4. MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

This is the most mysterious and solemn statement spoken by Jesus from the cross (Matthew 27:45-46). Darkness covered the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” These words take us into the deepest suffering of Calvary. They are the opening words of Psalm 22, a psalm that points us toward the suffering of the Messiah. We may not be able to comprehend everything taking place at the cross, but we can understand something of its awful seriousness. So let’s take a look.

I. THIS CRY REVEALS HIS SUFFERING

Jesus truly suffered. The cross was not an illusion. He was beaten. He was mocked. He was pierced. He was nailed to the tree. He experienced thirst, pain, loneliness, and anguish. Isaiah had foretold that He would be “despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The suffering of Christ was real.

II. THIS CRY REVEALS OUR SIN

We should never look at Calvary casually. Something terrible had to happen because of sin. Isaiah said, “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Peter said that Christ “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (First Peter 2:24). The cross shows us what sin costs. It also shows us how much God loved us.

III. THIS CRY REVEALS HIS SCRIPTURE

Jesus was not speaking randomly. His cry takes us directly to Psalm 22. That psalm speaks of the suffering, mocking, piercing, and ultimate vindication of the righteous sufferer (Psalm 22). Even in His darkest hour, Jesus was fulfilling the Scriptures. The cross was not an accident. It was the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose.

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Prayer: Father, help us never to take the cross lightly. Let us see the seriousness of sin and the greatness of the love demonstrated there. Thank You for sending Your Son to suffer for us. Amen.

BDD