Forsaken - Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34

It would appear that the Savior suffered the spiritual pains of our sins and pains in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that he was now enduring physical pain on the cross, but while reading “The Infinite Atonement” Tad R. Callister suggests that that might not be the case. The book quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as commenting, “Again, on Calvary, during the last three hours of his mortal passion, the sufferings of Gethsemane returned, and he drank to the full the cup which he Heavenly Father had given him… Could id be that this was the period of his greatest trial, or that during it the agonies of Gethsemane recurred and even intensified?” As if the torture of being crucified wasn’t enough, it seems as though all the pain and suffering for sins that he had already experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane, was now coming back through to him on the cross.  But what is the purpose of that? This concept hasn’t been taught at the pulpit, therefore it could very possibly just be me reading too much into things, but I’ve thought about this idea a lot and I’ve come up with a few things.

The main difference between the suffering in the Garden and Christ’s suffering on the cross is that Heavenly Father had withdrawn his Spirit. Although the physical torture might be the most glaringly obvious answer, it is the loss of contact with his Father that makes the biggest difference to Jesus here. As the Savior again experiences all the pain and suffering ever felt by anyone or anything, there is no angel to strengthen him, and the Father that he’s always had with him withdraws. In “The Infinite Atonement” (or TIA from now on) we read, “The last trace of God’s healing light withdrew, to let the unrestrained effects of evil run their full course. No longer could the Father’s Spirit remain in the presence of infinite evil.” Jesus would have to experience all the horror of this life without the benefit of spiritual support. This is when the land fills with darkness and Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Several years ago, when I was first going back to church, I had a visiting teaching companion who tried to convince me that Jesus had in fact sinned, saying that when Jesus asked “why hast thou forsaken me?” he was doubting Heavenly Father’s plan. I knew she was wrong when we were talking, but I had no idea what to say to her in response until years later. Now I know that Jesus was not doubting, but genuinely asking why His Father had left him. It’s one of those things where logically he knows that he had to be alone, but maybe he didn’t completely understand the how or why of the situation. This goes back to the concept that a woman can know that child birth is going to be painful, but until she experiences it, there is only empirical knowledge, not experiential knowledge. TIA says, “there was still a ‘why’- a gap between his cognitive powers and empirical senses. He had encountered a dark zone, an intellectual ‘out of bounds,’ even for him… Perhaps his infinite mind knew and understood all that is possible to know in advance, but even this fell short of the hardcore reality that comes from actual experience.”
If Jesus genuinely didn’t understand the reason for the abandonment, the question becomes, “will he continue with the atonement, even though he doesn’t understand?” When I thought about this question, I realized that if Jesus stopped the atonement because he didn’t understand the purpose, then he’s not like us at all. We have to continue going through life, suffering and doing our best, even without all the information. We usually don’t understand why we are being asked to keep certain commandments or why we have to endure certain trials, but we don’t get to just stop until we get answers. We must preserver and keep going in spite of our lacking knowledge, and if Jesus were to stop because he didn’t understand something, then he really wouldn’t have had our experiences as mortals at all. Having questions but moving forward anyway is the definition of faith, and that’s what Jesus did, he didn’t understand, but he did what Heavenly Father asked him to do anyway TIA says, “The Savior had faith; he exercised faith; and by the power of that faith he forged ahead in uncharted waters to consummate the atoning sacrifice.” He went ahead, he didn’t quit, he didn’t take a break, he just kept on going, trusting that Heavenly Father had his best interest at heart.
But this begs the question, why did Heavenly Father have to withdraw his spirit in the first place? TIA answers this quite nicely, saying, “If this withdrawal had not taken place, the Savior would not have fully known the consequences of sin as experienced by those for whom he suffered. If this were the case, men might say, ‘He never fully understood the total ramifications of sin. True, he suffered, he agonized, but he never felt the loneliness, the rejection, the estrangement that accompanies the withdrawal of God’s light.’” Jesus lived always with his father’s Spirit because he was entitled to that, but the rest of us are born into this fallen world and are automatically cut off from God’s presence and Spirit. We can have the Spirit with us sometimes and after we are baptized and confirmed, we are entitled to it, but most of us will live without it at some point in our existence either through our own disobedience or because of the fall of Adam. Either way, it wouldn’t be a true suffering for our sins if Jesus didn’t in fact suffer the way that we did.
But why would Jesus have to suffer for all these things again, anyway? There are a couple of different reasons that I can think of as to why the Savior would have had to suffer for our sins all over again on the cross. The first reason would be to remain current with reality, meaning that when we sin or suffer, angels don’t usually come down from heaven to strengthen us. When we repent, we don’t have to suffer as much for the sins that we commit, which is similar to Jesus being strengthened by an angel while atoning. Keeping in mind that when Jesus walked into the Garden to begin the atonement, he was fed, rested and healthy, in other words, he was at his best. Suffering while in your best physical and spiritual condition is awful, but it is infinitely easier to do than when you’re in a compromised state. But let’s look at how things had changed less than 24 hours later, Jesus had been almost beaten to death, he’d experienced all the pain and sorrow of everything that has ever lived, and he was nailed to a piece of wood waiting to die. That is a significantly different state of being at this point.
One theory that I’ve heard is that the sins Jesus atoned for in the Garden were for those who had repented. Because when we repent, our suffering is lessened and we don’t have to feel the full effects that we’ve had on others, that might be similar to Christ feeling all the sins of the world while he is still physically and spiritually strong, with an accompanying angel to help him. But we don’t all immediately repent or even repent at all. There are some who will absolutely refuse to repent, even though they are experiencing misery and pain, these are called the Sons of Perdition. And for those of us who often take our sweet time in repenting, during our stubbornness we are not allowed to have the Spirit with us, meaning that we experience spiritual death, or a withdrawal from the presence of God. Jesus had to experience the pain and suffering that we go through when we are in that place spiritually.
The IM quotes Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching, “It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of us humankind- us, all of us- would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish,.. Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so.”
I’ve also heard a theory that the suffering for sins on the cross, without his Father’s spirit was for the sons of perdition, those who would not repent. But that begs the question, if they won’t repent, then why suffer for their sins? They have to be allowed the option to repent if they choose to, even if they won’t. If Jesus didn’t atone for the sins of the sons of perdition, then he wouldn’t be able to say that he suffered for the sins of all men, that there is nothing he can’t forgive, that there is no one that cannot repent. The other thought that I had when considering this was that the vast majority of suffering in this world is caused by Satan, whether through his personal influence or through the implementation of his plan. All of us are perpetrators of Satan’s schemes, and we are all victims of other people. If Satan has caused most of the suffering in the world, then it would make sense that Jesus would have to atone for his sins, which would include all the suffering in the world.
This was quite revealing to me when I was studying the atonement before because I had the thought that perhaps when Jesus felt all the pains and sorrows of the world again on the cross, all alone, that he was doing it only so that Satan could have the chance to repent if he ever chose to. And while that may or may not make sense, it was still at that moment that I realized that he loves his brother so much, that he would be willing to suffer incomprehensibly so that he would always have the option to come back home if he wanted to. It was then that I realized that he would do the same thing for us as well. It is kind of difficult to understand the individual nature of the atonement when we consider the billions of people affected by Jesus’ sacrifice in only a few hours. But it was completely eye opening to me when I considered that perhaps Jesus did all that on the cross just for one man, Satan, and if he would do it just for him, he would do it just for us as well. I realized the scope and sincerity of the love that Jesus has for each one of us that is always talked about. It’s real, and I got to see just a little bit of it.