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 NIV
You call this Holy Week to honor the suffering and sacrifice of My Son, Jesus, during the last week of His life. To be sure, the events of that week encapsulate the essence of holiness. My Son, the innocent and perfect Lamb of God, was betrayed, tortured, mocked, ridiculed, and crucified to endure the wrath that I intended for you, and then He rose again on the third day. His sacrifice was an expression of love, the purest of love.
He left nothing undone, including the sense of abandonment from the stench of sin. When He embodied the sin of the world, I looked away. He and I had never been separated from each other like that. All at once, He felt the loneliness, the isolation, the despair, the rejection that comes from being forsaken.
My Son desired to walk fully in all human emotions. He knows your pain, because He has felt it. He identifies with the spouse who is rejected from the broken promise of marriage commitments to always love and cherish, because the other spouse has found other lovers. I loved the nation of Israel, and yet they ceased to follow after Me, but would chase after other lovers who would disappoint them again and again.
My Son knows the pain of abandonment that children feel because of divorce or just being raised by a single parent. Rejection doesn’t even come close to capturing the understanding of pain that a child endures. Some children’s hearts become bitter, others are hardened, others may become debilitatingly insecure, others may be boiling with rage and anger, and others may develop cynical distrust of people, including the ones who are trying to love them. Alone. Not being loved. Rejected. Despair.
Because of My Son, I can fully pour out my love upon you. My words are a soothing balm. I rejected My Son for a moment so that I could accept you for eternity. I created you and like everything about you, except for your rebellion and sin, but My Son dealt with that issue. When I hear your name as My Son intercedes for you, I smile. The joy that I feel when I think about you, I love to share it with you. Let Me embrace you with My love so that you can feel the warmth of being truly accepted.
You don’t have to do anything to try and impress Me with your goodness. To finalize the transaction of My Son’s sacrifice, He declared “It is finished”. There is nothing left for you to do to try to clean yourself up. He became your sin, and then gave you His righteous status before Me. You will forever be My child. I will not abandon you nor forsake you, I love you.
Whispers from Your Father, God.