# Did the Father turn His face/back away from the Son when the Son was cursed?



## Romans922 (May 26, 2009)

Did the Father turn His face away?


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## larryjf (May 26, 2009)

It depends on what you mean by turning away.

If you mean that the Father's gracious presence was replaced by His wrathful presence, then yes.

If you mean that God's presence was somehow absent then no, firstly because God is omnipresent; secondly because of the unity that exists between the persons of the Trinity.


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## Romans922 (May 27, 2009)

24The LORD bless you, and keep you; 
25The LORD make *His face shine on you*,
And be gracious to you; 
26The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.'

An argument I recently heard.

In the curses of God, those who receive the curses receive the exact opposite of these blessings (Aaronic benediction). So as Christ received the curses for us the Father's 'face' turned away from Him in the anthropomorphic sense.


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## puritanpilgrim (May 27, 2009)

no.

-----Added 5/27/2009 at 12:08:48 EST-----

The son was united with the father's wrath. There was no seperation.

-----Added 5/27/2009 at 12:11:17 EST-----



> 16 Dogs have surrounded me;
> a band of evil men has encircled me,
> they have pierced [c] my hands and my feet.
> 
> ...



The father never left.


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## Peairtach (May 27, 2009)

Surely in His human nature Christ subjectively experienced Hell in the turning away of the Father's face from Him (Psalm 22:1), while at the same time He was sustained in His task by the Holy Spirit Who proceeds from both Father and Son.

Although the Atonement was peculiarly the work of the Son in human nature, it was also the work of the Father and the Spirit. Jesus, when He was on the Cross, didn't cease to be "My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." to the Father, because the Father knew that Jesus had no sin of His own. 

But the Father had covenanted with the Son to punish the sins of His people in His body and soul, so Christ had to experience the displeasure of the Father in His body and soul. The Father's pleasure in Christ's supreme work was not to be known by Christ at this time otherwise He would not have been bearing the penalty for His people's sins.


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