Christ is the chosen One of God, the delight of His Father in whose bosom He ever abides (Jn. 1:18). It is specifically as the sinless, spotless Lamb of God that Jesus Christ had to suffer the judgment for our sin and be forsaken of God. Darkness surrounded this scene, and we tread lightly here, for this is holy ground. We therefore limit ourselves to what Scripture tells us of it (cf. Mt. 27:45–50).

This exclamation by the Son of God is not uttered because He did not expect to be going through what He did; this is made clear in His prayer in the garden the evening before. He knew full well what lay before Him. But why was He forsaken? There was no failure in Him—He was God’s Servant, who always did what pleased Him (cf. Isa. 42:1)!

In fact, there was unanimity and singleness of purpose in the Godhead when it came to accomplishing the work of Calvary. On the one hand, we see in type Abraham and Isaac walking together to Mount Moriah (cf. Gen. 22:8), yet there is a striking difference in that the Son of God knew full well what lay before Him. Our blessed Lord laid down His life willingly, and with no less purpose than the Father who was giving His Son.

The answer to all this is that He was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). His soul was an offering for sin and God cannot look upon sin without judging it—this is the reason the blessed holy Son of God was forsaken of God. What more can we say? We can only bow our hearts in reverence.

As recipients of God’s grace, we can look back and stand in awe of His wisdom. The hatred of the world and Israel’s rejection of Christ were a means to provide salvation, and this rejection of God in the Person of His Son was God’s opportunity to display the epitome of His love toward us. Hallelujah!