For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21
I stated in a sermon that Jesus became our sin, and God the father’s response was to turn as it were His face from Him. After the worship service a congregant approached me to express their disapproval with this. They were upset that I would teach that Jesus was a sinner. I explained Jesus was not a sinner, but the sins of all of us were conferred upon him. "You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin." - 1 John 3:5
God made him, who had no sin of his own, to be sin for us. Leviticus 16 can help us to understand what Paul is referring to here. This chapter describes the sacrifices offered on the annual Day of Atonement. The high priest would offer a sacrificial bull for his own sin and then a goat for the sin of the people. The blood of these animals was sprinkled on the atonement cover over the ark of the covenant and then on the altar of burnt offering. Following this, the high priest would place his hands on the head of a second goat. He would then confess the sins of the people over this goat and send it out into the wilderness. And, as it went out, it carried on itself the sins of the people. Together, these two goats symbolized what Jesus would later do. The first goat shed his blood, which was brought into God’s presence, to make atonement for the people’s sin. The second goat then carried that sin into the wilderness. Like the first goat, Jesus shed his blood for our sin. That blood was then brought into God’s presence to make atonement for us. And, like that second goat, Jesus carried our sins out into the wilderness of death. He who had no sin was made sin for us.
When Jesus hung on the cross, despised, suffering, and dying, he had taken upon himself the entirety of all sin. God cannot look upon sin, so he turned away His face and withdrew His favor. The burden was now fully upon his Son and the reality of God’s wrath for sin revealed itself in full. Here is where Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In this moment there is the despair of death, but in the words of Psalm 22 that he references, there is also hope for deliverance. Jesus still had trust in the Father. He submitted to His
will to that very last moment. There is a terrible beauty in His death in that it shows us that God loves us by taking our place on the cross and dying in our stead.
Though ignorant of this fundamental doctrine the congregant could be forgiven to be offended by this. Our sin, our rebellion against the Creator’s rule over us required our perfect, sinless Creator/Savior to become sin and endure the penalty God’s justice demanded. This should offend us all.