You may have heard it said that when Jesus cried out in a loud voice from the cross saying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:33-34; Matthew 27:45-46) this was when God the Father turned his back on Jesus or turned his face away from Him because as He bore the sins of the world and God could not face Him. For example, the modern hymn “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” declares this in the first verse of the song: “How great the pain of searing loss. The Father turns His face away.”
Theologian Wayne Grudem states in his magisterial systematic theology that the atonement of Jesus not only caused physical pain and death, but that scripture teaches that God abandoned Jesus on the cross:
But far worse than desertion by even the closest of human friends was the fact that Jesus was deprived of the closeness to the Father that had been the deepest joy of his heart for all his earthly life. When Jesus cried out “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” (Matt. 27:46), he showed that he was finally cut off from the sweet fellowship with his heavenly Father that had been the unfailing source of his inward strength and the element of greatest joy in a life filled with sorrow. As Jesus bore our sins on the cross, he was abandoned by his heavenly Father, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13). He faced the weight of the guilt of millions of sins alone (Grudem, Systematic Theology).[i]
People as notable as William Lane Craig have asserted as much: “While I understand the sentiment behind the unbelievable treatment of Jesus, I find [that] interpretation unwarranted, implausible, and incoherent.”[ii]
It is Unwarranted
Nowhere in the passages (either Mark or Matthew) do the gospel authors communicate that God turned his back on Jesus or turned his face away because the sin of the world was laid upon Christ. While this idiosyncratic interpretation is not un-Biblical (it goes against anything the Bible directly states), it seems to be non-Biblical (the Bible does not say that God turned his back on Jesus at any time in scripture). Non-Biblical is not problematic in any orthodox sense (leisure suits are not mentioned in the Bible, but they do not violate any Biblical principle), but to state that God turned his back on Jesus is simply not found in the Bible; thus it is Non-Biblical.
Furthermore, the text (both in Mark and Matthew) never states that Father turned away or was separated from the Son. To read that into the passage, is just that: to read that into the passage. This is a classic example of eisegesis (reading something into the text that is not there), instead of exegesis (drawing out a text’s meaning in accordance with the author’s context and discoverable meaning). Reading from the text, we notice that Jesus cries “with a loud voice.” Does he need to speak up because the Father cannot hear him? No, the Father, being divine, is all-knowing. It is more likely that Jesus is speaking with a loud voice so those around him can hear what he is saying. In short, he is speaking loudly so they will understand what is going on (see: Apologetic Value of “My God, My God” below).
It is Implausible
The Protestant Reformers set forth a principle of scriptural interpretation to govern biblical hermeneutics. It is sometimes called the analogy of faith. R. C. Sproul explains:
“we are to interpret Scripture according to Scripture. That is, the supreme arbiter in interpreting the meaning of a particular verse in Scripture is the overall teaching of the Bible.”
Applying this interpretative principle to this passage, you will not find other scripture stating that God turned his back on Jesus thus resulting in Christ crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” If we want scripture to enlighten our understanding of Mark 15:33-34 and Matthew 27:45-46, we should turn to Psalm 22. Interestingly, verse 1 of Psalm 22 is the line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Ironically, Craig provides insight into this cry of Jesus:
This is thought to be the moment at which, so to speak, God the Father turned His back on His Son and allowed him to experience the separation from God that is sinners’ just desert for sin. This seems plausible; but upon reflection second thoughts arise. In the first place, once one realizes that what Jesus is doing here is reciting the words of Psalm 22, which is the prayer of God’s righteous servant in distress, then a very different perspective emerges. Far from showing Jesus’ alienation from God at that point, his praying Psalm 22 seems to show his deep reliance upon God at this bleakest moment of his life. Moreover, a little later he prays, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23.46). Here he addresses God as his Father.
Psalm 22, in a general sense, is a psalm written about a person who is crying out to God to save him from the derision and torture of his enemies, and then thanks God for saving him in the last ten verses. Given the salvation of the person in the latter part of the psalm, it is not a cry of despair, but a cry of help, which God rescues. God has vindicated Jesus, not abandoned him. As Psalm 22:24 declares, “For he has not despised or abhorred the torment of the oppressed. He did not hide his face from him, but listened when he cried to him for help.”
It is Incoherent
Not only is the interpretation of God turning his back on Jesus on the cross unwarranted and implausible, but it is also incoherent. Given the doctrine of the Trinity, Jesus, who is fully man and fully God, it is metaphysically impossible for there to be a separation in the Trinity. If God had to turn his face or back away from Jesus (obviously metaphorically speaking) then Jesus would have to turn away from himself, because he is God. It would be metaphysically impossible for there to be a rift in the Trinity. Thomas H. McCall builds out a full argument against the “disrupted Trinity” view in his book Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why it Matters. I will let you read his argument, but in short, God’s nature is unbreakable and the persons of the Trinity cannot be broken. Whether one adheres to Latin Trinitarianism or Social Trinitarianism, McCall remarks that “for Latin trinitarianism there is no Trinity without the relations between the persons, while for social trinitarianism there is no monotheismwithout the relations between the persons. In short, orthodox Trinitarian theology forbids a breach between the persons of the Trinity: it is incoherent.
