This is Holy Week, the most solemn week in the Christian Church. It is beyond anything we could possibly understand or hope to emulate. Yet Jesus experienced something even greater than the pain of crucifixion. It was the pain of total separation from His Godhead. He expressed it with the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In order to save mankind from sin and death, Jesus had to relinquish his Godhead…if only for a moment…and in that moment he embodied the sin of the world in order that we might live for eternity.

When Adam and Eve sinned, a wall of sorts was erected between a perfect God and sinful man, a wall that would stand for thousands of years until a perfect God chose to become one of us — but without sin — to take on the sin of the world. For one horrible moment, Jesus was separated from His Godhead, and that pain was more than we could possibly understand. He took on the sin and evil of the world, He took our place, and in that moment, He was torn apart from the presence of His Father…a painful experience He had never had.

Oh, to understand such love! There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. But what we can do is thank Him, live a life of sacrifice, and share His Love with those we meet. What wondrous love is this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend!