READINGS: Matt. 27:33-50; 2 Cor. 5:17-21
SUBJECT: The Word of Anguish
TEXT: “…My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Introduction: It is now midday. For three hours the body of Jesus has been exposed to the burning rays of the sun. The divine Sufferer has almost reached the point of exhaustion when a supernatural phenomenon takes place: darkness falls over the whole earth, and a cry is heard. ..”My God, My God, why has thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). This cry of anguish expresses:
I.The Faithfulness of the Son of God
(Mat 27:46 KJV) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me
THE EERIE CONDITIONS
Jesus was probably crucified at nine o’clock in the morning, which was the hour of the morning sacrifice. After He had been on His cross for three hours, darkness descended on the country, for the sun temporarily ceased to shine. Therefore from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, the Lord endured the impenetrable darkness which had engulfed the land. At three o’clock in the afternoon, the light began to return, and shortly afterward, when the lambs were being slain for the Passover, Jesus dismissed His spirit. Throughout the history of the church, men have tried to explain why the darkness descended upon Israel. Some thought it to be a token of God’s anger against the people who had done such a wicked deed. Others said the withdrawal of the sun’s light was evidence that God was about to withdraw His presence from
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the nation which, hitherto, had been His pride and joy. I like to believe that God was preaching! He who had provided light, life, and healing from the beginning was being temporarily eclipsed. The darkness of a world’s sin had hidden the radiance of His lovely face, yet, after three hours of gloom, the sun arose, as it were, from his grave of darkness never more to endure such an experience. God was painting on celestial canvas the greatest scene ever to be witnessed.
THE EXHUBERANT CRY
“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me” The language used was Aramaic, which in all probability was often used by Jesus. It is of the utmost importance to remember that the word used in the question is - “Why hast thou forsaken me” This is the that denoting “something accomplished - completely finished - in the past!” “Whatever happened during the three hours of darkness HAD ALREADY HAPPENED. This cry of the Lord was not one of dejection, grief, nor sorrow. It was an exuberant cry of relief and joy. The light had returned, not only to the land, but to His own soul. He had gone into the darkness that we might stay in the light. Doubtless the question was born of the terrible experience through which He had successfully passed. Habakkuk supplies the answer to the Lord’s question. He said, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on inquity…” (Hab .1:13). When the Lamb of God took our sins to the cross, God turned away from the sight, and that was the only time there was a break in the enduring fellowship of the divine family. Jesus temporarily went out of that fellowship, that we, by His grace, might enter it eternally.
THE EXCITING CLIMAX
“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, dismissed his spirit.” Obviously the Lord was in control even to the end.
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He did not give in to the tortures of body and soul. However great His sufferings, that did not mean He died because death was unavoidable. When He was ready; when He was certain that all had been fulfilled as the Scriptures predicted, THEN, AND NOT BEFORE, He surrended His spirit. His life was never taken from Him. Voluntarily, He laid it down as a sacrifice for sin. This is the heart of the Christian gospel and privileged are they who have enough vision to see it, and sufficient courage to preach it.
1) The Faithfulness of His Reedifying Lovemeans to build again
(John 10:17 KJV) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
(John 10:18 KJV) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
2) The Faithfulness of His Responsive Trust (Matt.27:46).
He knew that his father knew best even in the worst conditions he ever faced
II. The Forsaking of the Son of God (Matt. 27:46)
1) The Reality of Sin (2 Cor 5:21 KJV) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Ver. 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, &c.] Christ was made of a woman, took flesh of a sinful woman; though the flesh he took of her was not sinful, being sanctified by the Spirit of God, however, he appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh; being attended with infirmities, the effects of sin, Moreover, he was made a sacrifice for sin, in order to make expiation and atonement for it; see
# (Psa 40:6 KJV) Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
and so #Ro 8:3 Heb 10:6. But besides all this, he was made sin itself by imputation; the sins of all his people were transferred unto him, laid upon him, and placed to his account; he sustained their persons, and bore their sins; and having them upon him, and being chargeable with, and answerable for them, he was treated by the justice of God as if he had been not only a sinner, but a mass of sin; for to be made sin, is a stronger expression than to be made a sinner: but now that this may appear to be only by imputation, and that none may conclude from hence that he was really and actually a sinner, or in himself so, it is said he was made sin; he did not become sin, or a sinner, through any sinful act of his own, but through his Fathers act of imputation, to which he agreed; for it was he that made him sin his Father, is said to make him sin; it was he that laid, or made to meet on him, the iniquity of us all; it was he that made his soul an offering for sin, and delivered him up into the hands of justice, and to death, and that for us, in our room and stead, to bear the punishment of sin, and make satisfaction and atonement for it; of which he was capable, and for which he was greatly qualified: for he knew no sin; he full well knew the nature of sin, as it is a transgression of God’s law; he knows the origin of sin, the corrupt heart of man, and the desperate wickedness of that; he knows the demerit, and the sad consequences of it; he knows, and he takes notice of too, the sins of his own people; and he knows the sins of all wicked men, and will bring them all into judgment, convince of them, and condemn for them: but he knew no sin so as to approve of it, and like it; he hates, abhors, and detests it; he never was conscious of any sin to himself; he never knew anything of this kind by, and in himself; nor did he ever commit any, nor was any ever found in him, by men or devils, though diligently sought for.
