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Bible Question: When Jesus was on the cross He said, "Father why have you forsaken Me?" What is he exactly saying? I know this is when he became sin for us but I can't really understand it. Did the Father turn His back or what?
Bible Answer: Both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 quote Jesus as making the statement,
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. . . Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (NASB) Mark 15:34 |
What did Jesus mean? That is our question. The answer to this question will be divided into two parts: "Who is Jesus?" and then why did Jesus ask, "Why have you forsaken me?" But we must first understand who Jesus is.
Who Is Jesus?. The cults often like to show the following verse to a Christian
to prove that Jesus was a man,
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For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus. (NASB) 1 Timothy 2:5 |
Many Christians have struggled with this verse because they know
that Jesus was God. What we must remember is that Jesus was both
man and God. Listen to Romans 1:1,
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Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set
apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through
His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the
Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, (NASB) Romans 1:1-4 |
Notice the passage says Jesus was "born according to the flesh." Each of us who is alive today has a mother and is made of human flesh and blood. This passage also says that Jesus was the "Son of God." This expression simply means Jesus was God. Listen to John 10:31-36.
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The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father;
for which of them are you stoning Me?" The Jews answered Him,
"For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." Jesus answered them, " . . . do you say of Him, whom the Father
sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? (NASB) John 10:31-36 |
Jesus HAD to be both man and God. Jesus would not have died
a physical death unless He was a man. He couldn't have lived a
perfect, sinless life unless He was God. He was the perfect lamb
of God who by a perfect life and death has taken away our sin.
He had to be God to be perfect - God cannot sin (Heb. 4:15).
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