Mark 15:33-34 "And when the sixth hour
was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
(34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
"Why hast thou forsaken me?" Have you ever felt forsaken? Has it ever seemed to you that God has turned His back on you? If you have never felt this, then you are truly blessed. May I say at the very beginning that Jesus endured something you nor I will ever have to endure. God the Father truly turned His back upon His own Son as He hung on the cross. The darkness that occurred for those three hours was the point in time when the Father turned away from His son. Indeed, why did the Father forsake His only begotten Son. The very Son in Whom He was well pleased was now, literally in His darkest hour, being forsaken.
The key to this is found in a book written some 700 years before the crucifixion of Jesus and a verse later written by the Apostle Paul. We read in the book of Isaiah chapter 59:2, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." How does this apply to our Lord on the cross? We know that He committed no sin. We know that He did no wrong, spoke no wrong, nor did He even think anything wrong. So how does Isaiah 59:2 apply to Jesus? The answer to that comes through the writing of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
In those three hours, Jesus was made to be sin in that your sin and my sin was taken from us and placed upon Him. He became sin and the Father would not look upon Him. It was my sin that caused Jesus to be forsaken in those three hours. I submit to you that for Jesus, those three hours were an eternity. Have you ever spent a sleepless night, or even lay awake for a few hours? It seems it will last forever, doesn't it? For the beloved Son of God to be separated from His loving Heavenly Father surely must have seemed an eternity.
Why did the Father forsake Him? He would not look upon my sin that was placed upon Jesus. Jesus endured this for you and for me. Praise God, we will never have to experience the enormity of hopelessness that comes as a result of being forsaken by God. Jesus did it for us. He deserves our praise and our commitment of service unto Him.
"Why hast thou forsaken me?" Have you ever felt forsaken? Has it ever seemed to you that God has turned His back on you? If you have never felt this, then you are truly blessed. May I say at the very beginning that Jesus endured something you nor I will ever have to endure. God the Father truly turned His back upon His own Son as He hung on the cross. The darkness that occurred for those three hours was the point in time when the Father turned away from His son. Indeed, why did the Father forsake His only begotten Son. The very Son in Whom He was well pleased was now, literally in His darkest hour, being forsaken.
The key to this is found in a book written some 700 years before the crucifixion of Jesus and a verse later written by the Apostle Paul. We read in the book of Isaiah chapter 59:2, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." How does this apply to our Lord on the cross? We know that He committed no sin. We know that He did no wrong, spoke no wrong, nor did He even think anything wrong. So how does Isaiah 59:2 apply to Jesus? The answer to that comes through the writing of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
In those three hours, Jesus was made to be sin in that your sin and my sin was taken from us and placed upon Him. He became sin and the Father would not look upon Him. It was my sin that caused Jesus to be forsaken in those three hours. I submit to you that for Jesus, those three hours were an eternity. Have you ever spent a sleepless night, or even lay awake for a few hours? It seems it will last forever, doesn't it? For the beloved Son of God to be separated from His loving Heavenly Father surely must have seemed an eternity.
Why did the Father forsake Him? He would not look upon my sin that was placed upon Jesus. Jesus endured this for you and for me. Praise God, we will never have to experience the enormity of hopelessness that comes as a result of being forsaken by God. Jesus did it for us. He deserves our praise and our commitment of service unto Him.