My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1, ESV) These words are so central to the traditional evangelical understanding of the cross of Jesus Christ that their sentiment echoes in the songs we sing, most notably: How great the pain of searing loss— The Father turns His face away, As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory. But is this really what's happening on the cross? The Father turns His face away from the Son? The Father forsakes the Son? The Father is considering His Son to be a cursed criminal instead of the apple of His eye? I want to make the case, on the basis of the Scriptures, that this is not what's happening. I would submit that throughout Jesus' entire experience of the cross, the Father never stopped viewing His Son as the apple of His eye with whom He is fully well-pleased. Psalm 9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in...
As the people of God, we must hold to apostolic tradition (2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6) but reject human tradition (Colossians 2:8). Jesus criticized the religious leaders of His day for making void the word of God for the sake of their tradition (Matthew 15:6). And He said they did this in many ways (Mark 7:13b). We are not immune to this error today. This blog exists to test (1 Thessalonians 5:21) our modern Christian traditions against Scripture to discern where we might have done the same.