Why Did it Have to be a Friend? by Michael Card

Why did it have to be a friend
Who chose to betray the Lord
Why did he use a kiss to show them
That's not what a kiss is for

Only a friend can betray a friend
A stranger has nothing to gain
And only a friend comes close enough
To ever cause so much pain

And why did there have to be thorny
Crown pressed upon His head
It should have been the royal one
Made of jewels and gold instead

It had to be a crown of thorns
Because in this life that we live
For all who seek to love
A thorn is all the world has to give

And why did it have to be
A heavy cross He was made to bare
And why did they nail His feet and hands
His love would have held Him there

It was a cross for on a cross
A thief was supposed to pay
And Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away

Yes, Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away

Fellowship Broken at the Cross

Sunday evening as our pastor was preparing us for the Communion service, he was reviewing the events of the torture and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These stories are familiar to us and so there is the tendency to hear the words, but not really think about what is being said and the reality involved. Pastor then mentioned the separation that occurred between Jesus and God the Father as Christ became sin for us. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” We all acknowledge with our minds the fact that God turned away from Jesus as He hung there because God is of too pure eyes to behold evil and here was His beloved Son becoming the very epitome of evil for our sake.

Hold that thought a moment as I review another train of thought I was pursuing a couple of weeks ago. In preparation for my Sunday School lesson I was thinking about the fact that there was love and communication among the persons of the trinity from eternity past. Jesus says in John 17:21 and following: “…that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” And then verse 23, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” And then in verse 24, “…for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

By implication the Holy Spirit, as the third person of the trinity, was involved in that loving relationship also. Paul refers to the love of the spirit in Romans 15:30 and of course the fruit of the Spirit is love in Galatians 5:22 so even though there is no direct statement that the Spirit loved Christ or that He loved the Father, it seems evident that that relationship was there.

Now back to the communion message. Even though I have thought about the fact that God turned His face away from His Son on the cross, I had never thought of the fact that the fellowship and love relationship within the God-head was somehow temporarily fractured. I’m not a theologian so I don’t want to draw too many conclusions or say something that is not theologically and biblically correct, but it just struck me that it was more than what I usually pictured. I usually pictured God turning His head away from the sin-bearer for the appropriate amount of time and then continuing forward with the plan. But now I’m struck with the thought that there is a cosmic disruption of the love and communication that has always taken place within the God-head. Maybe it would be better to say the communion rather than love because maybe it’s not right to say that God did not love the Son during that time, but I think you can see what I’m driving at. What had been an eternal oneness in fellowship, communication and communion was disrupted for the first time ever.

That makes it all the more emphatic and amazing to me that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.