A WORD OF PERCEPTION (Fourth Word from the Cross)
#075 A WORD OF PERCEPTION (Fourth Word from the Cross)
Scripture Matthew 27:45-46 NIV Orig. Date 4/1/62 (3/80)
Rewr. Dates 3/25/87
Passage: 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lama sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b]
Purpose: Continuing the Words from the Cross series with a special emphasis placed upon the sovereignty of God in behalf of His Son and His people.
Keywords: Christ, Death Sovereignty, God Commitment
Judgment Suffering
Timeline/Series: Words from the Cross
Introductions
Somewhere, Thornton Wilder has a significant line that declares “In love’s service, only wounded soldiers will do.” In that context, then, it should not seem unusual to us, or unreasonable, that Jesus became a “wounded soldier.” It was to that end that Old Testament prophecies foresaw Him as “man of sorrows.” But we must interpret that correctly.
Here we discover the degree to which Christ would go as a “wounded soldier.” More, it testifies that there is no degree to which He would not go “in love’s service.”
Eli, Eli; lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God; Why hast Thou forsaken me?
What pain hurts more than aloneness? What hurt weighs more heavily on us than that of feeling forsaken, especially unjustly forsaken? Off-beat theologians have emerged, and in their effort to explain, have explained away this text. Jesus, they say, had lapsed into delirium. Others, that though conscious, the pain rendered Him verbally out-of-control. Yet others suggest that He was not forsaken but simply felt so.
Jesus did not ever give in to the flesh. Why should we think it is happening here? There was neither unconsciousness, uncontrolled delirium, nor mistaken anguish. Jesus felt forsaken because he was forsaken. For sin to be effectively dealt with, it was necessary for God’s complete disposition of it to take place. Christ was the instrument through which that disposition took place.
After having seen the great dancer, Pavlova, perform, someone asked her to explain the artistic meaning of her dance. She stood there drained of the last bit of her energy and replied, “Do you think I would have danced it if I could have said it?” For Jesus, words are an inarticulate description of God’s intent to save. The cross must be endured if we are to have perception of God’s love.
I. It is Perception, First, of Supernatural Covenant. Luke 24:44 “. . . all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, . . . , concerning me.”
Surely, this is not the only time that Jesus questioned the strange events of His life. Perhaps, as a small boy, He wondered of the unique events of His birth. Luke 2:19, “She pondered these things.” Perhaps, as an adolescent, He questioned why things of interest to others His age, did not interest Him. Luke 2:49, “. . . Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Even as an adult, it shouldn’t surprise us if He wondered, despaired of unbelief all around. Matthew 22:5, “They made light of it and went . . . away.” Mark 3:5, “Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.”
And whenever such times had enveloped Him, He always before had felt the deeper wealth of assurance. Boyish questions were answered with meaning of His name—Jesus: “He would save His people.” Adolescent wonderings were assuaged by His own love for the Father, and the Father’s house.
As an adult, little could have been more obvious than the signs of God’s presence. At His baptism, there had been the voice boldly declaring “Thou art my beloved son.” During the temptation in the wilderness “angels came and ministered unto Him.”
Starting at Cana one day at a wedding: John 2:11, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
On a mountain side one day: Matthew 17:1f, “. . . There appeared . . . Moses and Elijah talking with Him.”
Toward the end of His ministry, at Bethany: John 11:41f, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always: but because of the people . . . that they may believe . . . Lazarus, come forth.”
Even with all of this, His plea is the plea of a man alone. Not over-wrought psyche playing tricks; not low pain-threshold binding reason. It is divine covenant being completed with all of its wretched consequences.
There had likewise been 3 words to the cross. “If Thou be the Christ, come down,” was the one thing He could not do. “He saved others, Himself He cannot save,” was a true saying. “Remember me, when. . .” was a reminder that we, too, have our crosses in following.
II. It is Perception of Superhuman Commitment. John 12:46 “I am come a light into the world.” There are, of course, those who argue that Jesus was not forsaken. They claim some physical distress, that Jesus simply quoted Psalm 22 in its present context. Psalm 22:23: “Praise Him ye who fear the Lord; . . . do Him honor; stand in awe of Him. . . For He has not scorned the downtrodden, . . . but gave heed to him when he cried out.”
But the point is, here at Calvary, was commitment in the flesh. Luke 22:44 “Being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat were as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” It was the kind of commitment forever an example to us. John 11:42, “. . . because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou has sent me.” Luther and Calvin (233T20p139) say that these were hours spent in the torments of the damned.
Rambach said in Meditations On the Sufferings of Christ, “God was now dealing with Him not as a loving and merciful Father with His child, but as an offended and righteous judge of an evildoer. The heavenly Father now regards His Son to be the greatest sinner to be found beneath the sun, and discharges on Him the whole weight of His wrath.”
It is time, then, to pursue the measure of our own commitment. Isaiah 53:9f “He made His grave with the wicked . . . He was numbered with the transgressors. Galatians 3:13 “. . . redeemed us from the curse . . . being made a curse for us.” Philippians 2:8 “He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
What kind of commitment do we offer to compare with that? We expect to be painless Christians. An hour or two on Sunday morning is as near to Calvary as we intend to go. I forgot my checkbook so I’ll rattle some change God’s way. We plan our commitment around mediocrity.
III. That Brings Us to Consider Superficial Circumstance (Uncircumstantial) “Why hast Thou forsaken me?” Jesus surrenders to the high cost of God’s will. So are such times when we likewise must.
As Gideon (Judges 6:13) “If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? As Elijah (I Kings 19:2) under Jezebel’s threat he “arose and went for his life,” As Job (Job 30:20) “I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me.” The psalmist (Psalm 73:13) “. . . Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence.” All would stand before us to declare faithlessness on their part, faithfulness on God’s part.
So often, that that is real in our experience is to become the circumstance of God’s blessing. Yes, Jesus was separated from the Father, forsaken even. But to remain as companions of sin is to remain separated from the Father. Our hope of restoration was fulfilled by Christ on the Cross.
Conclusion
Back in the early part of this decade the USS Hope made the newspapers for the last time. That ship, having brought medical aid to tens of thousands in third world nations, was trapped on a sand-bar on its way to the scrap yard.
There are too many people who have given up on hope. But we Christians must be the first to proclaim it. Because of God’s covenant, and Christ’s commitment to it, I can find reason to trust even in the most circumspect of circumstances. Ships of the sea, even ships of state, may flounder, but Christ gives me reason to believe through every consequence of my life.