Study 9
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:46)
Introduction
We must include in our study the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered for our sins alone. Roman Catholicism, not content with undermining the sacrifice of Christ through the doctrine of transubstantiation, places Mary alongside Him, so that her grief has
meritorious grace for the sinner. Though she and a few of Jesus’ followers stood at the foot of the cross, some afar off, He was completely abandoned by all.
Forsaken by His disciples
Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. This was the night before the crucifixion and His soul was in intense agony and sorrow as He prepared Himself (Mark 14:34). Not only could they not stay awake, even for one hour, they all fled when they saw the soldiers coming to arrest Jesus (Matthew 26:56). In the midst of His pain Jesus must have felt totally rejected.
What more could the Lord have done to gain their loyalty and confidence? He was their friend as well as Saviour (John 15:15), and He truly loved them (John 13:1). He had chosen them to follow Him despite knowing what they were capable of (Matthew 26:31; Zechariah 13:7). They all abandoned Him in His hour of need (Isaiah 53:3).
Forsaken by His Father
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit had been united throughout eternity past, but now the worst event in history was about to take place. Moments before His death Jesus felt what all unsaved sinners experience when God turns His face away from them and they are doomed to everlasting damnation. Scripture teaches us that sin has this effect upon God (Isaiah 59:2; 64:7).
The full weight of man’s sin was laid upon Jesus as He hung upon the cross (Isaiah 53:6), for He was made “to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sense of complete abandonment came upon Him, therefore He cried, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). That eternal and joyous fellowship with the Father was severed. We may never fully comprehend what it cost Him, but we will always understand that we caused all this through our sin.
The apostle Paul teaches that God willed all this to happen so that He could offer man a way back into fellowship with Him (Colossians 1:19-22), and this fulfilled the prophecy found in Isaiah 53:10.
Conclusion
Christ, even though He is God the Son, underwent this suffering, death and alienation for us. He did it for one reason only, and that is love. Love for His Father (Hebrews 5:8-9), and love for us (Revelation 1:5; 1 John 4:19; Ephesians 5:2).
Maybe others have abandoned us, but upon reflection we realise that we had a part to play in causing it, and should have acted differently. Jesus had done nothing wrong. There was no just cause for Him to experience this abandonment, nor could He have done anything any differently. His death on Calvary was the only way for man to be reconciled to God. He experienced all of this so that the truly repentant sinner would not have to. He took our place and was the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sin.
Page created 26 October 2005