A Concern With Lewis on the Suffering of Christ

There is a concern I have with what C. S. Lewis says in an analogy of the passion of Christ and common human suffering in chapter 8 of Letters to Malcolm. Much of the analogy (pp. 43-44) is quite good. But he tends to go too far in his query of God's forsaking the Son on the cross. Lewis questions why the Father would forsake the Son in His greatest need. This is what I believe he is pondering, at least. It seems clear to me after three readings of it. Lewis doesn't even hint at the fact the Father's forsaking the Son was an essential part of the vicarious atonement for man's sin. Man's sin separated him from God and must have separated him from God forever should Christ not have paid our penalty in our place. The essential meaning of death is separation. Physical death means separation from this life and the things of this life. Spiritual death means, in the end, separation from God, since He is life and the giver of it, and, by default, the things of God which give life meaning and pleasure. The penalty of sin is not said to be being beaten or even to die physically, though the latter is at least a part of it. The penalty for sin was to be and is death, and that to the uttermost. Were physical death the full extent it would hardly be a penalty at all. To die in this life and yet live in the next is hardly a matter to fear. The Christian will, excepting those raptured while living--should the interpretation be accurate--do this very thing. The only fear in it all is the fact we have not yet experienced it or something much like it, and it is something unknown to us. Those who will fear death most are those who are weak in faith and have doubts regarding their salvation, or those who have good reason to doubt their salvation by reason of a continuity in sin or some compromise of purity and godly behavior. Most Christians, I conjecture, are not so much terrified of death, yet somewhat anxious. The fear, if one might actually call it fear, is by reason of not knowing for sure what it will be like, especially the meeting of Christ face to face. One's own sinful disposition--the awareness of indwelling sin--is enough to unsettle the stoutest soul in light of having to meet face to face the Perfect One who knows every man, and that thoroughly. Hardly does a sinner want another sinner to know his innermost sinfulness, let alone Him!

So, physical death itself is not the extent of the promised result of sin, only a part of it. The final and full result, the penalty to its full, is separation from God for eternity. Inherent in this separation from God is separation from all things good. This was hinted at above in the mention of separation from the things of God which give life meaning and pleasure. God is perfectly good and all good things emanate from Him. One separated from God is not only separated from His person but from His blessings of gifts of pleasure as well. Those things which give us pleasure will cease immediately when this final separation is made. If one does not want God, he by default does not want what He provides. And by His provisions only does life have meaning and pleasure.

Consider what it is that gives pleasure. Existence itself does not necessarily do so. But light does. Air does. Water and food do. Comfort and good health do. Good friends do, and in the absence of good friends, acquaintances do to a real degree. Just to be in the company of others, even if not directly interacting with them, does. Beautiful scenery does. Good music does. Animals do. Moderate temperature and weather do. Could one not go on for quite some time naming things, both generally and specifically--like chocolate ice-cream--which give pleasure, both physically and aesthetically?

Having listed several things that might have relieved Christ from the difficulty of the cross, as He prayed--all to no avail-- Lewis finalizes the list with,

"There is, then, nothing left but God. And to God, God's last words are 'Why hast thou forsaken me?'

"You see how characteristic, how representative, it all is. The human situation writ large. These are among the things it means to be a man. Every rope breaks when you seize it. Every door is slammed shut as you reach it. To be like that fox at the end of her run; the earths all staked. [I don't understand this last sentence.]

"As for the last dereliction of all [referring to the last thing in the listing--God's forsaking Christ on the cross], how can we either understand or endure it? Is it that God Himself cannot be Man unless God seems to vanish at His greatest need? And if so, why?" (pp, 43-44).

Lewis does not mention here, or even to the end of the chapter, that the forsaking of the Son by the Father was necessitated by His dying for sin. He did not only receive the penalty for sin, He became sin, the very object of God's wrath.

2Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NASB)

He was made a curse.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE." (NASB)

God is too holy to look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The Father forsook the Son when the Son was made sin for us. Such was necessary. It was not something that did not have to take place for Him to be more human or enter full into the common human suffering. The wages of sin is death, and Christ had to receive the penalty in full, both the physical and spiritual sides. For a time, maybe three hours, considering the time of the darkness and His death, God turned away from God. And in this was fulfilled the threat, "You shall surely die." I wish I could tell this to Lewis, though, if he didn't know it in this life (he could have even if he doesn't reflect it in this portion of his writings) he certainly does know it now. One look at the Lord Jesus would, I'm sure, have dispelled any fogginess or doubts about the matter.