The Bible records seven words, or sayings that Jesus uttered from the cross. These words are significant in nature, and said with great compassion and meaning, all of them adding to depth of the suffering Jesus underwent on the day we call Good Friday.
This morning we will be considering the fourth word Jesus spoke from the cross, as recorded for us in Matthew 27. Here our Lord hurls the question of suffering and abandonment at heaven itself with the cry, "My God, My God, why did you abandon me?"
Imagine the scene. See him hanging there on a wooden cross, like a common criminal. See him hanging there, writhing in pain, a cursed man, hanging between heaven and earth. Look, there is a sign above his bleeding thorn crowned head. See what it says? "This is the King of the Jews." And this in the three everyday languages of ancient Rome no less. Now all who walk by, no matter what language they speak, can read that this is indeed the King of the Jews.
The Bible is a real life book. It never tries to disguise anything. It always tells it as it is. In fact, at times we may want to look twice at what we have read. This morning we encounter such a passage. Did we read this correctly? A King hanging on a cross? Who would have thought it. Is it really possible? Is this what it really says? But crosses in those day were reserved for the most desperate of criminals, not for Kings. Certainly not the King of kings! And yet this is what the Bible tells us. In fact, it tells us even more. This was not only the King, but the One hanging there was the Son of God. Jesus, the King, the Son of God was crucified.
The details of the crucifixion tell us that Jesus was crucified between the hours of 9 AM and 12 PM. It also tells us that at 12 noon an ominous, eerie darkness fell upon the earth. It was as if the sun wanted to hide its face in shame at the events of that day. Just before that darkness enveloped the earth Jesus had already spoken three times from the cross. First he said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." This was a prayer for his assailants. Then he said to the repentant thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Next he commended his mother to the care of John by saying to her, "He is your son," and to him, "She is your mother." Then darkness fell upon the earth. It was a powerful, deep darkness, an awkward, eerie darkness, as if a curse had fallen over the land. Along with it we may imagine silence. Three hours of dark silence and fearful waiting. Imagine the moment. Can't you just feel the fear, the tense moments of expectation. But no one knew what to expect.
Then a cry...a loud penetrating cry which punctured the very stratosphere, all the way to heaven itself. "My God, My God, why did you abandon me?" Why have you forsaken me? Awesome! Totally, completely awesome!
When the great reformer of old, Martin Luther read these words, he was completely overwhelmed by them. He became so absorbed by them, that he didn’t move for hours! He simply needed time to try to grasp the meaning of it all, and after hours of meditating upon them he finally exclaimed, "God forsaking God! Who will ever fully understand that?" Indeed, who will?
Let us take a closer look at the fourth word from the cross today, and let us consider three thoughts. First I want to submit to you that our Lord would not have cried out in despair unless it was real. Sorrow and suffering are real parts of the human experience, and Jesus lived that experience to the fullest. He endured suffering and intense pain. From that we know that he can personally identify with anything we are asked to endure. He can identify with our deepest hurts, our deepest disappointments.
John R. Stott, the British preacher and author picked up on this when he said, "I could never believe in God if it were not for the cross. In this real world of pain; how could one worship a God who was immune to it?" He is right. To my knowledge there is no other religion which has a god who is willing to experience the potential depth of human suffering. Jesus does not place his hands over his eyes like a Buddha to deny the reality of suffering. That is why we can find so much encouragement and strength for our Christian life in the fourth word from the cross. Jesus suffered whatever could happen to the believer and so much more.
Some of you will remember studying the United Church Catechism at one time or another. We no longer have an official Catechism, much to the chagrin of many. There are still Catechisms out there though, one of them being the historic Heidelberg Catechism. It asks the question, “What do you understand by the word “suffered?” And then, as catechisms do, it answers the question with, “That during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Jesus sustained in body and in soul that anger of God against the sin of the whole human race.” (Q/A 37) Our disappointments, our defeats, our times of disillusions; they do not separate us from Christ. Instead they draw us closer to him. How? Because he carried them to the cross for us. And then he said, "I forgive you." All our sins, all of them, and all that goes along with them...they are nailed to the cross. Jesus knows what it is to endure anything that is the result of sin, even though he never sinned himself.
