is that the Temple's curtain is torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shakes, rocks are split and saints are raised to life!! All these are signs of redemptive judgment on the old order and patently confirm Jesus as the Messianic King of a New Order.

WHEN I SURVEY

At Belgrave Heights Convention on Good Friday, I was standing depressed in the morning service when the congregation sang, "When I survey the wondrous Cross" to a haunting melody. This band of evangelical Christians sang this hymn with such feeling and gusto that, caught up by the Spirit, I raised my hands.

Now the raising of hands is relatively rare at this place and being a staid Anglican, I don't raise my hands often either but on this occasion I felt compelled. The tears pattered on my cheeks and my body shook; then I felt released. I have felt this type of release before but not for some time.

The teaching given was excellent. I was challenged by it and probably enjoyed that more because of the healing work that had been done in my heart and soul. God had met me in this situation and relieved me from a pain that had been dogging me for some time. All glory to Him.

Hills of Psalm 121

I was at a college graduation recently expecting it to be the normal thing although happy for the students I knew and their joy at finally reaching their goal of finishing their courses. However, as often happens, the Lord arrested my attention with his Word. One of the speakers given the task to bring greetings from an American University, talked about Psalm 121 and what a blessing this psalm had been to him.

He indicated that the question in verse 1, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from where does my help come?" is best understood as a reflection of the pagan worship that took place on the "high places" as in Jeremiah (3.23, "Surely the [idolatrous] commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel" http://www.ridgewaymethodist.org.uk/pdf/Psalm121Sermon.pdf).

Other commentators also believe it could relate to Jerusalem or Mt Zion in which case the psalmist is saying as he travels to the holy Mount, as I lift up mine eyes to the hills I remember that beyond these hills is the power of the Lord God the creator.

Both interpretations, however, act as warnings to remind up to keep our eyes on the fact that it is the Lord, the God of Israel, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has made everything, heaven and earth. Both interpretations warn us of the present danger of substituting idols for the living God; of trusting in a variety of created things to support us when things are tough when in effect only the One "from whom, through whom and to whom are all things", can possibly do that.

Who Among Us Welcomes Change?

I for one don't! And I'm sure if i had been in the temple when Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple in Jn 2, I imagine I might have resisted strongly the change that his actions presaged. For he was not just upset about the money transactions; his zeal related to his understanding that he had come to bring in a new order of things, a dominant theme throughout the gospel of John.


We grasp this notion when we listen carefully to the discussion
about the temple and his body after his actions above. We see that
this temple in Jerusalem is no longer to be the place of sacrifice but his body is to be the final sacrifice ushering in true worship (Jn 4) through his resurrection.

WHERE ARE YOU GOD?

In Victoria, Australia we have just come through a horrific time of bushfires driven by high winds in 46 degree heat. Over 200 people have been killed by the fiery blazes with some towns being destroyed completely. For some people, such suffering raises the question of ‘Where is God?’ The questioners raise this question as if the mere presence of such tragedies shatter any belief in the existence of a loving God. Surely, that can’t be so because such events have been happening since recorded history and yet belief in God has continued. I’ve heard it suggested that at the Fall into apostasy by man, everything falls under the judgment of God but God freely maintains his creation in the face of its fall away from his Rule (even though the effects of man’s apostasy are revealed throughout the creation daily). The bushfires, some of which were deliberately caused by firebugs, others caused by lightning strikes, evidence the consequences of man’s fall into sin.

We might question, 'Where is God?' but the answer comes, ‘Where I’ve always been, upholding and sustaining my creation despite the powers seeking its destruction!

But, then in this drama, I hear another question and it is the question that God addresses to man. ‘Where are you O Man?’ And do we not have to say that we often are the ones whose hearts are far from God, who live as virtual deists, imagining that God may be the creator but is certainly not interested in the world as it exists today.

Do we not have to confess that we live as if God didn’t exist but cry out in pain and anger when suddenly we face tragedies such as bushfire and flood? And then the question comes, "Where have you been O Man? Where has your attention been during the months and years when you have given Me not a thought or concern?" The bushfires do not so much call God’s existence into question as call our existence into question.

Besieging Love of God

Heard in church today the bewitching song based on Psalm 139 and felt myself struck dumb by the line:

and with love everlasting you besiege me

I sat and couldn't get the image of the besieging love of God out of my head. As great powerful armies besieged cities in ancient times, so the love of God in Christ, lays siege to our hearts, encompassing them round and about.