This is one of the most difficult questions about the cross. Did the Father pour out His wrath on the Son? Was the cross a transaction in which an angry Father punished an innocent Son so that guilty people could go free?

The answer requires care.

On one hand, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus bore the Father’s wrath against sin. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21. Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath. He bore our punishment. He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God Isaiah 53:4, 10.

On the other hand, the Father did not hate the Son. The Father and Son are one in love and purpose. The Son offered Himself freely. “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” John 10:18. The Father did not force the Son onto the cross. The Son went willingly, in obedience to the Father’s will.

The cross is therefore not a case of divine child abuse, as some critics claim. It is the united act of the triune God. The Father, Son, and Spirit together accomplish salvation. The Son bears the punishment that sin deserves. The Father gives the Son for this purpose. The Spirit raises Him from the dead.

What the cross reveals is that the Father’s love and the Father’s justice are both satisfied. Love moves Him to save. Justice requires a penalty. At the cross, love pays the penalty. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” 1 John 2:2.

The Father did not pour out wrath on the Son because He hated Him. He laid on Him the iniquity of us all because He loved us. The Son bore the wrath because He loved the Father and because He loved us. This is the mystery of substitutionary atonement: the innocent voluntarily suffers for the guilty so that the guilty can be reconciled to God.

Do not shrink from this truth. It is the heart of the gospel. And do not distort it into a picture of a cruel Father. The Father who gave the Son is the same Father who received Him back in resurrection and glory.

Memory Verse: Isaiah 53:10 — Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

Action Step: Read Isaiah 53 slowly. Write a prayer of thanksgiving that the Father’s wrath against your sin was borne by the Son.

Exercise: Explain why the cross is both an act of the Father’s justice and an act of the Father’s love. Use two verses to support each side.