When Jesus Became Our Substitute

We’ve been exploring the seven statements Jesus made from the cross—what we’re calling God’s 7 Love Languages. Each phrase reveals a different facet of God’s love, and today we arrive at one of the most staggering: Substitution.
Many of us are familiar with substitutes—substitute teachers, substitute ingredients, even substitute materials. Some substitutes are disappointing, some are surprisingly good, but none compare to the astonishing substitute God provided for humanity on the cross.

The Darkness at Noon
Scripture tells us Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. But something eerie happened halfway through. Matthew 27:45–46 says that from noon to three, darkness fell across the land. In that darkness, Jesus cried out the haunting words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
These are some of the most shocking words in the Bible. Jesus—who always addressed God as Father—uses the distant term “My God.” Something profound occurred in that moment: the perfect relationship between Father and Son was broken as Jesus carried the weight of the world’s sin.

Why Jesus Was Forsaken
Jesus had been abandoned by friends, rejected by religious leaders, and deserted by His own disciples. But the abandonment on the cross was different. For the first and only time in eternity, Jesus experienced separation from the Father.
Why? Because He became our substitute.
God placed the sin, guilt, and shame of humanity on His Son. The Holy One could not look upon sin, and Jesus felt the full emotional and spiritual agony of that separation. Our salvation is free to us only because Jesus paid its full, terrible cost.

What Jesus’ Substitution Shows Us
1. God’s holiness.
God is perfectly pure, righteous, and just. Sin can’t coexist in His presence. On the cross, the world’s sin was placed on Jesus, and the Father looked away—not out of cruelty, but because holiness and sin cannot mix.
2. The ugliness of sin.
Sin is often glamorized, minimized, or joked about. But the cross reveals its true nature. If we ever doubt how destructive sin is, we only need to look at the beaten, bleeding body of Jesus. Sin alienates us from God, distresses our hearts with guilt and shame, and ultimately condemns us.
3. The costliness of salvation.
Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It required the life of God’s own Son. If there were any other way for imperfect people to enter heaven, God would have chosen it. The cross is proof that salvation demanded a price only Jesus could pay.

How We Should Respond
Because Jesus became our substitute, our lives must be shaped by gratitude and purpose. Here are four ways we respond to His love:
1. Turn from sin. Trust Jesus to save you—there is no other way.
2. Live with gratitude. When we grasp what Jesus endured for us, thankfulness becomes our lifestyle.
3. Remember the cost when tempted. Every sin we treat lightly cost Jesus His life.
4. Share the good news. Someone told you about Jesus—now it’s your turn to tell someone else.
 
The cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is not a cry of defeat. It is the sound of salvation being accomplished. Jesus took our place so we could take His. That is the love language of substitution.