“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (Matthew 27:46).
Jesus not only experienced tremendous physical pain on the cross. He was physically mutilated. He was also relationally rejected. Judas, one of the 12, had betrayed Him. The other eleven disciples had deserted Him. Three times Peter denied even knowing Him. His brothers did not believe in Him. The world that He had come to serve and save turned on Him.
Jesus was emotionally abused. Crucifixion was a supreme punishment. The stripping and exposure of victims was not an accidental or incidental element. It was a deliberate action that the Romans used to humiliate and degrade those they wished to punish. It meant that the crucifixion was more than just physical, it was also a devastating emotional and psychological punishment. He felt humiliation and a helplessness as the gawkers look on.
Jesus was mentally tormented while on the cross. Jesus is horrific pain. He is at the doorstep of death. He is looking out at the crowd through the sweat and blood in his eyes. He sees the spiritual forces behind the human faces, doing everything they can to secure His death. The battle of the mind rages as Satan wants Him to curse God and die making His substitute sacrifice ineffectual for the salvation of mankind. Remember the words of 1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Now we come to Matthew 27:46. On the cross Jesus was physically mutilated, relationally rejected, emotionally abused, and mentally tormented. He also felt spiritually abandoned by His Heavenly Father! Jesus expressed his honest feelings; feelings He had never felt before. Jesus felt abandoned because of the separation he sensed.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” This does not mean Jesus sinned. It means that God imputed mankind’s sins on Him. As a result, Jesus felt the full effects that sin deserves. God was punishing His own Son as if He committed every sin done by every sinner! In doing so, Jesus felt the separation from God that sin brings. Hence, He felt forsaken and abandoned. Jesus did this out of love for His creation.
God placed my sins – past, present, and future – on Jesus while He was on the cross. Jesus took my place so I could receive His right standing before God. He became sin for me so I might become the righteousness of God. When I placed my faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord, God gave the same right standing that Jesus has before His Father. I do not deserve it. I did not earn it. I can never repay Him. All I can do is humbly thank Him for His mercy and grace by living a life that pleases Him! This is what puts the “good” in Good Friday.