Three hours into Christ's crucifixion, an eerie darkness cast its shadow over Israel.  It was not just to hide the suffering of Jesus; it was a cosmic sign of God's judgement on human sin (Amos 8:9-10).  That strange silence was pierced by the voice of Jesus, calling out in the moment of ultimate desolation.  The first, and only, time the Trinity experienced separation from each other had now come with great intensity.  The word 'Father' was, for that moment, impossible.  As Jesus became sin for us, His appeal was simply to God, His God who was so distant, for the only time in eternity.

Christ's words were the prophetic fulfilment of Psalm 22:1, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?"  Penned by David a millennia earlier when he was surrounded by enemies who refused to recognise his anointing as king, they were waiting to be spoken by the King of kings whose anointing as Messiah was despised.    

The weight of God's wrath against our sin crushed Him (Isaiah 53:5), and the unbroken communication link with heaven was demolished.  The Bible's answer to His question is that Holy God cannot be polluted by sin (Isaiah 59:2): that would wreck His Holiness.  Instead, Jesus chose to be wrecked - totally.  There was no way back from the utter loneliness of being abandoned by Father God: Jesus bore it, all alone ... for you and me.  "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

A fresh gaze at the cross should bring us tears of shame, as well as the joy of relief.  One thing the cross can never do for the Christian is to promote indifference.  That is reserved for those like the characters round the cross, who do not see their own sin there; who have no weeping for their selfish past, and no gratitude for their dying Saviour.  Yet, some of those we know will seek Him and find Him - through our unrelenting trust in Jesus and our patient witness to His grace.