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Sermon preached at
The Church of the Divine Patience
My God, My God, Why hast Thou Forsaken Me?
William Barclay suggests that this must be the most staggering sentence in the gospel record.
It is a saying before which we must bow in reverence.
It is a terrible cry.
The question is a troubling one for Christians.
It is a question, which non-Christians could use to tell Christians that Jesus was not God.
With great effort He arched his back to gain enough air to speak.
Whom would he curse?
CAIAPHAS? PILATE? JUDAS? DISCIPLES? HIMSELF? GOD?
He did not curse any one.
The words “My God!, My God! Why hast thou forsaken Me?” are not from one who curses, or accuses, or reproaches, or complains, but, they are the words of one who declares the greatness of his suffering for the best of reasons, and at the most opportune of moments. Christ wished to drain the chalice of his passion even to the dregs.
So, it was not a curse or a complaint.
Instead he cried out an awful and unsettling (uneasy) question.
Matthew - 27:46 - Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? - HEBREW
Mark - 15:34 - Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? - ARAMAIC
INTERPRETATION
Martin Luther sat contemplating these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” For a long time, without food or water, Luther sat in deep meditation reflecting on this saying of our Lord. After a long time he rose from his chair and exclaimed in utter amazement, “God forsaken of God! Who can understand that?”
C.H. Spurgeon when writing about this fourth word from the cross says that we should not preach from it. He says, “ It is enough to hear it.” Fully understand it, who can?
No man can enter into the full meaning of these words.
The more we know of Christ’s sufferings, the more we see that they cannot be known. Ah, who can tell the full meaning of the broken bread and poured-out wine?
Brother, Sister,
We will adore where we cannot comprehend.
I cannot think of preaching from it. Instead we will sit and commune with it. We shall not make our Savior, in the darkest moment of his life and what he said in such a moment, an object of study for our learning, but let us take him as an example for our life. We shall not speak from the word but let the word speak to us.
TRADITIONAL explanations
I think that all of you are familiar with the much, I should say, worn-out explanation for this cry of our Lord.
Jesus as a man he suffered.
Jesus became sin for us.
He became separated from God.
God turning His face away from Jesus.
He was quoting the first verse of the 22nd Psalm.
All these statements answer the question why Jesus cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
I dare not ask why Jesus asks such a question. Instead we shall try to learn something from the question itself.
The Bible does not directly tell us what the question means. But when we contemplate on the question, God speaks to us.
Let the Spirit of God speak to us through these words. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.
I find that Jesus expressed what He thought and felt, freely and boldly. It was in His nature to express His feelings without any inhibitions.
He wept - he cursed the fig tree - called people names - felt sorry for the hungry multitude - angrily drove out the traders and money changers - was affectionate towards little children - when slapped asked 'why he was being hit'.
Now, in the same way he asked God, why he had forsaken him. That is what Jesus felt at that moment. He felt He was being abandoned by God. It must have been his real feeling.
It was not Jesus’ wish to die on the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane falling on the ground, He prayed, “ Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” This is recorded in the first three Gospels.
Now, life fading away from his body, he cries to God, “My God, my God ,why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus was simple. Our problem is, we are not simple like Jesus. He has asked us to be simple and innocent like children. But we are very clever, calculative, and manipulating things and people.
Jesus still believed in God. Only He felt so close to God that he dared to ask him why he was left to die.
Jesus died as a human with all the experiences of a dying man. His suffering was real.
God did allow Jesus to be crucified. He did allow Jesus to suffer on the cross. God did allow Jesus to die on the cross. God did abandon him. God did leave Jesus. When Jesus hung dying on the cross He was all alone. Not only his disciples and friends abandon him, now even God did not come to his help.
But, God did not abandon him forever, eternally. God never forsakes any body whom he loves.
"Yet he that hath in anguish knelt is not forsaken by his God"
So goes a song.
God who had not forsaken Jesus was all the time holding the answer to Jesus' 'why'.
God had not turned His face away from Jesus. Psalm 22: 24.
“…...neither hath He hid His face from Him.”
GOD ANSWERED JESUS NOT BY REMOVING DEATH, BUT BY RESURRECTING JESUS.
God did not come to Jesus' aid by saving him from death, but by conquering death.
Now we can ask the question 'O death, where is thy sting?'
When God puts us through suffering, when He allows us to go through some difficult period, IT IS ONLY TO BRING US TO VICTORY OVER THE EVIL THAT PLAGUES US. IT IS TO BRING US AN ULTIMATE SOLUTION.
This is the MYSTERY of SUFFERING. This is the Mystery of submission to God. This is the mystery of God’s answer to our prayers. This is the mystery of God being with us at all moments of our life. This is the mystery of God working His will in our lives.
Let us allow God to work His will in us. This is what we can learn from this fourth word from the cross. It is the only way to Resurrection and Salvation. Jesus allowed God to work His will in his life. He yielded to God up to the point where he felt enough pain and agony to ask the Father, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
We have a responsibility. If the resurrection points to that which yet may be, the cross points to what currently is and has been and will be.
There is no resurrection without the cross. The cross is still there. There is suffering and evil in this world. Our daily paper testifies to this awful truth. The brokenness of our own lives gives further witness.
We are an EASTER PEOPLE IN HOPE, but a GOOD FRIDAY
PEOPLE IN THE REALITY OF OUR HUMAN CONDITION.
That Hope, that Glorious Hope will materialize only when we say 'THY WILL BE DONE'.
Along with Jesus let us all say ‘Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done’ now and always. AMEN.