Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani
Forsaken So We Are Redeemed
SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 27:46 NKJV - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
OBSERVATION:
The question often asked is, “Why did Jesus need to be forsaken?” The answer is that the wages of sin are so severe that such extreme measures were necessary. It had to happen so we wouldn’t face the same fate – being forsaken by God!
Matthew 27:46 NKJV - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
OBSERVATION:
The question often asked is, “Why did Jesus need to be forsaken?” The answer is that the wages of sin are so severe that such extreme measures were necessary. It had to happen so we wouldn’t face the same fate – being forsaken by God!
Jesus had known great pain and suffering (both physical and emotional) during His life. Yet He had never known separation from His Father. At this moment, He experienced what He had not yet ever experienced. There was a significant sense in which Jesus rightly felt forsaken by the Father at this moment.
At this moment, a holy transaction took place. God the Father regarded God the Son as if He were a sinner. As the Apostle Paul would later write, God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Yet Jesus not only endured the withdrawal of the Father’s fellowship, but also the actual outpouring of the Father’s wrath upon Him as a substitute for sinful humanity.
Horrible as this was, it fulfilled God’s good and loving plan of redemption. Therefore, Isaiah could say, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10) – David Guzik.
At this moment, a holy transaction took place. God the Father regarded God the Son as if He were a sinner. As the Apostle Paul would later write, God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Yet Jesus not only endured the withdrawal of the Father’s fellowship, but also the actual outpouring of the Father’s wrath upon Him as a substitute for sinful humanity.
Horrible as this was, it fulfilled God’s good and loving plan of redemption. Therefore, Isaiah could say, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10) – David Guzik.
Isaiah 53:3-6 CSB - He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn't value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the LORD has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
APPLICATION:
Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV - Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Since we have not been forsaken—something we truly deserve—and since Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sin of being forsaken by God, let us come boldly to the throne of grace and find help in our weakness (sin).
If you feel forsaken today, it’s not because your sins remain unpaid. It might be because you have not approached the throne of grace. It could also be that we have not fully understood the cost, gravity, or weight of that cost.
Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Your sin may make it seem as if God has forsaken you, but it is meant to lead us back to the cross and the cost it took to cleanse us of all our sins.
APPLICATION:
Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV - Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Since we have not been forsaken—something we truly deserve—and since Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sin of being forsaken by God, let us come boldly to the throne of grace and find help in our weakness (sin).
If you feel forsaken today, it’s not because your sins remain unpaid. It might be because you have not approached the throne of grace. It could also be that we have not fully understood the cost, gravity, or weight of that cost.
Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Your sin may make it seem as if God has forsaken you, but it is meant to lead us back to the cross and the cost it took to cleanse us of all our sins.
Knowing this agony of the Son of God on the cross should affect how we see sin: “O sirs, if I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife which had been crimsoned with his blood? — If I made a friend of the murderer, and daily consorted with the assassin, who drove the dagger into my brother’s heart? Surely I, too, must be an accomplice in the crime! Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it?” – Charles Spurgeon.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for never forsaking me! Thank you, because You were forsaken, I am redeemed! May I be aware of how costly my sin was, and may it lead me to the cross and the throne of grace.
Thank you, Jesus, for never forsaking me! Thank you, because You were forsaken, I am redeemed! May I be aware of how costly my sin was, and may it lead me to the cross and the throne of grace.
The Father forsook Jesus, so we could confidently approach God’s throne of grace and receive forgiveness.
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