-August 28, 2022-
Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,
“Now from sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”
(Matthew 27:45-46).
Today’s text is very familiar to most all of us. It is one of the last statements that Jesus spoke while on the cross. It is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1. It shows the deep agony He suffered by being forsaken by God on the cross. He was innocent, sinless, and undefiled, yet God forsook Him because of our sin. We are the ones deserving of being forsaken and separated from God forever.
God cannot look at sin, so He turned His back on the Son while He died for our sins and became sin for us. The spiritual sufferings that our Savior went through were worse and more painful than the physical pain He went through. It is a proven fact, even in the medical community that spiritual, mental, and emotional pain are more intense than the physical. Often, the non physical pain lasts longer and leaves deeper scars on the soul.
Jesus knew what He would suffer on the cross. He prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane that this cup of judgment would pass from Him yet, yet that the will of the Father would be done. There was no other way to pay the penalty of our sins. There is a classic Christian song by Chris Tomlin that says, “l’m forgiven because You were forsaken, l’m accepted, You were condemned. I’m alive and well, Your Spirit is within Me, because You died and rose again. Amazing love how can it be that You, my King would die for me. Amazing love, I know it’s true, it’s my joy to honor You. Amazing love how can it be? That You my King would die for me. Amazing love I know it’s true, it’s my joy to honor You, in all I do, I honor You.”
There was complete darkness over all the land from the sixth hour (noon) to the ninth hour (3:00 pm). This was at the height of His suffering. No human eye could see it. Jesus paid it all, our sin debt in full. Now we are forgiven, set free, and have eternal life through His substitutionary death on the cross. Let us remember Him, praise Him, thank Him, and worship Him.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 