Friday Evening Devotionals

Why Me, Father?

Tom Barnard

 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day,

but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.”

(Psalm 22:1-2)

 

“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

(Matthew 27:45-46)

 

These two passages of scripture were written about 600 years apart. David penned the first lines. Jesus spoke the second. The first were prophetic; the second were actual. Jesus knew what the words of David meant, because he was fulfilling them the day he spoke them—from the Cross!

 

Why did Jesus quote these words from David’s psalm? Read the entire passage from Psalm 22:11-18. He wanted to state clearly for all to know—Jews and Gentiles alike—that his death was not a cosmic accident, but was the fulfillment of prophecy. God planned it that way. David said in verse 18: “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” He was speaking about the Messiah. That is exactly how it went down.

 

Did God forsake his own Son that Friday afternoon at Golgotha? No. Isaiah said, “He (the Messiah) was despised and forsaken by men.” Isaiah did not say, “He was despised and forsaken by God.” Did Jesus feel forsaken? Yes, he did! Did God turn away from viewing his Son dying on the Cross? Yes. Speaking about God, the prophet Habakkuk said (1:13), “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness….” One commentator said, “God’s very nature cannot allow Him to behold evil without punishing the guilty ones.” The Father turned away from His Son because His Son “bore the sins of the world,” and the Father looked away. Jesus bore our sins and went to Calvary and suffered the death of a criminal. He became our sin-bearer that day on the Cross. Writing about this years later, the Apostle Peter said (1 Peter 2:24), “He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.”

 

The Father knew something else that no one else knew: It was Friday, but Sunday was coming!

 

Heavenly Father, how can I not be moved when I read these words? How can I justify the grief and pain that sent Jesus to the Cross? How can I be comfortable when I see crimes go unpunished and evil-doers walk away without penalty for the sins they have done? Your Son died so that I can be free from the penalty of my sin. How can I say, “Why me, Father?” when hard times come? I cannot. The price Jesus paid for my freedom was too great! I praise Him for that today. Amen