Some want to remove this truth from Jesus’ life by saying he only died as a victim of circumstance. But to do that, for one thing, takes away the richness of faith in him, and for another, it denies that Christ enters into human suffering on our behalf.
Secondly, we see that Jesus’ suffering was necessary because he was in spiritual conflict for the souls of the world. Paul knew about this so well. In fact, he wrote about it in his letter to the church of Ephesus. "Put on the whole armor of God, for we are fighting against wicked spiritual forces of this world and the world beyond." Then he urges us to accept salvation as a helmet. Do you see what this means? A helmet is used for protection, is it not? Jesus accomplished salvation for us, and because of that, our battle with the evil forces Paul speaks about is always from a winning standpoint, never from a losing standpoint. We cannot lose! We already have the victory Put on the helmet of salvation today!
The cry from the cross, "My God My God, why have you forsaken me," is proof positive that the soul of every person on earth was worth fighting for. St. Augustine of old once said that "Jesus loves us as if we are the only ones to love." Do you have it today? Do you have the power to overcome spiritual suffering, spiritual warfare? Jesus offers it freely. All we need to do is open our hearts and accept it for ourselves. Will you do it today? You see, with that agonizing cry form the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to stand before God with thankful hearts and say to him, "My God, my God, now I know why have you not abandoned me! And now no matter how alone I might feel at times, I know you are still there with me." Corrie Ten Boom once said, "If God sends us stony paths, he will give us strong shoes."
The third thought we want to consider this morning is that Christ transforms human suffering into something valuable and service to God. Someone once said that suffering can either lead you ro cynicism, or you can offer it to God for something good. Allow me to explain with this illustration. Years ago a small group of Japanese believers were heckled and abused whenever they assembled to worship the Savior. But the persecutors could not shake the faith of the new converts. Each time the Christians gathered, the mob would throw stones at them, but they still faithfully continued to have their weekly meetings.
Eventually the opposition became so great that the outdoor services had to be temporarily abandoned. Later, when a time of relative peace and tolerance had come to the community, many were won to Christ. Returning to the spot where the believers had frequently been attacked, they began to pick up some of the rocks which had once been thrown at them. Using those stones as part of the building materials, they constructed a small house of worship, rejoicing that God had worked all things together for good.
Jesus says that His followers will meet with suffering and heartache, but He urges them not to be discouraged. Earth's sorrows are meant to be stepping stones in the process of sanctification. Indeed, we "must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). When you read Church history, this certaily was a the case. We need not face that kind of tribulation in Canada, but we should still remember that glorying in affliction will turn our troubles into spiritual triumphs!
You see, we should never overlook the fact that this awesome cry from the cross broke the darkness of that day. Jesus had already gone through the darkness of human living, and the darkness of becoming sin for us. When darkness turned to light, it was symbolic of the darkness in one’s life turning to the brightness of Christ. When Jesus cried out the fourth word from the cross, it was the completion of something, not the beginning; that something being, turning the darkness of sin, and abandonment into forgiveness, and everlasting presence. O the cross represents how far the world will go in its pursuit of everything that is against God, and his goodness. This agonizing cry however, represents how far God will go in the pursuit of everything good, and loving.
One day C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God's love is constant." "I don't agree with you about those words, Charles," replied his friend. "You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.
Yes! It is this love for us that allowed God to abandon his own Son for a time on the cross. This act demonstrates just how far God will go to shower us with that amazing love. It was this love that defeated the power of sin and death, through the atoning work of Jesus. Isaac Watts expressed it so well with these words:
See from his hands, his head his feet.
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown.
Give thanks to Jesus. Yes he is the almighty King, but he is the King in love and compassion. He hurled the question at heaven, "My God, why did you abandon me?" But you know, the answer to that awesome question is even more awesome. He was abandoned for you and for me. Thanks be to our living God for his great love. For now we have his eternal presence.
