The Other Suffering of Good Friday
On Good Friday, it's easy to focus on the physical brutality of the crucifixion. The flogging, the thorns, the nails. But what if we've been emphasizing the wrong suffering? What if the greatest pain Jesus experienced wasn't physical at all, but spiritual?
Remember when Jesus, on the cross, cried out to his Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46) This is a good verse to lead us into the agony of Jesus being separated from the Father and drinking the cup of divine wrath that we deserve.
We need to feel this so that we can understand the gospel better and so we can love and worship our Savior better.
Hanging on the cross physically, which is horrible, is a picture of what happened to him spiritually when he was hanging alone in cosmic darkness and isolation, the darkness that we deserve.
While the sin of the world pressed down on him, the Father would turn his back, and for the first time in all eternity, the perfect communion of the Trinity would be broken. Jesus faced the ultimate spiritual darkness. He would be in hell.
Jesus knew this was coming. Being the Word of God, he knew Scripture intimately. He was its source. He understood the deeper meaning of verses like Exodus 6:6, where God says, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”
So even before the crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane, he began to engage with what was coming. And just knowing what was coming was so heavy, Jesus experienced a rare condition called hematidrosis, where stress was breaking the capillaries under the skin and blood was coming out of his sweat glands.
Here’s what A.W. Pink had to say about this, “The spiritual agony of Christ on the cross infinitely outweighed his physical torments.”
There’s one more thing that we can easily forget. When God poured out the cup of judgment on Jesus, he poured out every drop. All of it. Jesus took it all. And this is very important. Since God's wrath and anger and judgment has been completely and totally absorbed by Jesus, there is absolutely none left for us. There's not a hint of anger left for his children. He's not mad at us. We have been forgiven and adopted.
For us, there is nothing but blessing. This should transform how we think about God's disposition toward us. Many Christians think that God is still angry with them or keeping a list of good things they've done versus bad things. They're living under the burden of works and not grace. They're still consumed with their disappointments rather than with Jesus.
One more quote. Michael Horton said, “The Son's experience of abandonment is the ground of our acceptance.” So, the bottom like here is, the extent to which a holy God poured out judgment on the Son is the extent to which we are free.
Jesus, there are no words to adequately thank you for what you've done. I'm sorry I don't feel your love as I should. Thank you for your one-way love for me. Please cause me to see this and feel this the way I should.