Our college kids have been working through Christ our Mediator. It’s a good book to use to prepare for Easter. Below is a great insight from Laura Pals, one of our leaders.

“In an unfathomable mystery at that moment, as God’s wrath is poured upon Him as the substitute for our sin, Jesus is rejected by God. His Father turns away from Him.” (pg 75)

As I reflected on this I was struck anew with the reality that Jesus, on the cross, was utterly alone. In this same chapter, C.J. Mahaney talks about how Jesus didn’t just feel alone, He was alone. More than alone, He was forsaken. Completely rejected. I was thinking about how I feel when I have sinned, how I feel so separated from God and alone in my struggle. Yet I always have the choice to run back into the arms of my Heavenly Father. He, in His miraculous love, is waiting for me to return and waiting to forgive me because I am covered in the blood of Christ. However, when Christ was on the cross, bearing the sins of the entire world, He did not have the option to run back to His Father. His Father had turned away and fully rejected Him. That is alone. Jesus knew that He would be forsaken by His only Father for crimes He did not commit and still chose to die because of His love for me-a sinner who will never fully appreciate that sacrifice.

“He cries out to God, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ so that you and I will never have to make a similar cry. He was cut off from His Father so that we can boldly say, ‘Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.’” (pg. 76)

Christ our Mediator by C.J. Mahaney