Greater than Abraham.

Much dramatic preaching has been done that tries to give a picture of God the Father turning His back on His Son because He could not look upon sin.  This is a dangerous and unbiblical notion that degrades the true gospel message and bolsters cults.  Jesus claims to do what He sees His Father doing (John 8:29, 10:30, 10:38, 14:10, 16:32) and that the Father always stays with Him.  The problem is that many have worked to develop a picture of a God who is distant and pure and shocked at sin. This God turns away from His son who has become sin (II Corinthians 5:21) because the flame of HIS eternal fire might be tainted… an idea derived from Greek mythology and bad Hollywood.  The darkness at noon (Matthew 27:45) was the work of the Father to defeat the final malevolent thrust of the devil through the Jewish leaders.  They had to be driven home in confusion about what day it was – darkness signaled the beginning of a Sabbath.  The Father stays with the Son throughout it all – otherwise, Abraham becomes a greater father than our God (Genesis 22).