At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) – Mark 15:33-34

A big part of the crucifixion, when we tell it, is the moment that we say “God turned His face away” from Jesus. I can’t find that exact verse in scripture, but this one definitely paints that picture. Let’s go with the analogy, though, because I’ve had some good discussions about this lately.

We like to say that God turned away because it was “too hard to watch.” We ascribe to Him the characteristics of a grieving father and say the Earthly suffering was too much for God to bear.
I’m not arguing that point. I think it only makes sense that seeing His Son in agony would be heartbreaking, even for the Lord. But I can’t help but think it goes a little deeper than that.

Many schools of thought assert that actual Hell is life without God. It’s just the absence of God, who is love. I truly think that God had to turn away, or forsake Jesus, because Jesus took on all our sins. In that moment in order for us to be saved, God had to turn his back on Christ. Jesus willingly took on that punishment so that it never had to happen to us. That was Hell, though. THAT was Hell.

Do you understand that God has never turned His back on you? He has never forsaken you. Maybe things haven’t panned out for you like you wanted, but God has never forsaken you, abandoned you, double-crossed you, or cheated you. It’s hard to follow sometimes, but what happens here on Earth is nothing compared to eternity, and God has never chosen to do you dirty or turn his back on you.

How do we know? Because of this moment on the cross. This is the moment when all of our sins hung in the balance and redemption was in process. It had to happen. Jesus had to bear God’s rejection to keep us from having to. This is the moment your eternity was written.

So next time you’re feeling like God has let you down, let that be your memory cue to come back to this verse. No, Jesus experienced the ultimate rejection, the ultimate loneliness, the biggest moment of darkness in the history of the universe, FOR YOU. And that darkness was not enough to keep Him in the grave.

No more sacrifice after that, just redemption. No more shame, just Jesus’ great and mighty love and mercy for all of us. Why had God forsaken Him?

“Mercy, not sacrifice.” It was the last blood sacrifice. It was so that we may live. ❤️