Although heartbreaking and brutal, the death of Jesus is hands down the most beautiful act of love this world has ever seen. And while the Scriptures paint a beautifully epic timeline of this event, there is one part that has always seemed to create curiosity within my heart — the time of God’s silence while Jesus was on the cross.
“When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.”—John 19:30
Why was God silent? Where did he Go? Why did he forsake Jesus?
My wife and I discussed this section of the Scriptures, only to find ourselves having been both confused as a child, curious as to why God would leave his son alone on the cross.
At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”—Matthew 27:46
These words that Jesus cried out as he was hanging on the Cross have been the source of much debate among Christians throughout the years. Some people teach that because Jesus became sin itself, which is why God turned away from him while others speculate that God was in fact, present, but that the sin that Jesus took upon himself blinded him from the hearing God’s voice.
Regardless of why…God’s voice was absent.
