The “Why” Question

Strangely, when Jesus asks the same question so often in our heart’s cry, there is a divine answer in reply.

It is not an answer to the question of why evil was allowed in the first. Rather in this climactic moment of Satan’s seeming victory over the Son of God, evil is resoundingly defeated. Why? In that very moment the power of Evil is once and for all thwarted and striped of its hold on humanity through the power of law, sin and the consequential fear of the grave.

In C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia”, Aslan the Lion who is a type for Jesus is put to death on a stone table of sacrifice by the evil White Witch. The darkest moment of the story is in Aslan’s death:

“At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant’s plate… The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.”

…and there was no Aslan. In the moment where Satan seemingly wins, evil resoundingly loses. The risen Aslan explains what his death means:

“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”

Somehow, as Jesus was utterly forsaken by the Father on the cross in dying abandonment, the archenemy of God and humanity was suffering a withering defeat—magic deeper still. With the crucifixion of the Son of God , death itself would start working backward.

Now, every time the Good News is preached we hear the answer to Jesus “Why” question uttered on the Cross. We can know with certainty and clarity the reason why God the Father utterly forsook His Son, Jesus.

God has removed Evil’s powerful reign over humanity.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. –Colossians 2:14-15

Are you struggling with the problem of evil in your own life? Have you ever wondered if God has abandoned you? You may never receive the answer you are seeking related to the personal “Why” questions in the midst of suffering and pain. The Good News is that you can know why Jesus suffered abandonment.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

John 3:16 answers why: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Why was Jesus God forsaken? Because, God so loved you. Mysteriously, that makes all the difference with our questions.