When the Heavens Were Silent

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” -Mark 15:34; ESV

The ministry of Jesus began with his baptism, pointing toward his destiny with the cross. At the baptism the heavens were torn open, the Spirit descends as a dove and the Father speaks, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11).

In stark contrast as he hangs dying the heavens remain silent, closed, and dark.

No divine voice reassures him, only a centurion acknowledges his sonship (15:39).

The Elijah (i.e. John the Baptist; see 9:11-13) who inaugurated his ministry, does not come to save him (15:35-36).

The heavens aren’t torn, only the temple veil (15:38).

The One he called “Abba” just hours before (14:36), has forsaken him.

The Pinnacle of Pain

As many have noted, this is the pinnacle of his pain. The strongest blow to afflict Jesus didn’t come from human hands. The whips, nails, and crown that pierced him were mild compared to losing the communion of the One he had known from eternity past.

“It pleased the Lord to crush him” (Is 53:10).

The price he paid to be our ransom, wasn’t merely death but to experience the fullness of children of Adam. God “made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Co 5:21).

The whips, nails, and crown that pierced him were mild compared to losing the communion of the One he had known from eternity past.

Whispers of Resurrection

Yet in the midst of this, Jesus was the faithful Son.

While he experienced abandonment by God, he didn’t abandon God. While God has been faithful to us, “We like sheep have gone astray” (Is 53:6). Yet Jesus who was forsaken calls out “My God, my God.”

Jesus’ own words here are quoting Ps 22:1. For a rabbi to quote the verse verse of a psalm was to quote the entire psalm.

Jesus was relating to the entire experience of the righteous sufferer. In spite of the feelings of abandonment, by quoting the psalm he looks beyond the present moment to when he could also say, “You who fear the LORD, praise him!…For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him” (Ps. 22 23-24).

Even while crying out in his forsakenness, Jesus believed in God’s faithfulness.

Life of Faith

Jesus’ experience of not only physical death, but the severing of his relationship to the Father, we can restored relationship with Him. Because He was forsaken, we will not be (Heb 13:5).

We are thus empowered to live in light of his model of faithfulness.

So often in our practical theology, we’ve replaced “the righteous will live by faith” with “the righteous will live by feelings.” We have the deep tendency to interpret God through our feelings or circumstances, rather than our circumstances and feelings by God’s word.

Yet Jesus did not despair, but saw beyond the forsakenness of the moment to the faithfulness of the Father.

So often in our practical theology, we’ve replaced “the righteous will live by faith” with “the righteous will live by feelings.”

Perhaps you’ve experienced the silence of heaven, when it seemed like God did not care about your suffering. Know that God is faithful despite the chaos around us.

My prayer for you is that you can say along with Paul,

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Co 4:8-10; ESV).