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Secure in the Inseparable Trinity

By David Barnett, SDM Staff

THE TEACHING OF A SEPARATION between God the Father and Jesus while on the cross is a very prevalent, if not majority-held, belief in Christendom. Citing Jesus’ cry on the cross, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), many sincere Christians believe that Jesus (God the Son) was separated from God the Father. Upon deeper study of Scripture, however, one can see that this is not so and that the theological implications of such an alleged event would be catastrophic to core Christian beliefs.

Jesus’ cry of, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” was not a statement that He had been forsaken but was a declaration that He had fulfilled David’s prophesies of Psalm 22 (note that a major purpose of Matthew’s Gospel was to show how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophesies). Had today’s numbering system been in place, Jesus may well have cried out, “Psalm 22!” (The Bible chapter/verse numbering system used today was not established until the 16th century A.D.) It is important to realize that Jesus’ reference was to the entire Psalm. This is evidenced by the many fulfilled prophesies throughout the Psalm such as verse 16, “They pierced my hands and my feet” and verse 18, “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

When read in its entirety, Psalm 22 makes it clear that God did not abandon the Psalmist (nor Jesus of Whom the Psalm was prophetically written). Verse 24 states, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.” This is a direct prophetic statement that God (the Father) did not forsake Jesus, but on the contrary, “when He cried to Him for help, He heard.”

The opening verses of Psalm 22 (verses 1-17) describe the way the Psalmist “felt,” as opposed to statements of literal events (for example, verse 6, “But I am a worm and not a man”). Jesus, by virtue of His humanity, did indeed “feel” forsaken by God, just as He “felt” like a “worm”. Verses 19-21 tell of the Psalmist’s cry to the Lord. Verses 22-31 proclaim that the Lord is faithful and that the Psalmist (and Jesus) was not forsaken. Verse 24 specifically declares that God has not “hidden His face from him”.

In a very similar manner, one may read the last words of Jesus before His death in Luke 23:46, “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.” Hardly the words of one experiencing separation from the Father, Jesus again quoted a Psalm of David that spoke prophetically of Him. In this instance, Jesus quoted Psalm 31:5. As in Psalm 22, David proclaims God’s faithfulness in Psalm 31. Verse 22 reads, “As for me, I said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from before Your eyes’; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to You.” This verse, perhaps as well as any, shows the dichotomy between what was “felt” by the author and that which was actually occurring. The word “Nevertheless” transitions from the description of human emotions expressed in “alarm” to the declaration of the faithfulness of the Lord in that He “heard the voice of my supplications”.

In addition to Psalms 22 and 31 which declare God’s faithfulness to the Psalmist and to Jesus and belie the idea of a “separation” from God, one must consider the theological ramifications if such an alleged separation had occurred. God is, by nature, Triune (One God in three persons; the Father, the Son [Jesus], and the Holy Spirit). Any separation of God the Father from God the Son would violate the doctrine of the Trinity and the unchangeable nature of God.

Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

If Jesus was separated from the Father, was this not a “change” in the nature of God? Was Jesus still God if He was separated from the Father? If so, were there then two Gods? Such theological inconsistencies abound with the idea of a separable Godhead.
In addition to the theological inconsistencies, an issue of trust arises. If the Father forsook Jesus in the literal sense of the popular interpretation on Jesus’ cry on the cross, how could we trust Him to honor His promise of Hebrews 13:5, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU”? If He could in actuality forsake His only begotten Son, what assurance could we have that He wouldn’t forsake us?

Such inconsistencies and mistrust vanish, however, when one rightly sees that Jesus’ cry on the cross was a proclamation of His fulfillment of Psalm 22 and that, as the Psalm states, the Father did not “despise nor abhor the affliction of the afflicted; nor hide His face from Him; But when He cried to Him for help, He heard.”

It is also comforting to note Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 16:32 as He spoke of His imminent arrest and crucifixion, “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Jesus knew that He could not depend on men, not even His own disciples, but that God is always faithful. Jesus knew that when all had deserted Him, the Father would still be with Him.

Despite the prevalence of the “separation” doctrine within the church today, thorough study of Scripture reveals that such teaching is misguided and in error. Fortunately, the true significance of Jesus cry of “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”, alluding to Psalm 22, is a glorious declaration that Jesus has fulfilled the prophesies of the Davidic throne and that even in the deepest despair, God is faithful.
And we can come to the same realization that David did in Psalm 37:25-28, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken ... For the LORD loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones ...”