Was Christ Hellbound?
On the cross, Jesus cries out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" which is a quote from Psalm 22. There are lots of prophecies that we take from this same Psalm that we relate directly to Christ (cast lots for my garments and what not). David is talking in the first person in this Psalm, and people relate his words in this passage to that of the promised deliver, Jesus.
I've been told that Jesus was crying out because God had actually forsaken him. When I finish the passage, it goes on to say that in the end, God had never left Him and was always listening.
I've been told that Jesus "became sin" and therefore was banished from God's sight and sent to hell. This is such a loaded concept that it raises questions on a few different levels. The most difficult for me to understand is the separation of the trinity if it is even possible to divide them or for one to forsake the other. That's just hard for me to understand, but I'd accept it as true if I felt that was definitely what happened here. It might have, there are other scriptures like in Peter that suggest that Jesus was ministering to people in hell after He died. I suppose that I would have 2 questions. Did Jesus go to hell? And did God forsake Him?
My answer to the first question would be a hazy yes, since I'm not sure how this happened or why, but scripture seems to lean that way. My arguments against it would be that Jesus died as a sin sacrifice, He himself was not a sinner that needed to suffer the eternal separation from God as a result. Or is that what the Bible means that He "became sin" or took away the sins of the world? Many people believe that while He was dying on the cross He actually physically took on our sins, which to me would mean that He became a liar, murderer, thief, etc. Others hold to Christ paying our sin debt, and having to suffer the consequences of God's justice. To those who claim this, wouldn't Jesus' rising from hell and going to heaven sort of negate God's justice in that scenario?
As to God forsaking Him, I would love to know what you all think about it, but I would say that He didn't. Mostly because of the Psalm itself that He's quoting, but also because of hell and our views concerning it. Some claim that it's separation from God. Yet David writes that if he makes his bed in hell, God is there. There's so much here to think about, I realize that the comments could go in any direction, and that's cool. I just want to know if anybody else has thought about this and would like to share their thoughts.
I've been told that Jesus was crying out because God had actually forsaken him. When I finish the passage, it goes on to say that in the end, God had never left Him and was always listening.
I've been told that Jesus "became sin" and therefore was banished from God's sight and sent to hell. This is such a loaded concept that it raises questions on a few different levels. The most difficult for me to understand is the separation of the trinity if it is even possible to divide them or for one to forsake the other. That's just hard for me to understand, but I'd accept it as true if I felt that was definitely what happened here. It might have, there are other scriptures like in Peter that suggest that Jesus was ministering to people in hell after He died. I suppose that I would have 2 questions. Did Jesus go to hell? And did God forsake Him?
My answer to the first question would be a hazy yes, since I'm not sure how this happened or why, but scripture seems to lean that way. My arguments against it would be that Jesus died as a sin sacrifice, He himself was not a sinner that needed to suffer the eternal separation from God as a result. Or is that what the Bible means that He "became sin" or took away the sins of the world? Many people believe that while He was dying on the cross He actually physically took on our sins, which to me would mean that He became a liar, murderer, thief, etc. Others hold to Christ paying our sin debt, and having to suffer the consequences of God's justice. To those who claim this, wouldn't Jesus' rising from hell and going to heaven sort of negate God's justice in that scenario?
As to God forsaking Him, I would love to know what you all think about it, but I would say that He didn't. Mostly because of the Psalm itself that He's quoting, but also because of hell and our views concerning it. Some claim that it's separation from God. Yet David writes that if he makes his bed in hell, God is there. There's so much here to think about, I realize that the comments could go in any direction, and that's cool. I just want to know if anybody else has thought about this and would like to share their thoughts.
posted by Anonymous @ Wednesday, June 29, 2005
7 comments
