“Seven Last Words:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Tonight we once again journey to Jerusalem, this time to meditate on
the only QUESTION from the cross, uttered by Jesus, as recorded in the 27th
chapter of Matthew. Matthew first gives this question as it was actually spoken by Jesus,
in the everyday language of Aramaic: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” Then
Matthew explains for us what these words mean: “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” Each year during Lent we hear those words, meditate on those words, and
ask ourselves: “What does that mean? What does it mean for ME that Jesus
was forsaken by God?” When Jesus asked the only question from the cross, he was quoting from
Psalm 22, the psalm we read portions of a few moments ago. Psalm 22 was
written hundreds of years before the crucifixion of Christ. But, it is an
amazingly detailed prediction, a prophecy of the extreme agony the Savior would
suffer on the cross. Verses 7 and 8 of Psalm 22 foretell the crowd around the cross,
taunting Jesus even while he is dying: “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He
trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he
delights in him.’” Verses 14 and 15 describe the physical torture of crucifixion, the
bones yanked out of joint, the heart pounding under great stress, the body
dehydrated by a high fever: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My
heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.” Verses 16 and 18 prophesied the nails driven through the Savior’s hands
and feet, and his clothing divided among the soldiers by casting lots: “They have pierced my hands and my feet. . . They divide my
garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” Hundreds of years before the fact, Psalm 22 describes in detail these
events of our Savior’s suffering. But, the greatest suffering of all came
when Jesus cried out the only question from the cross, the first verse of Psalm
22: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”; “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” Why? Why did Jesus suffer and die? Why was he forsaken by God? Not
because he was a sinner. Not to pay the penalty for any wrong he had done. Jesus
Christ was without sin. He was completely innocent of any wrongdoing. As
the thief on cross next to Jesus said: “We are getting what our deeds deserve,
but this man has done nothing wrong.” The centurion carrying out Jesus’
crucifixion exclaimed: “Surely this was a righteous man.” Even Pontius Pilate
declared: “What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for
the death penalty.” Then why? Why did he suffer and die? Why was he forsaken by
God? He gave himself for us, as a sacrifice for our sin. As the Apostle John
says, “He appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”
He paid the penalty for all the wrongs we have done. He even suffered for us the
ultimate torture—the pain of being forsaken by God. To be forsaken by God is to be separated from God on account of sin.
That is what hell actually is: Separation from God for eternity on account of
sin. Jesus Christ literally went through hell as he hung on the cross, bearing
alone the guilt and sin of the whole world. Sin so black, guilt so ugly,
that God the Father could not look upon his Son. The ultimate punishment for sin is separation from God. For Jesus
Christ to completely suffer in our place the punishment that our sins deserved,
he had to endure for us even the pain of hell—the pain of separation from God.
Of course, Jesus himself is God, the second person of the Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Exactly how God himself was at the same time forsaken by God is
a mystery we don’t understand. But, we do know this: It did happen, Jesus did
suffer for us the punishment of hell, separation from God, at that moment on
Good Friday when he cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” On Easter morning he rose from the dead. That is God’s way of telling
the world, “I have accepted the sacrifice of my Son. For a time he was forsaken
by me, for your sake, so that your punishment would be paid in full by him. Now
he is risen from the dead, winning for you the battle over sin, death and the
devil.” The Resurrection of Jesus means that the sins of the whole world are
all forgiven. They are all forgiven because the punishment for sin has already
been suffered, the price for sin has already been paid in full by the Savior of
the world. Everything that had to be done to appease God’s wrath has been
accomplished by Jesus. He suffered in your place, even to the point of suffering
the greatest agony of all—separation from God, the torment of hell. The Roman philosopher Seneca lived at about the same time as Jesus.
This is what Seneca wrote about crucifixion, which was a common practice in the
Roman world: “Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed
tree? Can any man be found who would waste away in pain, dying limb by
limb, losing his life drop by drop?”* Seneca didn’t know it, but a thousand miles away in the Roman province
of Palestine there was indeed found a man willing to be nailed to the accursed
tree, willing to waste away in pain, dying limb by limb, losing his life drop by
drop. There was indeed found a man willing to literally go through hell
for you, on the cross. As Jesus said, “No one takes my life from me, but I
lay it down of my own accord. . . For the Son of Man came not to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” What does it mean for YOU that Jesus was forsaken by God? It
means you will never be punished by God for your sins. You will never be
separated from God on account of your guilt. You will not be condemned to hell,
because Jesus Christ already went through hell for you, on the cross.
Because Jesus was forsaken by God, you never will be. Because Jesus
suffered on the cross the torment of hell, you will enjoy forever the bliss of
heaven. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why? For YOU,
for your salvation. Amen. *Freely quoted from Martin Hengel, Crucifixion
(Fortress, 1977). The entire quotation is as follows: “Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain, dying limb by limb, or letting his life out drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly weals on the shoulders and chest, and drawing the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony? He would have excuses for dying, even before mounting the cross.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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