(´Jesus on the Cross´ by Rembrandt. Canvas on panel, 1631. Le Mas d´Agenais, parish church, BiblePictures.com)
Only one man in this world has ever been truly alone.
When Jesus cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" it was not really a question. Jesus knew why His Father had deserted Him. They had agreed to this arrangement before the creation of the world. Jesus' cry was a cry of true dereliction and it was intended to communicate such to those who heard Him. The words quoted are the opening verses of Psalm 22 and Jesus was telling us that it is this Psalm which interprets and explains what is happening. Psalm 22 is the cry of a man who is truly alone.
To be truly alone is to be completely abandoned by God. No man in this life, save one, ever actually exists in that state. Every living creature, human or not, evil or good, is consciously upheld in his or her being by the direct, immediate, sustaining hand of the Creator and Originator of all things. Paul told the philosophers in Athens that "in Him we live and move and have our being!" (Acts 17:28). Our universe is not a wind up toy, existing independently of its Creator. The conscious upholding intentionality of God is the source of all existence. Thus every human being, save one, has never, nor will ever, truly be alone.
Jesus of all men is different. Jesus, of all men, is the only one who has ever been able to say truthfully that He has life in Himself in the same manner that God has life in Himself. (John 5:26) Jesus of all men can say that He exists independently of all other things. That is why no man had the authority to take His life from Him; why He had to lay it down Himself. (John 10:18)
But Jesus' independence was not unto arrogant ends. Jesus' humanity was not granted this exalted condition for any other reason than for Him to be able to exist when His Father truly deserted Him. When the forces of Hell descended upon Jesus on the cross, He must be truly alone. Jesus became sin. He took upon Himself all the shameful degradation, the evil intentions, the wickedness of those for whom He came to save. He was truly made sin and bore it. As such, as sin-bearer, He must needs be led outside the camp, cut off from the holy majesty of God (cf. Lev. 16:21-22).
Sin has no place in the Presence of God. It is not just an insult to Him, it is matter to His Anti-Matter. It cannot withstand the fiery Presence and must need be consumed. Jesus, as the sin-bearer, was cut off from His God and ours for this very reason. Hell is the absence of God. Hell is the absence of all things noble, all things pure, all things joyful, all things delightful, all things love, all things Holy. Jesus on the cross, by having life in Himself, was alone of all humanity able to bear the true extent of being alone.
That is why His later words "It is finished!" are so important. His work was done on the cross and it was into His Father's hands that He then yielded His Spirit. The physical pain of the cross were a mere token, a visible, common representation of His suffering. His physical agony was of a similar nature to that of the other men crucified with him, but they did not suffer what He suffered beyond that. They were not "alone" as was He.
God's justice requires that where the penalty for sin has been paid, that the sinner is to go free. When Jesus bore the full penalty of sin, God's justice must require that we who belong to Him, never shall have to endure it. It is finished.
Thank God He was alone, so that I never shall be.
In some music business schools, they still give students assignments that go like this: “Assume that you have one million dollars. Make up a marketing plan on how to promote a band.” Here’s a realistic assignment: “Go to MySpace. Pick a band. You have zero dollars. Now go promote them.”
Posted by: buy essays | February 03, 2012 at 12:41 PM