From Son to Curse

Another excerpt from Donald MaCleod's, 'The Person of Christ'. 

"He felt forsaken and he was forsaken….In the moment of dereliction, there is no sense of his own sonship. Even in Gethsemane, Jesus had been able to say, ‘Abba!’ (meaning Father). But now the cry is, ‘Eloi, Eloi’ (God). He is aware only of the god-ness and power and holiness and otherness of God. In his self image, he is no longer Son, but Sin; no longer the beloved with whom God is well pleased, but the cursed one: vile, foul and repulsive….

…But now, in the hour of his greatest need, God is not there. When he most needs encouragement, there is no voice to cry, ‘This is my beloved Son.’ When he most needs reassurance, there is no-one to say, ‘I am well pleased.’ No grace was extended to him, no favor shown, no comfort administered, no concession made. God was present only as displeased, expressing that displeasure with overwhelming force in all the circumstances of Calvary. Every detail in a drama which walked a fine line between chaos and liturgy declared, ‘This is what God thinks of you and of the sin you bear!’ He was cursed, because he became the greatest thief, murderer, adulterer, robber, desecrateor, blasphemer, etc., there has ever been anywhere in the world."

A somber reminder of the reality of calvary. At the cross, Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the trinity, very God of very God, became a curse, and experienced absolute abandonment, taking upon himself the shame and consequence of sin; the consequence that we deserved. This is love. The Son of God stood condemned in our place. The cross wasn't some abstract event were the Son merely suffered theoretically, or only appeared to take on our sins. It is a concrete reality. The Son was really forsaken. He actually became a curse. He actually suffered the physical, spiritual and emotional effects of being under God's wrath. This is amazing love!