Now from noon until three, darkness came over all the land.
At about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eli,
Eli, lema sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45,46 NET
Most of us are familiar with the anguished words that Christ spoke during His crucifixion.
Have we really considered exactly what was meant by those words? Let’s imagine that Christ
knew the answer to the question, but the reason He posed it was so we would answer it. Three
important elements are involved here: first, the fact that He was forsaken; second, the reason
He was forsaken; third, what that has to do with us. The Father and the Son had been in perfect
harmony through all eternity past, communicating with each other on a level we can’t even
begin to understand. It must be somewhat like the way our minds communicate with our
hands. If an object is coming toward your head, your hand instantly reacts to block it. That is
just a fraction of the why The Father and The Son communicate. All the while you have been
reading this, you have been breathing without giving any thought to it. How frightening would
it be if suddenly your lungs refused to listen to your mind’s request to breathe? Again, just a
small example of what it was like for the Father to forsake His Son. Think about legions of
angels, poised and ready for command from the Father to rescue His Son, but the command is
never given. There was a whole lot going on at the spiritual level, during that terrible Friday,
that we cannot even begin to comprehend; and all the while Satan was rubbing his hands
together, thinking he had actually defeated God.
Why was Jesus forsaken??? Stop and think about it….
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,….
Isaiah 53:410
NET
Because, because, the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of YOU! Yes you! He died for YOUR
sins. If you were the only one that needed salvation, He would have died for you. His suffering
would have been just as great, if it was only for your sins that He was suffering. “What do
you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not
leave the ninetynine
on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? And if
he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninetynine
that
did not go astray.” Matthew 18:12,13 NET
Your sins are just as detestable, offensive, grotesque as the next person’s.
“Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,
you can become white like snow;
though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,
you can become white like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 NET
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 NET
“For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’also said, ‘Do not murder.’Now if you do not
commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law.”
James 2:10 NET
Sometimes it seems that we feel comforted thinking it was because of the murderer and the
pedophile that He did His greatest suffering. NOT SO! The redemption for your sins came at a
great price.
Why was Christ forsaken? So you would not be! He will n e v e r leave us.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20 NET
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my
hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch
them from my Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” John 10:2830
NET
“I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you” John 14:18
Why was Jesus forsaken:
Because Christ became sin and the Father cannot look upon sin.
Because The Father willed it
Because Jesus, through the Father, opened the way so none of us would ever be forsaken by
Him.
Are you among those who are of the fold of Christ, or are you one of those who are still lost?
Come into the fold; Jesus is waiting.
To The Glory Of God
Author’s note: Everywhere the word you is used here, it included me also. I am just another
undeserving soul lost in trespasses and sin, redeemed by the blood of The Lamb, a free gift
that I do not deserve, nor could I ever earn it. I am, like everyone else, totally dependent on
God’s abundant Grace for my salvation.
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15 NET