Christ Clings to His Tormentor to Redeem Sinners

In the Medieval classic The Inferno, Dante Alighieri portrays himself on a journey through the horrors of hell. While making the trek through the dark and miserable land Dante converses with several of the anguished souls with which he meets.

Through these conversations one thing becomes clearly evident: none of the condemned has the slightest regard for God. They despise Him so much that they will not even pronounce His name for fear of giving Him honor.

Dante’s allegory may not be an accurate depiction of what hell is like. But certainly he does do a good job of depicting how much the damned hate their tormentor.

And this is what makes Christ’s fourth word from the cross so remarkable. Moments before he breathed his last Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
To be forsaken by God is to be removed from God’s favorable presence. That is the same as being cast into hell.

Indeed, the hill of Golgotha was Christ’s hell. As he hung upon the cross Christ faced the vast torrents of God’s wrath in body and in soul. But even though Jesus was cast away as a reprobate, he would not let himself be separated from his God. From the deep pit of hell, he reaches up and knocks at the gate of heaven in prayer.

This led one theologian to say that on the cross Christ was “the perfect stranger.” Christ’s own words testify to the fact that heaven would have nothing to do with him. God had forsaken him and therefore would not welcome him.

But neither does he find a home in hell. As Dante accurately represents, those in hell find their tormentor despicable and continue to rail against him. But this is not the way Christ reacts. Despite being rejected, he cleaves to God. He prays to his tormentor, and even claims Him as “My God.” Certainly he doesn’t fit with the spiteful crowd in hell!

So yes, Christ was the perfect stranger. And what made him the perfect stranger is what makes him the perfect redeemer.

It is because he was faithful to God to the bitter end that unfaithful sinners like us can have access to God. We are people who have turned our backs on God and deserve to have God’s back turned on us. But Christ provides the bridge to all who will cross by him.

He was forsaken for the sake of those who look to him. But he also remained faithful for those who cannot remain faithful on their own.

Yes, that is why He is our Redeemer. Christ stayed true to God, even through the flames. And in doing this he broke down the doors of hell and opens wide the gates of heaven.