On Sunday we are tackling one of the most difficult texts in the Bible actually. It’s a familiar one so sometimes we don’t push back against it very much. But when you start to think about it – it raises tons of questions.

The text is this, where Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

And that’s the question we want to really pursue. Why? Why? Why would the Father abandon his only Son? Why would the Father who is demonstrated and revealed by Jesus to be full of grace and forgiveness – abandon his Son when he needed him the most?

And don’t just give the easy answer of – “well he did this for our sin. “

Years ago when I was a youth pastor, one of my Jr. High’s pointed out, “sometimes the problems’ with the easy answers.” I had just told him that exact answer, and in clarity he raised a new tension for me with this verse.

He said this:

“Well Andrew, when I forgive my sister I don’t have to kill my cat, or abandon my dog. Why does God kill his son, and abandon him. Why doesn’t he just forgive?”

And that gets to the heart of the tension with this text – why God? Why are you doing this? What is going on? WHY?

And we’re in good company raising our voices, shouting, and screaming “why would you do this God”?  Because Jesus does the same thing.

So we are going to try to walk through some of this, examine it, and hope to find some answers. It will be tough, as Martin Luther the great reformer said, “God forsaking God, who can understand it?”

Well on Sunday we are going to give it a shot.