Did God Forsake Jesus on the Cross?

An image of Jesus as the Lord of Health is seen in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City (Catholic News Service photo/Chico Sanchez)
An image of Jesus as the Lord of Health is seen in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City (Catholic News Service photo/Chico Sanchez)
Jesus’ own words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” might lead us to think this is so, but the truth expressed here is to suggest that Jesus is both human and divine. The human part of Jesus’ experiences is what many of us feel in times of desolation: abandonment by God. But the Church teaches that even in the most desperate situations God never leaves us alone. Even in the worst cases of torture and death, we believe that God ultimately redeems all suffering.

In Jesus’ cross, we see a God who is unafraid to experience human suffering and human death because God has the power to defeat death and therefore God will do the same for us.

So, while Jesus may have had the human emotional response to feeling forsaken, God ultimately does not do this. Instead God redeems death by raising Jesus to new life.