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This is mentioned, partly that we may better understand in what sense he was made sin, or a sinner, which could be only by the imputation of the sins of others, since he had no sin of his own; and partly to show that he was a very fit person to bear and take away the sins of men, to become a sacrifice for them, seeing he was the Lamb of God, without spot and blemish, typified in this, as in other respects, by the sacrifices of the legal dispensation; also to make it appear that he died, and was cut off in a judicial way, not for himself, his own sins, but for the transgressions of his people; and to express the strictness of divine justice in not sparing the Son of God himself, though holy and harmless, when he had the sins of others upon him, and had made himself responsible for them. The end of his being made sin, though he himself had none, was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him; not the essential righteousness of God, which can neither be imparted nor imputed; nor any righteousness of God wrought in us; for it is a righteousness in him, in Christ, and not in ourselves, because it is wrought by Christ, and because it is approved of by God the Father, accepted by him as the justifying one; it is what he bestows on them, and imputes unto them for their justification; it is a righteousness, and it is the only one which justifies in the sight of God. Now to be made the righteousness of God, is to be made righteous in the sight of God, by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. Just as Christ is made sin, or a sinner, by the imputation of the sins of others to him; so we are made righteousness, or righteous persons, through the imputation of his righteousness to us; and in no other way can the one be made sin, or the other righteousness. And this is said to be in him, in Christ; which shows, that though Christs righteousness is unto all, and upon all them that believe, it is imputed to them, and put upon them; it is not anything wrought in them; it is not inherent in them.
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(Isa 45:24 KJV) Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: none have it reckoned to them, but who are in him, we are first of God in Christ.
2) The Totality of Sin. (Isa 53:6 KJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Ver. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray, &c.] Here the prophet represents all the sheep of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; whom he compares to “sheep”, not for their good qualities, but for their foolishness, and particularly for their being subject to go astray from the shepherd, and the fold, and from their good pastures, and who never return of themselves, until they are looked up, and brought back by the shepherd, or owner of them; so the people of God, are like the silly sheep, they go astray from God, deviate from the rule of his word, err from the right way, and go into crooked paths, which lead to destruction; and never return of themselves, of their own will, and by their own power, until they are returned, by powerful and efficacious grace, unto the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls; see #1Pe 2:25 where the apostle has a manifest respect to this passage: we have turned everyone to his own way; and that is an evil one, a dark and slippery one, a crooked one, the end of it is ruin; yet this is a way of a man’s own choosing and approving, and in which he delights; and it may not only intend the way of wickedness in general, common to all men in a state of nature, but a particular way of sinning, peculiar to each; some are addicted to one sin, and some to another, and have their own way of committing the same sin; men turn their faces from God, and their backs upon him, and look to their own way, and set their faces towards it, and their hearts on it; and which seems right and pleasing to them, yet the end of it are the ways of death; ways, so destructive,
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and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all; that is, God the Father, against whom we have sinned, from whom we have turned, and whose justice must be satisfied; he has laid on Christ, his own Son, the sins of all; and made one bundle and burden of, and therefore expressed in the singular number, “iniquity”, and laid on Christ, and were bore by him, even all the sins of all; a heavy burden this! which none but the mighty God could bear; this was typified by laying of hands, and laying of sins upon the sacrifice, and putting the iniquities of Israel upon the head of the scapegoat, by whom they were bore, and carried away their sins as coming from all quarters, east, west, north, and south; and as meeting in Christ, as they did, when he suffered as their representative on the cross: like a large and mighty army, beset him around, and fell upon him in a hostile manner, and were the cause of his death; by which means the law and justice of God had full satisfaction, and our recovery from ruin and destruction,
3) The Fatality of Sin (Rom 6:23 KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ver. 23. For the wages of sin is death, &c.] By sin, is meant every sin, original sin, actual sin, every kind of sin, lesser and greater: the “death” which sin deserves, this is “the wages” of sin; sin does in its own nature produce it, and excludes from life; it is the natural issue of it; sin is committed against an infinite God, and righteously deserves such a death; it is its just wages by law.
Sin is represented as a king, a mighty monarch, a tyrannical prince; sinners are his subjects, his servants and soldiers, who fight under him, and for him, and all the wages they must expect from him is death when men have been all their days in the service of sin, and have fought under the banners of it, the wages they will earn, and the reward that will be given them, will be death: and it is frequently observed by the,
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but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. These words, at first sight, look as if the sense of them was, that eternal life is the gift of God through Christ, which is a great and glorious truth of the Gospel; but “the gift of God” is not just eternal life, it is also the gift of a justifying righteousness, or the grace of God in regeneration and sanctification, or both, which issue in eternal life; thus, for instance, faith is the gift of God, and not of a man’s self, and he that has it, has eternal life, and shall, ever possess it; repentance is a free grace gift, it is a grant from the Lord, and it is unto life and salvation; and on whomsoever the grace of God is bestowed, so as to believe in Christ for righteousness, and truly repent of sin, these shall partake of eternal glory.