Apologetic Value of “My God, My God”
One of the values of interpreting Mark 15:33-34 in light of Psalm 22 is apologetics. I find the most warranted, plausible, and coherent understanding of Jesus’ cry as a declaration to those who are standing at the foot of the cross. In essence, Jesus is NOT looking UP crying out to God in despair, but looking DOWN to those surrounding him and citing the first line of Psalm 22. Why is he citing the first line? Because he is telling the listeners to read that psalm. David E. Garland in the NIV Application Commentary to the Gospel of Mark states, “Without chapter and verse divisions in the Hebrew Scriptures, specific passages were cited often by the first verse or key phrases.”[iii] It is like when a person sings the first line of a song and everyone knows the song they are singing.
Why is Jesus telling those at the foot of the cross to read Psalm 22? Because it has prophetic declarations for the coming Messiah.
Verse 16 declares, “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced by hands and feet.” This is a perfect description of what is happening to Jesus as he cries out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David, who wrote the psalm, did not have his hands and feet pierced, but Jesus, hanging on the cross, certainly had. This is described hundreds of years before the Roman crucifixion had even been invented.
Notice verses 17 and 18: “I can count all my bones-they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” Jesus is declaring, read Psalm 22, it is a messianic psalm, I am fulfilling this prophecy in your presence, so you know that I am the messiah.
This is evidence of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the Living God as Peter pointed out in Mark chapter 8 when Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” Jesus is pointing to the evidence that it is true, He is the Christ (the anointed one), the Son of the Living God. Josh and Sean McDowell elaborate in their recent book Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life Changing Truth for a Skeptical World on the Old Testament prophecies of the messiah fulfilled in Jesus Christ:
The numerous and pervasive instances in the Old Testament of description and detail that correspond to the life of Jesus are like threads in a tapestry that is gradually filled in to reveal him as the Messiah. Put another way, the Old Testament can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle. The numerous pieces remain puzzling until they are assembled enough to fill out the intended picture. In the same way, the Messianic references in the Old Testament remain puzzling until patient study begins to reveal them as a picture of the person of Jesus Christ. The New Testament is thus the decryption key for unlocking the meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures.[iv]
The words of Peter recorded by Luke resonate clearly when one contemplates the fulfilled prophecy of Christ: “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18)
Resources:
Articles/Books:
“10 Reasons The Father Didn’t Turn His Face Away At The Cross” by Jared Hood | The Aquila Report, Apr 14, 2017.
“55 Old Testament Prophecies about Jesus” The Jesus Film Project, Jan 4, 2018
Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters by Thomas McCall (IVP Academic)
Videos:
Josh McDowell, “Did Jesus Fulfull Prophecy?” [YouTube video] (TrueLife, c.2015).
“Are There Genuinely Fulfilled Prophecies?” [YouTube video] (IntelligentFaith315, 2014).
Lori Burton, “Prophecies of the Passion,”
References:
[i] [Editor’s Note: The author of this blog did not include the page number for this quote. It does however reflect the kind of things that the purported author would say. It is left, unchanged here, under the good faith assumption that the quote is indeed from the stated source.]
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
Recommended Resources:
How to Interpret Your Bible by Dr. Frank Turek DVD Complete Series, INSTRUCTOR Study Guide, and STUDENT Study Guide
The Great Book of Romans by Dr. Frank Turek (Mp4, Mp3, DVD Complete series, STUDENT & INSTRUCTOR Study Guide, COMPLETE Instructor Set)
Jesus, You and the Essentials of Christianity by Frank Turek (INSTRUCTOR Study Guide), (STUDENT Study Guide), and (DVD)
Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)
J. Steve Lee has taught Apologetics for over two and a half decades at Prestonwood Christian Academy. He also has taught World Religions and Philosophy at Mountain View College in Dallas and Collin College in Plano. With a degree in history and education from the University of North Texas, Steve continued his formal studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a M.A. in philosophy of religion and has pursued doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and is finishing his dissertation at South African Theological Seminary. He has published several articles for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students as well as articles and book reviews in various periodicals including Philosophia Christi, Hope’s Reason: A Journal of Apologetics, and the Areopagus Journal. Having an abiding love for fantasy fiction, Steve has contributed chapters to two books on literary criticism of Harry Potter: Harry Potter for Nerds and Teaching with Harry Potter. He even appeared as a guest on the podcast MuggleNet Academia (“Lesson 23: There and Back Again-Chiasmus, Alchemy, and Ring Composition in Harry Potter”). He is married to his lovely wife, Angela, and has two grown boys, Ethan and Josh.
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