There are two occasions when the Lord asked βWhy?β that stand out from all the rest.
Once it was to God He cried it and once to Saul of Tarsus. Once to the Holy One and once to the chief of sinners. Once He cried it from the shameful cross and once from His glory in heaven. In each case the name was repeated.
In Matt. 27:46 we find the first anguished βWhy?β as He cried: βMy God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?β The other is found in Acts 9:4, where He called from His exile in heaven: βSaul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?β
These two questions represent the greatest riddles of history and yet strangely, one of them is the simple solution to the other! Why did God forsake His Son? You will find the answer when you ask why mankind, represented by Saul, forsook and even persecuted Godβs Son. Christβs death was the remedy β the only possible remedy β for manβs sin. It was because of the utter unreasonableness of manβs sin that God, to save him, had to be more than reasonable.
Saul had led his nation and the world in rebellion against Christ, but this is just why, in infinite love, God chose him to become the great apostle of grace, telling the world that βChrist died for our sins.β
Hear him tell how he had been βa blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injuriousβ but how βthe grace of our Lord was exceeding abundantβ (1 Tim.Β 1:13,14). Hear him say:
βChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlastingβ (Vers. 15, 16).
Since the βchief of sinnersβ is now in heaven, there is hope for us all if we but trust in the Christ who died for us. source
