The Most Terrible and Necessary Separation

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matt 27: 46

John 19:30
... he said, "It is finished!" 

It's painful, isn't it, to read about the last hours of our beloved Savior, Jesus. I still
haven't gathered the nerve to watch Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of Christ."
There were so many things about those moments on the cross the scream 'horrible!'
Yet, the single most gruesome fact of it all was the separation of Jesus, God's son, from
the father, a relationship that had existed before creation.

I believe that, being God, Jesus was well aware of the aspects He faced as he knelt
and prayed in the garden. He had spoken to His disciples, plainly, about the things that
must happen to Him when he was handed over. Despite their difficulty in understanding
the ramifications of those things, Jesus knew clearly what he was to face. This
foreknowledge focuses our understanding that this God/man was the only one who
could possibly have come to these moments with the potential of carrying out the
fullness of His earthly mission: atonement, fulfillment of the law and prophecy,
the final and complete sacrifice necessary for salvation and the ability to withstand
the full brunt of sin and this separation from the Father.

In the things I have read and heard from teachers, many suggest that it was this
separation which was the most devastating to withstand. God turned His back upon
His beloved son, unable to look upon the fullness of sin heaped upon His son. The light
of the relationship, like the sky over Golgotha, turned to darkness. That which meant
the most to Jesus, the acceptance and love of His Father, was withdrawn for what must
have seemed an interminable time. 

Yet, in the end, Jesus became aware that His reason for becoming flesh on this earth
had been completed. The debt had been fully paid. Sin had been defeated forever..
no more sacrifices that could not fulfill their purpose. Take a moment and think
about these accomplishments and the price He paid for achieving them... then speak
to Him and praise and glorify Him for what He has done for us.

Our savior. Our Lord. Our King. Our shepherd... Our reason for living...Christ Jesus.