"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

Sermon on Matthew 27:45-46

Saint Mark's, Watertown

Pastor Karl Walther

March 28, 2001

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Amen.

God's Word for our consideration this evening is Jesus' fourth set of words from the cross-- recorded in Matthew chapter twenty-seven, verses forty-five and forty-six: From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is God's Spirit-inspired Word from Jesus Christ himself.

Introduction: We All Hear Expressions About "Going Through Hell"

Dear fellow Christians-- whose forgiveness is found in Christ's crucifixion:

We've all heard the expressions.... "That woman," who has suffered the death or the hatred of family members-- "that woman has 'gone through hell'." "That man," who suffered a great deal from (let's say) cancer-- "that man has 'gone through hell'." Or: "The pain" was so great that it "hurt 'like hell'."

My friends, I hope that after tonight you never use any of those expressions again. That's because this evening we're going to take a look at the account of the only person who really did go through hell while he was still on earth. And he did it so that no one ever really has to go through hell again.

Theme: "My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

You see, tonight we'll take a look at Jesus' fourth set of words from the cross: "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" In these words we'll discover that: CHRIST SUFFERED THE DARKNESS OF OUR SIN, and in these words we'll see that: CHRIST DECLARED THE BRIGHTNESS OF GOD'S LOVE FOR US.

Part One: Christ Suffered the Darkness of the World's Sin

Again, we stand at the foot of that little bit of a hill just outside Jerusalem to the northeast. In the past three hours that Jesus has hung on the cross, the Jewish leaders have mercilessly mocked him. But Jesus has provided for his mother, and Jesus has converted the criminal at his side.

Now we read: From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

Imagine it.... It's noon on April seventh, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-one years ago now. In the Middle East, at Jerusalem's latitude, the sun should be two-thirds of the way up in the sky-- at a sixty degree angle.

And all of a sudden, it's like the lights go out. Everybody looks up and then around at each other-- although they can probably hardly see each other, given the darkness. And the stars appear-- but it's the autumn stars the people recognize. And the birds start to chirp-- thinking it's sunset.

And of course, nobody can imagine what's occurring, and everybody figures at least it's got to end soon. But seconds pass, and then a minute, and people begin to ask, "What's going on?" More minutes pass, and no one has anything to say. No few slither away to their homes, figuring they'll feel safer there. The ones that need to stay light torches or maybe a fire-- because the temperature plummets to the point that's it's very cool.

And those silently on the way back to their homes, and those sitting quietly by the fire, get to thinking, "How did I contribute to this? What is God trying to tell me?"

Application One: Christ Suffered the Darkness of Our Sin

And friend, those are the questions you've got to ask yourself today. "How did you contribute to this? What's God trying to tell you?"

Maybe you're saying, "Is this for all the times I cared more about my possessions than I did for Christ?" Maybe you're asking, "Is this for all the curse-words I muttered under my breath-- and for all the times I simply cruise-controlled my way through worship services?" Maybe you're saying, "Is this for that affair I had those many years ago? Is this for that divorce I got (when I had other recourse)-- and all the harm it's done to my family? Is this for that abortion I was involved in? Or for all those drugs I used?"

And friend, the answer is, "Yes." Your shortfalls led the Lord to revoke his sunshine from Christ. Your transgressions led God to punish his Son. Your trespasses made God pummel God with the agony of hell.

And so did mine....

Part Two: Christ Declared the Brightness of God's Love for the World

No wonder we read that after three hours of this: About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- recorded for us in the original Aramaic, because the words are so significant.

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- Aramaic words tinged with Hebrew, words recorded just slightly differently in Mark, emphasizing to us with what difficulty Jesus passed them from his lips.

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-- practically a quotation from Psalm twenty-two, verse one: "Eli, Eli, lama azabtani?" such that Jesus here identifies himself as the Savior David had prophesied a thousand years earlier.

"My God, my God"-- repeated to show the profundity of his agony, repeated to show just what a treasure these words really are.

"My God, my God"-- not "my Father, my Father" because that relationship had been broken: and not by Christ's sin, but by the world's sin.

"My God, my God"-- because Christ's confidence was a perfect one, even though his Father had left him.

"You have forsaken me." Jesus himself had said that his Father causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good-- but Jesus himself enjoyed no such blessing here. Jesus himself would promise that surely he is with us always-- but Jesus himself enjoyed no such blessing from God here. It's the only time, before or since -- the only time, from eternity to eternity -- that God would leave anyone alone: this side of the inferno itself.

And "Why?" Jesus cried in a loud voice-- not because he himself didn't know, but rather so that the world could know, and know him, and know God's love forever and ever.

Application Two: Christ Declared the Brightness of God's Love for Us

My friend: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The answer to that question is: "to accomplish the biggest rescue mission, the greatest good, the universe has ever seen-- to accomplish the forgiveness of every sin."

Look carefully at Christ on the cross. Because of him and because of that: your idolatry is gone! your filthy language is gone! your lazy inattention is gone! Because of him and because of that: your lust is gone! your adultery is gone! that wicked divorce of yours is gone! Because of him and because of that: your drug abuse is gone! your abortion is gone! your murder is gone!

And gone is any notion of punishment upon you for your sins. Gone is any idea of hell on earth. From now on a pain may hurt, but never like hell. Disease may come, but never hell itself. Grief may come, but hell never will. Christ has carried it away, and he will never forsake you. What an enormous comfort!

Conclusion: Only Christ Has "Gone Through Hell"--

Do We Proclaim That Enough?

And my friend: it does leave one question-- Do we proclaim this enough? You see, on the cross Jesus mustered up the energy to cry out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" so that every observer -- so that you and I -- know that our sins are pardoned and we are rescued. Are we ourselves doing enough to proclaim that?

My friend, hundreds of thousands of people every day are being born into this world, and perhaps another hundred thousand die. Are you personally praying for their conversion?

My friend, several people every day move to Watertown, and a few unfortunates move out (!). Are you contributing toward our reaching them?

My friend, every one of us has elderly acquaintances. How sure are we that they know Christ? Every one of us has at least one relative, at least one friend -- and probably dozens -- that never hear God's Word. Are we trying to reach them? Every one of us knows at least one small child. Are we making sure that he knows Christ?

After all, you don't want these people really to go to, really to go through, hell. It's not necessary; Christ already suffered hell for them-- and for us. Thank God for it! Amen.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Amen.