Devotional thoughts

I just started going through the book "Praying the Names of God" with my mom this morning, and one of the things that came up as we were talking about it this morning was this. When Jesus cried out to God on the cross, he used the name Eloi, which is a form of the word Elohim, meaning God of gods. This particular name denotes God's power and authority. He did not use Abba or any other name that would appeal to God's love and compassion, instead he appealed to his power and authority. Doing show shows us that he was acknowledging God's ability to change the situation if he so chose. He had the power to take Jesus down off the cross, yet he chose to turn his back on him for the moment that Jesus was carrying the sins of the world. Jesus wasn't asking God to take pity on him, he wasn't asking for compassion. He was asking why God, who had the power to do otherwise, continued to allow Jesus to experience the excruciating pain of the cross. The reason is this: God really could not do anything different because of his justice. In his power and authority he knew that if he wanted to spend eternity with us one day, Jesus must endure this. God chose us over his son. That to me is the most powerful form of love you can imagine.