III. The Fulfillment of the Son of God (Matt. 27:46)
1) We Might Be Reinstated. (2 Cor 5:19 KJV) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Ver. 19. To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, &c.] This expresses and explains the subject matter of the ministration of the Gospel, especially that part of it which concerns our reconciliation with God; and declares the scheme, the author, the subjects, the way, and means, and consequence of it, God intended the reconciliation of the world to himself by Christ, and drew the scheme of it in him, his intentions cannot be frustrated; his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; a scheme so wisely laid by him in his Son, cannot come to nothing, or only in part be executed; and yet this must be the case, if it was his design to reconcile every individual of mankind to himself,
not imputing their trespasses. This was what he resolved upon from all eternity, that inasmuch as Christ was become the surety and substitute of his people, he would not impute their sins to them, or look for satisfaction for them from them; but would reckon and place them to the account of their surety, and expect satisfaction from him justification of them;
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And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation; or put it in us, as a rich and valuable treasure; for such the doctrine of peace and reconciliation, by the blood of Christ, is; a sacred deposition, committed to the trust of faithful men, to be dispensed and disposed of for the use and purpose for which it is given them.
2) We Might Be Recreated. (2 Cor 5:17 KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ver. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, &c.] There’s a secret being in Christ from everlasting; so all that are loved by him, espoused unto him, chosen and preserved in him, to whom he was a covenant head, are in him, united to him, and one with him: when a man believes in Christ, and gives up himself to him:, an inward principle of grace, old things are passed away: the old course of living, the old way of serving God, whether among Jews or Gentiles; the old legal righteousness, old companions and acquaintance are dropped behold, all things are become new; there is a new course of life, both of faith and holiness; a new way of serving God through Christ by the Spirit, and from principles of grace; we are followers of the Lamb; and another name is given us, a new name, which the mouth of the Lord their God has named, not of Jews nor Gentiles, but of Christians; and new songs are put into their mouths, even praise to God: in short, the Gospel church state seems to be, as it were, a new creation, and perhaps is meant by the
Conclusion:
There can be only one reply to this word of anguish and that is to gladly surrender our lives for His service (see Romans 12:1-2). He was forsaken that we will never be forsaken.
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Topic: Intercession
There was a soldier in the Union army, a young man who had lost his older brother and his father in the war. He went to Washington, D.C., to see President Lincoln to ask for an exemption from military service so he could go back and help his sister and mother with the spring planting on the farm. When he arrived in Washington, after having received a furlough from the military to go and plead his case, he went to the White House, approached the doors, and asked to see the president. However, he was told, “You can’t see the president! Don’t you know there’s a war on The president’s a very busy man. Now go away, son! Get back out there and fight the Rebs like you’re supposed to.” So he left, very disheartened, and was sitting on a little park bench not far from the White House when a little boy came up to him. The lad said, “Soldier, you look unhappy. What’s wrong” The soldier looked at this young boy and began to spill his heart out to this young lad about his situation, about his father and his brother having died in the war, and how he was the only male left in the family and was needed desperately back at the farm for the Spring planting.
The little boy took the soldier by the hand and led him around to the back of the White House. They went through the back door, past the guards, past all the generals and the high ranking government officials until they got to the president’s office itself. The little boy didn’t even knock on the door but just opened it and walked in. There was President Lincoln with his secretary of state, looking over battle plans on the desk. President Lincoln looked up and said, “What can I do for you, Todd” And Todd said, “Daddy, this soldier needs to talk to you.” And right then and there the soldier had a chance to plead his case to President Lincoln, and he was exempted from military service due to the hardship he was under. Such is the case with our ascended Lord. We have access to the Father through the Son. It is the Son who brings us to the Father’s throne and says, “Daddy, here is someone who wants to talk to You.”
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Title: Bridging the Gap
In 1936 a radio broadcast was transmitted to America from England. Just before the voice of King Edward VIII was to be heard, someone stumbled over a wire in the control room of WJZ (now WABC, New York) and snapped the only line of communication between the two great countries. The engineers were frantic. Then, with only a few moments remaining before air time a quick-thinking apprentice grasped the two broken ends of the wire and bridged the gap. Seconds later the King addressed the nation. In a real sense, his words were being transmitted through the body of that man!
A NEW CREATURE
Longfellow could take a worthless piece of paper, write a poem on it, and instantly make it worth thousands of dollars — and it’s called genius.
Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth millions of dollars — and it’s called riches.
A mechanic can take material worth only five dollars and make it worth five hundred — and it’s called skill.
An artist can take a fifty-cent piece of canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth thousands of dollars — and it’s called art.
Jesus Christ can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in His blood, put His Spirit in it, and make it valuable to God — and that’s called sanctification.
The Lord is in the business of taking rough, raw material and using it — transforming men by His power to be the extension of His work in the world.
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